Rebels of the Neon God (Taiwanese: Ch'ing shaonien ne cha, literally Teenaged Nezha) is a 1992 Taiwanese film by Tsai Ming-liang. It is his first full-length film. It tells two stories of Taipei youth. One details alienated buxiban student Hsiao Kang (Lee Kang-sheng) and his troubled interactions with his family. The other shows two petty hoods, Ah Tze and Ah Bing, along with Ah Kuei, Tze's erstwhile girlfriend. An idle act of violence brings the two groups into collision, and an act of revenge at the end completes the circle. It is a story of troubled youth, dissatisfaction, and the alienating effect of urban life. Much of Rebels of the Neon God is filmed in various arcades and malls in Taipei and on the streets of the city with hand-held cameras. It is filmed in a much more naturalistic manner than some of Tsai's later work. The Taiwanese title refers to Nezha, a powerful child god in Chinese classical mythology who was born into a human family. Nezha is impulsive and disobedient. He...