Somehow, amazingly, this film manages to correct nearly every problem I've had with Tsai Ming-Liang's work so far, and yet at the same time amplify, if anything, everything I love about his films to begin with. At last he has made a film that actually leads up to something resembling a satisfying climax (very literally, actually). Also, it may just be that I saw it in a theater, but the cinematography seemed far and away much better than any of his previous films. It's easily one of the most beautiful films, visually, that I've ever seen, up there with the best of Wong Kar-Wai, no question. It's also, somewhat oddly, both his most accessible film (possibly) and also, by far, his most confrontational and edgy. This is, basically, his "Brown Bunny" or "Ken Park", and i mean that in the best possible way. That said, it may not be his most consistent film, but it is probably his most rewarding. Also, watching it with an audience that laughed at all the right places was rather remarkable. At times I felt like Tsai Ming-Liang was playing up to the audience's expectations too much, but my opinion in that regard was completely changed by the end of the film.
Review of The Wayward Cloud
