Diamond Sutra
2012 · 20 min · ★ 6.0 · Drama, Documentary
In 2012, Taiwanese architects Michael Lin and Liao Wei-li invited Tsai Ming-Liang to create moving visuals for their exhibit at the Venise Architecture Biennale. Using the space at their preview exhibition in Taiwan, Tsai Ming-Liang made two short films, "Sleepwalk" and "Diamond Sutra", using the "Walker" concept. "Diamond Sutra" was later selected to be the opening short film for the Venise Film Festival. Tsai-Ming Liang said that gazing at the steam rising from a rice cooker reminded him of his mother's face as she laid dying, exhaling her final breath.
Directed by Tsai Ming-liang · Written by Tsai Ming-liang
Your Rating
Cast
-
Lee Kang-sheng Monk
Make it a double feature
1h 16m togetherBoth from Tsai Ming-liang.
Walker SeriesSee all →
Walker · 2012Walker
★ 6.22012
MovieDramaDocumentary
In 2012, the Hong Kong International Film Festival invited Tsai Ming-Ling to make the opening short film. Having grown up with Hong Kong's popular culture, Tsai Ming-Liang decided to pay homage by making a "Walker" film, contrasting the Walker's slowness with the frenzied pace of Hong Kong's cosmopolitan life. The film ends with a song by Hong Kong actor and singer Samuel Hui, who was Tsai Ming-Liang's idol during his youth. The film was invited to be the closing short film for the Cannes Film Festival in 2012.
Sleepwalk · 2012Sleepwalk
★ 6.02012
MovieDramaDocumentary
A continuation of Tsai Ming-Liang's Walker series, featuring Lee Kang-Sheng as a barefoot monk who walks very slowly.
No Form · 2012No Form
2012
MovieDramaDocumentary
In 2011, Tsai Ming-Liang staged a play, "Only You", for Taiwan's National Theater and Concert Hall. In it, there was a powerfully moving scene where monk Xuanzang walked at an extremely slow pace for half an hour. Lamenting the transient nature of theater, Tsai decided to make a movie out of this slow-walking performance, "No Form", the first of his "Walker Films" series.
Journey to the West · 2014Journey to the West
★ 6.32014
MovieDrama
In 2014, Tsai Ming-Liang was invited to make a film for the MarseilleFID, Marseille International Film Festival. Since he was not familiar with Marseille, he decided to make a film as tourist, capturing the beautiful Mediterranean sunshine in the late summer of that year. He also invited famous French actor, Denis Lavant, to appear alongside Lee Kang-Sheng playing Xuanzang. "Journey to the West" was invited to be the opening short film at the Berlin International Film Festival the same year.
No No Sleep · 2015No No Sleep
★ 6.12015
MovieDramaDocumentary
In the wee hours of winter a night train travels through a sleepless city. This is a panorama of a Buddhist monk’s journey through Tokyo at night. He also stops at a bath-house in a capsule hotel, where he makes a brief encounter.
Sand · 2018Sand
2018
MovieDramaDocumentary
In 2018, Tsai Ming-Liang was invited by the Northeast and Yilan Coast National Scenic Area Administration to make this film, his eighth in the "Walker" series. In the constant passage of time, the Zen-like footsteps of the Walker has finally allowed us to see the Pacific Ocean, the open sky, the seagulls, the black sand, an eel catching settlement that arose in the cold winter rain, the twisting branches of the lintou trees, flotsam piled up like mountains, and a newly constructed cement house, which seems to offer a temporary place of rest for the Walker. "Sand" premiered together with the opening of the Zhuangwei Dune Visitor Center.
Where · 2022Where
2022
MovieDramaDocumentary
The ninth opus of his Walker Films series, which was shot at Centre Pompidou.
Abiding Nowhere · 2024Abiding Nowhere
★ 7.02024
MovieDramaDocumentary
The walker with the shaved head and dressed in a red robe is barefoot. He walks slowly but determinedly through the forest, over stones and grassland. He also makes his way through the shadows of trees and houses. He sets foot in the train station, the church and the museum. The sun rises and sets again. The walker passes through Washington, D.C. Another stranger is also on the move in the city. We are unsure whether or not he is following the walker.
Night Journey · 2025Night Journey
2025
MovieDramaDocumentary
A sleeping city, streets without people. A figure in a red robe walks slowly — across a carpet of leaves, over cobblestones, along the cold pavement. Autumn night fog descends upon the city. In the cinema, people watch the monk’s slow steps and fall asleep. Can phantoms meet and understand each other? Night Journey was created in just ten days through a collaboration between Tsai Ming-liang and FAMU students — a tribute to cinema and to Jihlava as a place of silent dreaming.
Dust · 2026Dust
★ 7.52026
MovieDocumentaryDrama
He wanders around the Comb of the Wind, where the sea rises and breaks against the shore. Along the way, he passes an old Basque farmhouse, a silent man, a woman drinking water, a woman smoking, punks gathered in a rock bar, and people in the ancient city at sunset. The Diamond Sutra speaks of all living beings in these words: "Specks of dust are not specks of dust; therefore, they are called specks of dust".
More from Tsai Ming-liangSee all →
Dust · 2026Dust
★ 7.52026
MovieDocumentaryDrama
He wanders around the Comb of the Wind, where the sea rises and breaks against the shore. Along the way, he passes an old Basque farmhouse, a silent man, a woman drinking water, a woman smoking, punks gathered in a rock bar, and people in the ancient city at sunset. The Diamond Sutra speaks of all living beings in these words: "Specks of dust are not specks of dust; therefore, they are called specks of dust".
Back Home · 2025Back Home
★ 7.52025
MovieDocumentary
Tsai Ming-liang's new film, Back Home, depicts Anong Houngheuangsy and the daily life of his home village in Laos. We witness buildings in varying states of habitation and disrepair, farm animals, rice fields, religious sites, domestic scenes, a sun-dappled food market, and a dog adorably trying (and failing) to escape a carnival ride.
Rebels of the Neon God · 1994Rebels of the Neon God
★ 7.31994
MovieDramaCrime
In Taipei, four youths face alienation, loneliness, and moments of existential crisis amidst a series of minor crimes.
Vive L'Amour · 1994Vive L'Amour
★ 7.31994
MovieDrama
Three lonely young denizens of Taipei unknowingly share an apartment: May, a real estate agent who uses it for her sexual affairs; Ah-jung, her current lover; and Hsiao-kang, who's stolen the key and uses the apartment as a retreat.
The Hole · 1998The Hole
★ 7.01998
MovieDramaRomance
In the final days of the year 1999, almost everyone in Taiwan has died from a strange plague that ravished the island. As rain pours down relentlessly, a single man is stuck with an unfinished plumbing job and a hole in his floor. This results in a very odd relationship with the woman who lives below him.
What Time Is It There? · 2001What Time Is It There?
★ 7.02001
MovieDrama
A street vendor with a grim home-life forges a connection with a young woman on her way to Paris.
Abiding Nowhere · 2024Abiding Nowhere
★ 7.02024
MovieDramaDocumentary
The walker with the shaved head and dressed in a red robe is barefoot. He walks slowly but determinedly through the forest, over stones and grassland. He also makes his way through the shadows of trees and houses. He sets foot in the train station, the church and the museum. The sun rises and sets again. The walker passes through Washington, D.C. Another stranger is also on the move in the city. We are unsure whether or not he is following the walker.
Goodbye, Dragon Inn · 2003Goodbye, Dragon Inn
★ 6.82003
MovieDrama
On a dark, wet night in Taipei City, a cavernous old picture palace is about to close its doors forever. A meager audience, the remaining few staff, and perhaps even a ghost or two, watch King Hu’s wuxia classic "Dragon Inn", each haunted by memories and desires evoked by cinema itself.
Wandering · 2021Wandering
★ 6.82021
MovieDrama
This short by Tsai Ming-liang, completed in 2021, was filmed at "the Dune" in Yilan, Taiwan, where the eight films in his Walker series were being shown.
The River · 1997The River
★ 6.81997
MovieDramaRomance
A young man develops severe neck pain after swimming in a polluted river for a movie shoot, but nobody can provide him any relief.
I Don't Want to Sleep Alone · 2006I Don't Want to Sleep Alone
★ 6.62006
MovieDramaRomance
Rawang, an immigrant from Bangladesh living in awful conditions, takes pity on a Chinese man, Hsiao-kang, who is beaten up and left in the street. Rawang lovingly nurses him on a mattress he found. When he is almost healed, Hsiao-kang meets the waitress Chyi. His love for Rawang is put to the test.
Single Belief · 2016Single Belief
★ 6.52016
Movie
Ximending was once the trendiest area in Taipei, and it's also where Kang-sheng Lee's first film was shot. Twenty years ago, director Ming-liang Tsai asked Lee if he wanted to be in his film, and Lee's answer changed the course of his own life forever. Now Lee returns to where his career began to shoot a film about himself.
To Each His Own Cinema · 2007To Each His Own Cinema
★ 6.42007
MovieComedyDrama
Commissioned to mark the 60th anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival, "To Each His Own Cinema" brought together 33 of the world's pre-eminent filmmakers to produce short pieces exploring the multifarious facets of cinema and their perspective on the state of their chosen artform in the early 21st century.
Days · 2021Days
★ 6.32021
MovieDrama
Kang lives alone in a big house, Non in a small apartment in town. They meet, and then part, their days flowing on as before.
Journey to the West · 2014Journey to the West
★ 6.32014
MovieDrama
In 2014, Tsai Ming-Liang was invited to make a film for the MarseilleFID, Marseille International Film Festival. Since he was not familiar with Marseille, he decided to make a film as tourist, capturing the beautiful Mediterranean sunshine in the late summer of that year. He also invited famous French actor, Denis Lavant, to appear alongside Lee Kang-Sheng playing Xuanzang. "Journey to the West" was invited to be the opening short film at the Berlin International Film Festival the same year.
The Game They Call Sex · 1987The Game They Call Sex
★ 6.31987
MovieRomanceDrama
Xiao-Min, engaged before finishing high school, finds herself trapped in a loveless, sexless marriage, with her curiosity about the world unfulfilled. Her monotonous life as a housewife is disrupted by a young intruder, sparking change. Following her divorce, she faces loneliness and confusion about intimacy. What path will she choose now?
More Like This
Couldn't load this row right now.
