Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Merolliv I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

another_heavenly_world This is in my opinion an excellent movie. I will start by its cinematic qualities, which in my opinion should always come first when reviewing a movie, and then extend into contents and general feel.The direction and photography are amazing. I've seen some bold attempts at making sexual sequences into art, but rarely have I seen such great achievement as in this movie. The use of colors, patterns, shades and glitter, is superb. I find the acting excellent as well. The soundtrack compliments the images adoringly and finds its climax at the music video-like sequences that emerge as marijuana visions with simple mellow songs that do shine, unfolding all the emotional tension that has been gathered throughout our incursion into this bleak urban universe we've dived into... A faithful portrait of contemporary contradictions in human society interlocked with the everlasting themes of the pursuit of pleasure, love, momentary relief and loss of purpose.On second notes I would add that this movie brings an excellent opportunity to have a first look at Taiwan's most exotic cuisine...In the end this comes as a strong movie (emotionally violent) whose thematic is well developed and as an artistic experience perfectly accomplished.

deetya It seems you have to understand Taiwan to be able to "get" this movie. Perhaps there's the relationship between the city of Kaohsiung vs Taipei; maybe Kaohsiungnese feel they do all the dirty work and Taipei reaps all the glamor. I dunno.Then there's the scene in a restaurant with the river in the background. How do we get the irony of him stalking who he thinks is the love of his life, if we don't know that the river is called the Love river? And how do the Kaohsiangnese feel about the empty, abandoned Dream Mall? Just another failed business prospect or the symbol of their fear of helplessness/loneliness? How do Taiwanese feel about eel? The same way an American feels about chicken? OK, just kidding on this one ^_^ Is there a significance to someone eating in front of restaurant board that shows the picture of a cobra? What were the papers raining down? Lottery papers? Stocks/ company shares receipts? Does it signify what I think it signifies? >Never mind, I read Aaron Mannino's review< *_*The movie has some great shots; the 2 grannies window-shopping stocks, the river as seen from the restaurant, the plantation, the scene where the husband and his friend were dressing with a red painting as a backdrop, the lonely pot of "weed" that now looks just like weed, symbolizing his descent, the brilliant ^_^ billiard scene, the brilliant but icky eel in the bathtub scene :-p Watch it on a large screen so you can enjoy the scenes.

wondercritic I watched this film in a packed auditorium at the 2008 Istanbul International Film Festival, and what amazed me was that there was not a single audible laugh throughout the entire thing. The reason this was amazing is that the movie is, in parts, truly hilarious. Perhaps because the feel and movement of the production is so realistic, and there are long sequences of no dialogue, the audience didn't know what it was watching. Also, because the movie has a lot of fairly explicit sex scenes and lots of marijuana smoking, some people were likely shocked. On one side of me sat a middle-aged woman who was evidently there with her daughter. The woman shook her head and put her hand to her mouth several times, and might have got up to leave if she hadn't had to climb over several laps to get out.The story follows a pot-smoking protagonist who has apparently fallen on hard times recently. He lives in a multi-floor apartment in Taipei that must be rather grand by the standards of Taiwan, but he's lost a lot of money in the stock market and now has to start selling his household goods to finance his pot habit. He's a small man in his mid- to late-thirties', and his girlfriend has recently left him. A few of the scenes of him stoned at home by himself are very funny. In one scene he is talking to (presumably) his ex-girlfriend on the phone while a kettle is boiling. He keeps walking back into the kitchen to take the kettle off the range and make it stop whistling, then going back in and putting it back on the burner, clearly having just forgotten why he took it off in the first place. People who have never experienced the effects of marijuana will not understand the humor, probably. In another scene he's watching a program on TV in which a fish is being prepared for some kind of traditional dish. The fish is scaled and gutted but is somehow still alive when served on the plate (a 'delicacy'). You can see the fish's mouth opening and closing in an obscene gaping motion, as our hero clutches a pillow and stares horrified and motionless at the screen.He has an instant messenger chat partner he has never met. His chat name is "Marihuana is God," hers is "Little Cookie." Little Cookie is one of the main characters but she is fat, largely because her husband—evidently a professional cook—cooks sumptuous dishes for her all the time at home. He long ago lost interest in her physically, and when a male guest comes to stay, she understands that the two of them are carrying on together. She develops an online attachment to Marihuana is God, but the protagonist is busy luring young, attractive hookers to his apartment, getting them stoned, and having gangbangs with them. One of the hookers actually starts to become attached to him, then is heartbroken when he only cares about getting stoned and having it off with any of the girls at the "hooker depot" where he originally picked her up.The value of this film, which is not high, is that it gives a vision of Taipei street life: strange, brightly-lit little kiosk-type shops where escort girls in see-thru skirts and hooker outfits sell cigarettes and other conveniences all night; credit hotline agencies where row upon row of girls in cubicles answer calls from the hordes of debtors in Taiwanese society; vans with screens on three sides broadcasting lottery news and results. It is ultimately a highly depressing image but it nevertheless feels real in its nihilism, and its examination of how debts and gambling affect Oriental societies more severely than Western ones. For anyone who wants a look at Taipei, this is worth a look. Otherwise this movie is just another post-post-modern slice of super-depression, depression that is not negated by all the laughs.

crossbow0106 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.