當展覽「一一重構：楊德昌」於2023年10月底劃下句點，對於甫過40週年的「臺灣新電影」與離世迄今17年的楊德昌導演而言，並非意味著神話時代及其作者地位的不朽塑像，而是它們作為藝術史研究的時刻才剛開始。如果史上那些卓然不群的大師或經典作品從未在研究者筆下缺席，理所當然必須再審視這位留給世人萬餘件圖文手稿與音像素材的臺灣電影導演。是故，此電影展覽（exhibiton of cinema）的真義之一，除了是國家電影及視聽文化中心和臺北市立美術館千載難逢的合作，更關鍵的無疑是於白盒子展開的跨媒介乃至跨藝術之於電影歷史編撰學的契機。換言之，「電影展覽」不僅是重新賦予視聽作品的嶄新感官事件，更是同時結合各式私人與史事檔案，以便重啟「再繪楊德昌：電影及其藝術」的書寫引擎。
此處，「再繪」既可指向初會與再見的同音異義，亦具重新解釋與配置，及拆解邊界賦予世界多樣性之意。為專題揭開序幕的首篇研究論文〈另一種「另一種電影」：論楊德昌《獨立時代》的文藝腔與電影性〉，林松輝即給了這部在楊導創作生涯中可謂被漠視甚至被嚴重低估的影片全新的詮釋。《獨立時代》（1994）的獨樹一格，在於它出乎意料地與美國通俗劇與脫線喜劇電影傳統產生類型連結之際，更以可貫穿好萊塢與華語電影的文藝腔，闡述解嚴臺灣的獨立時代與儒者困惑，成為了迥異於以寫實作為新電影基因的另一種電影。無獨有偶，《獨立時代》多種檔案於展覽出土，對於林克明而言，亦是新視角的啟動。〈從劇場到擴延電影：《獨立時代》的互媒影像〉著眼於楊導將電影打造為足以表現劇場化與卡通化的互媒體，尤其藉由盒內鏡頭、雙人鏡頭、水平走位／水平鏡頭運動等手法，一方面將影片視為一種由各種表演展間組成的展覽電影，另一方面則藉此彰顯他對彼時處於獨立與困惑的臺灣社會的積極反思。
第三篇與第四篇研究論文，乃關於楊德昌兩部在其創作生涯中剛好各代表一個完結階段的影片：完成於新電影最終時期的《恐怖份子》（1986）與最後的長片《一一》（2000）。謝世宗的英文論文〈楊德昌《恐怖份子》的內外攝影機：照相、拜物主義與恐怖電影〉，匯聚歐美理論，藉由「恐怖電影」之名，論辯片中各式影像構成（譬如混血女孩回眸放大的照片、攝影師在天橋上拍攝行人的場景）如何反思性地強迫觀眾直視當代都市駭人的日常與景觀，達到社會批判的目的。黃慕清的〈《一一》之詮釋：對立與對偶〉則透過佛洛姆（Erich Fromm）的《愛的藝術》（The Art of Loving）與錢穆的《民族與文化》等文本，融合玻璃鏡像、環境聲響與美術設計等影音細節，闡釋這部全球普遍受到高度推崇的作品中有關人性與仁愛之價值。
除了研究論文，本專題同時收錄兩篇文稿。林奎章是籌劃「一一重構：楊德昌」展覽的團隊成員之一，藉此得以在第一時間閱讀到已故導演的史料與手稿。〈一座城市三樣情：再讀電影《青梅竹馬》、劇本《信念與疑惑》、小說《炎夏之都》〉，即為他比較《青梅竹馬》（1985）、原著劇本與小說，來重思有關影片創作歷程與性別表徵的寶貴成果。蔡文晟的〈展覽楊德昌：創生創世者，可能嗎？〉屬於展覽評論，文章言簡意賅，慧心巧思，經由手與蒙太奇辯證研究與創生的潛力，在為「一一重構：楊德昌」繪製最動人的瞬間，提示出展覽內在幽微地與電影史乃至藝術史對話之處，亦讓專題回到電影研究無不時時刻刻處於劃界（bordering）的思想行動。
When the exhibition A One and A Two: Edward Yang Retrospective had its finissage in late October 2023, it didn’t signify the end of an era for the Taiwan New Cinema movement, which recently marked its 40th anniversary, nor did it solidify the immortal status of the director Edward Yang, who passed away 17 years ago. Instead, it marked the beginning of a new era of art historical inquiry into their legacies. Suppose the eminent masters and classic works have never been absent from the researchers’ studies. In that case, we must revisit this Taiwanese film director who left behind over ten thousand pieces of manuscripts and audiovisual materials. Therefore, the significances of this “exhibition of cinema” include an extraordinary collaboration between the Taipei Fine Arts Museum and the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute and the opportunity the exhibition presented for cross-media and cross-discipline explorations in film historiography within the white cube. In other words, a “exhibition of cinema” not only redefines audiovisual works as novel sensory events but also combines various personal and historical archives to activate the writing agency for “Remapping the Cinematic World of Edward Yang.”
Here, “remapping” implies reinterpretation, reconfiguration, and dismantling boundaries to endow the world with diversity. The first essay, “Another Kind of ‘Another Kind of Cinema’: On Speech Affectation and the Cinematic in Edward Yang’s A Confucian Confusion,” Song Hwee LIM sheds new light on this film, which has been neglected and even underestimated in Edward Yang’s career. The uniqueness of A Confucian Confusion (1994) lies in its unexpected genre connection with the tradition of American soap operas and screwball comedies. It also uses a literary style that spans both Hollywood and Chinese-language films to depict the era of independence and Confucian confusion in post-martial law Taiwan. This film becomes another kind, of cinema, distinct from the realism that is the genetic marker of New Taiwanese Cinema. Coincidentally, various archives of A Confucian Confusion were unearthed in the exhibition. For Ke-Ming LIN, the exhibition offered him new perspectives. In his “From Theater to Expanded Cinema: The Intermedial Image of A Confucian Confusion,” Lin focuses on how Yang crafted the film into an intermedia capable of expressing theatricality and cartoonishness. By employing techniques such as the box shot, two-shot, and eye-level movement, the film is seen as an exhibition film composed of various performance spaces while also highlighting his active reflection on Taiwanese society in a state of independence and confusion.
In the following two essays, the authors focus on two of Edward Yang’s films that represent distinct final stages in his career: “The Terrorizers” (1986), completed during the final period of the New Cinema movement, and his last feature film “Yi Yi” (2000). In Elliott Shr-tzung SHIE’s essay, “Cameras inside and outside Edward Yang’s The Terrorizers: Photography, Fetishism, and the Cinema of Terror,” he draws upon Western theories to argue that the film’s diverse imagery (such as the close-up of the mixed-race girl’s face and the photographer capturing pedestrians on the overpass) reflexively forces viewers to confront the terrifying everyday life and landscapes of the modern city, thus achieving a social critique through the lens of “the Cinema of Terror.” In “Interpretation of ‘Yi Yi’: Opposition and Duality,” HUANG Mu-ching, through texts like Erich Fromm’s The Art of Loving and Qian Mu’s Nationality and Culture, and incorporating audiovisual details like mirror reflections, ambient sounds, and production design, elucidates the values of humanity and benevolence in this globally acclaimed work.
Besides the essays, this issue also includes two other articles. Kuei-chang LIN, a member of the curatorial team A One and A Two: Edward Yang Retrospective, had firsthand access to the late director’s historical materials and manuscripts. In his article, “Three Faces of a City: Revisiting the Film Taipei Story, the Screenplay On Faith and Suspicion and the Novella A City of Hot Summer,” Lin compares Taipei Story(1985) with its original screenplay and novel, offering valuable insights into the film’s creative process and gender representation. TSAI Wen-sheng’s exhibition review “Exhibiting Edward Yang, or Is It Possible to Beget a Demiurge?” is concise and insightful, exploring the potential of creation through the dialectics of hands and montage. By capturing the most poignant moments of A One and A Two: Edward Yang Retrospective, the article highlights the subtle dialogues within the exhibition between film history and art history, bringing the special issue back to the ever-present bordering thought actions of film studies.
