The River (1997)

Recommended

Taiwan

Feature Film

Original Title: 河流

Director: Tsai Ming-liang

Writers: Tsai Ming-liang, Tsai Yi-chun, Yang Pi-ying

Cinematographer: Liao Pen-jung

Cast: Lee Kang-sheng, Miao Tien, Lu Hsiao-Ling, Ann Hui, Chen Shiang-chyi

An unhappy Taipei family strive to alleviate their problems; the father, who frequents gay bathhouses, struggles manfully to manage a gushing leak from his bedroom ceiling; the mother struggles to find an appropriate outlet for her sexual desires; and the son, who recently played the part of a floating corpse in a polluted river in an Ann Hui film, suffers with a debilitating neck problem, in Tsai’s enigmatic minimalist drama, which lacks the poignancy and humour of his best work. Iain.Stott