Subdued is an acronym for the following: Strange, Ugly, Beautiful, Depressing, Upsetting, Erotic, Decisive. I saw this film at the Toronto Film Festival with Lee Kang Sheng in attendance. He called it a slow moving film and, if you've ever seen his films as an actor in Tsai Ming Liang's movies, you'd understand what he means. However, this movie (which Tsai Ming Liang executive produced) is not at a glacial pace. The main story is about Shen's character, an unemployed suicidal man who has been calling a suicide helpline. A parallel story is of a television chef who specializes in exotic cooking, who plies his overweight, sexually frustrated wife with the foods he cooks on television. In other words, that is the extent of their relationship now. There is excessive loneliness in this film. Kang Sheng's character also grows marijuana in his apartment and this helps garner the attention of hostess girls who are working in a bar below his apartment. To a one, the ladies are all young and sexy. The wife of the chef, it turns out, works at the suicide helpline, so there is the connection between her and Kang Sheng's character. Like many of Ming Liang's films, the city of Taipei is a co-star, ultra modern, detached and noisy. There are scenes which are darkly comic, thought provoking and sad. This movie affected me greatly. I felt for this man trying to rise out of the depths of despair. Not for the faint of heart, but if you're a fan of Tsai Ming Liang & Lee Kang Sheng, this is essential viewing.
Review of Help Me, Eros
