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River (The)
- Director: Ming-liang Tsai
- Writer: Ming-liang Tsai; Yi-chun Tsai
- Producer: Shun-Ching Chiu; Hu-pin Chung
CGiii Comment
This film will make you want to pee - constantly.
The River has been proclaimed a masterpiece by some.
Tsai has been classed as one of the greatest directors of all time (by a certain newspaper).
Did they watch the same film?
It's dark and it's boring.
The ridiculous storyline, apart from rushing to the loo every 2 minutes, will have you reaching for the FF button - because nothing happens and when it does...it happens slowly.
As a mood piece - be prepared to get a little grumpy.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
In Taiwan, Xiao-kang, a young man in his early 20s, lives with his parents in near silence. He is plagued by severe neck pain. His father is bedeviled by water first leaking into his bedroom and then flooding the apartment; rain is incessant. Xiao-kang's mother is overcome by sexual longing for her son, sometimes making seemingly incestuous overtures. They try virtually every intervention for Xiao-kang's neck: Western medicine, a chiropractor, acupuncture, an herbal doctor, and a faith healer, Master Liu. Are the family's silent dynamics and Xiao-kang's neck pain connected? And what about the body floating in the Tamsui River: is everything dead?
Cast & Characters
Tien Miao as Father;
Kang-sheng Lee as Kang-Sheng,
Xiao-Kang;
Yi-Ching Lu as Mother;
Ann Hui as Director;
Shiang-chyi Chen as Girl;
Chao-jung Chen as Anonymous Man;
Shiao-Lin Lu as Mother's lover;
Kuei-Mei Yang as Girl in Hotel