Cinema Pilgrimage to Zhongshan Bridge featured in Millennium Mambo
On my last day in Taipei, I took a bus ride to Keelung City to visit hopped on a bus to visit Zhongshan Bridge made famous for appearing in one of my favourite films, Millennium Mambo (Hou Hsiao-hsien, 2001). It’s in the opening scene of the film - and one of the most mesmerising opening scenes in cinema.
There was news a few years ago that it might get demolished, but I’m glad it’s still here and hope it can receive a cinema heritage protected site status.
A shout out to Jesse Cummings for sending me the correct location link to the bridge when I asked him about it (I first went to another Zhongshan Bridge in Taipei), and a hat tip to Ryan Swen’s tweet which I found when I was doing a bit more research about the bridge. He visited it a few days before I went, and it was the confirmation I needed that the bridge was still up.
Here’s the bridge in the opening scene of Millennium Mambo.
Another Hou Hsiao-Hsien related site I visited (in Taipei) was SPOT-Taipei Film House. The building used to be the US Ambassador residence, but it was changed to a cinema space established by Hou Hsiao-Hsien and inaugurated in 2002. It was very close to where I was staying so I went several times and also watched films there on two different nights. It’s a lovely and cosy space that includes a restaurant and a shop.
You can read more about it here.
