prothumia

With little dialogue, this film illustrates the fickleness of relationships and the insecurity of our expectations for the future. I was absolutely swept away by the intensity of this poignant film which uses the actors' skills in performing instead of beating the audience over the head with lengthly dialogue and explanation. Every stimulating inch of this film contributes to the director's message from the landscape shots of distant rocky islands to the crumbling ruins of churches and even the march of schoolchildren with their tutors. Claudia, hounded by the penetrating stares of men, watches as those closest to her succumb to opportunity instead of remaining devoted to her. Sandro is surprised by how she "must see everything clearly." She cannot understand how others can lose intensity in a relationship because her devotion is ever pure and strong.

Every second of this film is calculated. Whether it is a shadow crossing a bed or the obstructed view out a doorway. It is an excellent story about taboo and how defilement can exist in many ways. The audience watches as a white-clad, pristine, Taiwanese youth is marred by his immediate environment, a close friend, and then his own family. The director illustrates Tai Pei as a filthy industrial cesspool by concentrating the film's landscape in the inner city.

Besides the subject matter, the director uses agonizing long shots to make the audience uncomfortable. There is no soothing music, only the roar of cars and other urban noise. It left me breathless. The best film I have seen to date.