Let me start from the end. As the credits roll, a slightly unexpected feast for the ear unfolded in a very familiar melody sung in Mandarin, "A whiff of cloud at the edge of the sky" (Tian bian yi duo yun) Chinese title of the movie as well as a popular hit in the fifties that was in turn adopted from an even more popular hit "The Wayward wind":
The wayward wind
Is a restless wind
A restless wind
That yearns to wander
And he was born
The next of kin
The next of kin
To the wayward wind
The movie itself is simple enough, constructed in three interspersed segments. First, we have a guy meets girl story that's not really unconventional, starting with simple sharing of joys like culinary adventure, followed by gradual sexual awakening. What complicates things is segment two, that he is a porno star by profession which she doesn't know. Finally, the entire movie is interspersed with movie videos of popular Mandarin hits in the fifties and sixties, including some adapted from English hits, with The Wayward Wind being one, and at least one other, It's Only The Beginning.
The punchiest thing about this movie, which is the also the most controversial and provoking, is its message, and the way it is delivered. People looking for a porno in this movie are in for a shock. They will discover that watching a porno is one thing, but watching shooting a porno is something else. The former is meant to excite, but what director Tsai did in the movie is to expose all the ugly absurdity of the latter. That is why many people walked out. That is also why this movie won a prize in Berlin.
The wayward wind
Is a restless wind
A restless wind
That yearns to wander
And he was born
The next of kin
The next of kin
To the wayward wind
The movie itself is simple enough, constructed in three interspersed segments. First, we have a guy meets girl story that's not really unconventional, starting with simple sharing of joys like culinary adventure, followed by gradual sexual awakening. What complicates things is segment two, that he is a porno star by profession which she doesn't know. Finally, the entire movie is interspersed with movie videos of popular Mandarin hits in the fifties and sixties, including some adapted from English hits, with The Wayward Wind being one, and at least one other, It's Only The Beginning.
The punchiest thing about this movie, which is the also the most controversial and provoking, is its message, and the way it is delivered. People looking for a porno in this movie are in for a shock. They will discover that watching a porno is one thing, but watching shooting a porno is something else. The former is meant to excite, but what director Tsai did in the movie is to expose all the ugly absurdity of the latter. That is why many people walked out. That is also why this movie won a prize in Berlin.