The River

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04/21/2018 I just couldn't get into this. The first 15 minutes or so were quite intriguing but after that the pace dropped to a near-standstill, and the excruciatingly long takes of utterly everyday things got on my nerves. See more 02/05/2017 By a large margin, my favourite film of all time. Not only does it tackle alienation as well as Rebels of a Neon God, but the link between his family strife and abuse and his neck pain is one of the most powerful metaphors ever seen in cinema. His tragic fall from normality to submissive, silenced victim is unparalleled in modern cinema. There is only on Tsai Ming-Liang and there is only one 'The River'. Bravo! See more 12/12/2015 Tsai Ming-Liang seems to have a preoccupation with urban disconnect. While The River appears early on to be focusing on generational differences and how we decay with age, he reveals that the two characters who would embody the disparate elements of this idea are directly related (literally), signaling that Tsai is instead looking once again at said urban disconnect to captivating results. A young, gorgeous Hsiao-Kang runs into a girl he hasn't seen in two years and is invited to visit a film set where she is working. He's asked to play a dead body in the film, floating in polluted water for a minute or two. The pair later have sex, sex that is juxtaposed with the "intimacy" of an older couple who seem to be miserable together. Their lives are grim. The father cleans, sits alone in McDonald's (talk about decay), and regularly frequents bathhouses for cheap sexual gratification from reluctant male workers. The mother watches porn alone and is having an unfulfilling affair with someone in that industry. They sleep in separate rooms. The roof starts leaking dirty water. Hsiao-Kang is shown to be their son and starts dealing with horrible neck pain immediately after his day on set. They're all miserable and everything goes downhill from there. Tsai's direction is deliberate, with static shots and very long takes, focusing on rundown buildings, rain, leakage, and urban decay. Thematically, it resembles an Antonioni film in its focus on modern disconnect and existential sickness from physical and spiritual pollution, these ideas similarly crammed into every frame leaving plenty for audience members to ruminate on. It ends perfectly, doubling down on its bleak nature in a way that is bold without being gratuitous, a near perfect addition to what is likely a brilliant body of work from an essential director. See more 04/10/2015 Useless anmo therapy. Useless acupuncture therapy. See more 04/08/2014 people come and go but the river keeps on flowing See more 03/25/2013 some don't like tsai's pacing but i have found him mesmerizing and this is certainly no exception. and while many considered it bleak, i saw it more as a black comedy. i'm watching tsai's films in order which isn't strictly necessary i guess but i do believe there is an overarching narrative and this is an important piece of the puzzle. to be continued... See more Read all reviews

The River

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