
Edward Yang directs Cora Miao, Ma Shao-chun and Wang An in this Taiwanese drama where a photographer, a novelist, a hustler and a hospital administrator’s lives intersect in curious ways.
Every frame is like an Edward Hopper painting. Lonely people lost in urban isolation. Yang holds on them patiently whether populated or not. The best shots are silent, we have to figure out how they further the various dramas along. Then when lives do crossover it proves illicitly exciting. There’s plenty of low stake crime, sexual tension and urban malaise. It proves a compelling couple of hours. Truly cinematic but with the rewarding intertwining of a big novel and the gentle magic of poetry.
8
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