He liu (1997)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Ming-liang Tsai

Writers:

Ming-liang Tsai (writer)
Yi-chun Tsai (writer)

Release Date:

27 August 1997 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

In Taiwan, Xiao-kang, a young man in his early 20s, lives with his parents in near silence. He is plagued by severe neck pain...

Plot Keywords:

Neck | Water | Hotel Room | Sequel | Incest

Awards:

5 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Tien Miao	...	Father
Kang-sheng Lee	...	Kang-Sheng, Xiao-Kang
Yi-Ching Lu	...	Mother (as Hsiao-Ling Lu)
Ann Hui	...	Director (as Anne Hui)
Shiang-chyi Chen	...	Girl
Chao-jung Chen	...	Anonymous Man
Shiao-Lin Lu	...	Mother's lover (as Long Chang)
Kuei-Mei Yang	...	Girl in Hotel

Also Known As:

He liou (Taiwan)
The River

Runtime:

115 min | Germany:116 min

Country:

Taiwan

Language:

Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

Singapore:(Banned) | Argentina:18 | Chile:18 | Germany:16 | Hungary:16 | Portugal:M/12 | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Taipei City, Taiwan

Trivia:

The director of the movie in which Xiao-Keng floats in the river is played by real-life Hong Kong director Ann Hui.

Movie Connections:

Follows Ai qing wan sui (1994)

A Film of Shocking Power

Although the first thing that strikes you about 'The River' is its measured pace and relaxed narrative style, you will soon feel yourself giving up the rein to this film that demands respect.

It is a film that documents social decline in the modern world, a kind of alienation and dysfunction that has become a staple of arthouse cinema, and yet treats it with such originality and audacity that it seems brand new all over again. It is the kind of film I like: the kind of film that uses 'dead time', the type pioneered by Antonioni, that establishes the film within a natural context and long takes that never disrupt the time-truth of the images, resulting in film that hardly ever manipulates or patronizes the audience. It relies instead on the understanding that the audience will accept (or possibly relish in) the films distinctly alternative themes and form. Indeed, the film has its flaws, as all films must, but I feel that it is the measured pace that will test most- don't let it! After-all, it is only 114 minutes long.

A film laced with a quite understatement that explodes towards the end in a finale that is, in my viewing experience, un-equaled in its shocking power. Recommended.