There are seven segments of the Walker series and I've seen five of them. They belong to a set of films that I consider to be primarily meditative, to allow my imagination and thought to explore areas never considered. It is slow in order to give time for meditation, but that isn't really different from Into Great Silence, Alamar or other slow cinema on my list. Rather than keeping our mind busy, slow cinema allows for the expansion of the mind. Instead of spoon feeding us the thoughts we should have, slow cinema gives us time to consider and grow who we already are. It is not exciting, and, in fact, it can seem boring. I can see the impulse of sleepiness. But these films also provide an opportunity for us to linger in our own thoughts, something that is missing in our smart-phone, over-media-ed world. Slow cinema is one way of stepping out of the urban frenzy most of us live in.
Slow cinema gives space without plot. Which is why the most recent segment of the Walker series, "No No Sleep" was disappointing to me. It had too much plot to be truly meditative. I found myself analyzing the film, trying to put the pieces together instead of allowing it to direct me through my own thoughts. But perhaps, 1SO, it would be better for you.
Journey to the West has many of the same elements of the other Walker films-- the self-referential terribly slow moving monk through people living in a busy metropolis. But the monk is simply one aspect of a larger world in Journey, not the center of attention. As the series goes on, the Walker himself is seen from a more distant lens, and there is more going on around him. I love the one called "Walker", which focuses on him, and this one the best, especially as a contrast. I put Journey on my list as a representative of the whole series.
I doubt there will be another one made. Lee Kang-Sheng says that the role is too punishing on his body. But he and Tsai have made a remarkable world and spirituality to explore in their seven films.
