Tai yang wu zhi

This is the last of Bryan Chang's moon-star-sun (in that order) trilogy. Of the other two, I've only watched Among the Stars (2000), which I quite enjoyed. As characteristic of independent films, "Eclipse" comes with its doses of surreal. Still, one need not strive too hard with the hidden messages, but can simply sit back to enjoy a brief (90 minutes) sketch of a woman seeking refuge from an entangled relationship through a solitary retreat in the beautiful Lantau Islands. The breath-taking scenery of Sunset Peak (Tai Tung Shan) and Lantau beaches should please people who have and have not been there alike, while the open-ended dialogue and events provide some food for thought. Chan Shan-shan, who appeared also in Among the Stars, is very watchable. For people who have an appreciation for a different cinematic experience, Eclipse is worth a try.

One line in this meandering film struck a resonant chord.

If I didn't recall wrongly, its something about learning to forgive oneself for the lies one said. Guess I've told way too many lies in this life to have been struck so forcefully by words so sudden (words uttered from a clinically depressed film character no less)....

Somebody...help me...please...

That said, I really really hated this film, for IMO, it had genuine potential to be a masterpiece. But ultimately, it failed utterly, painfully, miserably. Huge disappointment this was for me, on account of the fact that there were admittedly many parts which transcended this bad movie. But its failures (most glaringly the excessive piling of meta 101 onto the screen and the lack of intuitive editing vision), left so huge a gaping hole, there's no way the gaps could have been filled, no matter how forgiving I'm prepared to be.

This is the worst film I have seen this year. Or is this yet another lie? Hmm....