Chen Chao-jung

Defying by his parents, Hsiao Kang drops out of the local crammer to head for the bright lights of downtown Taipei. He falls in with Ah Tze, a pretty hood and their relationships is a confused mixture of hero-worship and rivalry that soon leads to trouble.

Tsai Ming-liang's sophomore feature follows three lonely souls sharing a Taipei apartment. Realtor May Lin brings her lover Ah-jung to the vacant unit, unaware that it is secretly occupied by suicidal funeral salesman Hsiao-kang. They each cross paths in a series of precisely staged, tragicomic encounters but, despite their physical proximity, find themselves no closer to a personal connection.

In Tsai Ming-liang’s minimalist film, the Fu-Ho Grand, a movie palace in Taipei, is closing its doors. Its valedictory screening, King Hu’s 1967 wuxia epic “Dragon Inn”, plays to a motley smattering of spectators, including two stars of Hu’s original opus, Miao Tien and Shih Chun, who watch their younger selves with tears in their eyes.