- guardian.co.uk,
- Monday February 25 2008 10.41 GMT
"This is not a porn movie. This is a movie about human emotions," says Malaysian/Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-Liang, who won three awards for this very strange piece of surreal minimalism, but also had festival audience walkouts. It seems designed to split audiences, being virtually free of plot and dialogue, but concerning itself with a graphic sex film, a heat wave, inventively choreographed musical numbers and watermelons - "a big red one means you're wildly in love," apparently - lifts and fridges. It has a musical number reminiscent of The Laughing Policeman and an adaptation of The Wayward Wind, a 60s UK hit for Frank Ifield, which lends itself to the film's remodelled title. It conflates food and sex in a very Oriental way, reminiscent of Japan's Tampopo but to more obscure effect.
I think Tsai is anti-porn and pro-love, as this film's shocking finale suggests, but it's sometimes hard to know. Regular Tsai fans may find this less puzzling, since it has been regarded as the conclusion of a rough trilogy. Axiom also release his follow-up, I Don't Want To Sleep Alone, with the same lead actors, Lee Kang-Sheng and Chen Shiang-Chyi, simultaneously. It's one to avoid if you want something linear, but if you're a connoisseur of the disorientating and didn't think Hallam Foe or Eagle Vs Shark were quite odd enough, you might find this up your street.
