Tian bian yi duo yun (2005)

Director:

Ming-liang Tsai

Writer:

Ming-liang Tsai (writer)

Release Date:

18 March 2005 (Taiwan)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Musical | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Hsiao-Kang, now working as an adult movie actor, meets Shiang-chyi once again. Meanwhile, the city of Taipei faces a water shortage that makes the sales of watermelons skyrocket.

Plot Keywords:

Watermelon | Water | Taipei | Water Shortage | Taiwan

Awards:

5 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Kang-sheng Lee	...	Hsiao-Kang
Shiang-chyi Chen	...	Shiang-chyi
Yi-Ching Lu	...	Mother
Kuei-Mei Yang	...	Taiwanese Porn Actress
Sumomo Yozakura	...	Japanese Porn Star
Huan-Wen Hsiao
Hui-Xun Lin
Kuo-Xuan Jao
Shu-Mei Hung
David Yang
Huan-Wen Wu
Yu-Wei Chang
Xun-You Chou
Lee-Hsing Huang
Tian-Fu Hsu

Also Known As:

La saveur de la pastèque (France)
The Wayward Cloud (International: English title)
Un nuage au bord du ciel (France)

Runtime:

Hong Kong:114 min | USA:112 min | Argentina:114 min

Country:

France | Taiwan

Language:

Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Brazil:18 | Switzerland:18 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:18 (canton of Geneva) | Italy:VM18 | Norway:18 | South Korea:18 (re-rating) (cut) | South Korea:Limited (original rating) | France:-16 | UK:18 | Japan:R-18 | Portugal:M/16 | Argentina:18 | Hong Kong:III | Singapore:R21 (cut) | Taiwan:R-18

Filming Locations:

Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Company:

Arena Films

Trivia:

Before making The Wayward Cloud, Tsai would often joke that if his film career continued to have financial difficulties he would be forced to direct pornography.

Movie Connections:

References Annie Hall (1977)

Soundtrack:

Tong qing xin

A modern Masterpiece (not for the bubble gum audience)

I saw the film in a screening in the Jerusalem film festival in Israel. Tsai came with lee kang-sheng his actor and together they introduced the film to us Israeli film buffs. The film was a blast.

Tsai said many people leave before the end of the film, it certainly happened, but us who managed to enter the special "mode" tsai requires from his audience enjoyed a modern masterpiece! To me it felt like a mixture of tati's "playtime" and oshima's "in the realm of the senses", to witch you must add obscure eastern musical numbers. It was breathtaking, funny, disturbing, sad and romantic.

It's true, the film shows men and women in degrading situations - but that is the main issue of the film and it deals with it with great compassion. The image of kang-sheng sitting in the street after the shooting of a porn scene, to discover ants crawling on his chest and forehead says it all.

Thank you very much Tsai Ming-liang.