Hou constructs his cinematic space through gradual, incremental revelation. Since each view is locked into a predefined axis, the overall sense of space builds slowly over the course of the film. At times, spaces which seem like separate locations are suddenly revealed to be adjacent. Only by actively perceiving visual cues can the spectator construct a more complex sense of the relationships between spaces. These visual cues consist of pans from one axis to another, as well as props or landmarks acting as spatial anchors which may be seen from more than one axis. The spatial relationship for two of the most high used spaces in the film --- the main entranceway with its porcelain vase and the shrine room --- is hazy at best. The spectator knows they are in the same house, however, only late in the film does a discreet cut from one long take to another reveal they are adjacent rooms. (B 00:19- 2:30) Both spaces are familiar because Hou always uses the same camera angle whenever he returns to each room; that they are adjacent is evident only when Oldest Brother walks from one room to the other.
In this way, initially fragmented space is incrementally homogenized, until one should have a sense of any set's layout by the end of the film. Hou's gradual revelation of space, the variation from view to view as the camera is placed at different points along its axes, and the concomitant play of graphic forms serve to unify the film structurally while maintaining a quality of indeterminacy and fragmentation that contributes to the film's dialogical properties.