The Decade List: The Wayward Cloud (2005)

The Wayward Cloud – dir. Tsai Ming-liang

I don’t know if that whole Tsai Ming-liang vs. Hou Hsiao-hsien argument is still a relevant discussion among cinephiles, and I hope it’s not because I’ve never really been able to pick a side on that delicate issue if we’re taking their whole filmographies into consideration. However, while some might disagree, Tsai’s oeuvre of the ‘00s didn’t really live up to the slew of great films he made in the ‘90s (the same can’t be said for Hou). Neither What Time Is It There? nor Goodbye, Dragon Inn affected me the way they did others I know, and I was severely underwhelmed by I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone. However, the shining reminder of why I love Tsai Ming-liang arrived with probably the least popular of his recent outlets, The Wayward Cloud, a singin’-and-dancin’-and-umbrella-twirlin’-watermelon-suckin’ musical about a mute “love affair” between a porn actor (regular Lee Kang-sheng) and a lonely water-bottle collector (regular Chen Shiang-chyi) during a portentous drought in Taiwan.

Certainly, it’s Tsai’s naughtiest film, and I like to think that isn’t the reason why it stood out for me more than What Time Is It There?, which truly is a finer film than this one. But, in the end, The Wayward Cloud pays off in ways you never expect (I avoided using the “climax” as the verb in that sentence). It’s one of those great cinematic moments that defies anyone to rationally explain what it’s conjuring in them. I can’t say that the languid pacing and existential quandaries we’ve come to expect from the director are put to their best use here either, but it all leads to that finale, one should linger in your mind for a really long time, no matter what your disposition might be.

With: Lee Kang-sheng, Chen Shiang-chyi, Lu Yi-Ching, Yang Kuei-Mei, Sumomo Yozakura
Screenplay: Tsai Ming-liang
Cinematography: Liao Pen-jung
Country of Origin: Taiwan/France
US Distributor: Strand Releasing

Premiere: 16 February 2005 (Berlin International Film Festival)
US Premiere: 7 October 2005 (Chicago International Film Festival)

Awards: Outstanding Artistic Achievement – Tsai Ming-liang, FIPRESCI Prize – Competition (Berlin International Film Festival)

Previous 10: 11 September

Things didn't fare nearly as well this time around. Even the best entry out of all ten, Snow Angels, failed to move me like the director did with George Washington, but I've come to expect that maybe that film was David Gordon Green's finest hour.

La Crème

Snow Angels - dir. David Gordon Green - USA - Warner Independent - with Kate Beckinsale, Sam Rockwell, Michael Angarano, Amy Sedaris, Jeanetta Arnette, Olivia Thirlby, Griffin Dunne, Nicky Katt

Les Autres

Baby Mama - dir. Michael McCullers - USA - Universal - with Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Greg Kinnear, Sigourney Weaver, Dax Shepard, Romany Malco, Steve Martin, Maura Tierney

The Fall - dir. Tarsem - India/UK/USA - Roadside Attractions - with Lee Pace, Catinca Untaru, Justine Waddell, Kim Uylenbroek, Daniel Caltagirone, Marcus Wesley, Jeetu Verma, Leo Bill

Finding Amanda - dir. Peter Tolan - USA - Magnolia - with Matthew Broderick, Brittany Snow, Maura Tierney, Steve Coogan, Peter Facinelli

Help Me Eros - dir. Lee Kang-sheng - Taiwan - Strand Releasing - with Lee Kang-sheng, Jane Liao, Dennis Nieh, Ivy Yi

In Search of a Midnight Kiss - dir. Alex Holdridge - USA - IFC Films - with Scoot McNairy, Sara Simmonds, Brian McGuire, Kathleen Luong, Twink Caplan

The Bad!

Ben X - dir. Nic Balthazar - Netherlands/Belgium - Film Movement - with Greg Timmermans, Marijke Pinoy, Laura Verlinden, Pol Goossen, Titus De Voogdt, Maarten Claeyssens

Ice Blues - dir. Ron Oliver - USA - here! Films - with Chad Allen, Sebastian Spence, Daryl Shuttleworth, Sherry Miller, Nelson Wong, Brittney Wilson

Then She Found Me - dir. Helen Hunt - USA - ThinkFilm - with Helen Hunt, Colin Firth, Bette Midler, Matthew Broderick, Ben Shenkman, Lynn Cohen

What We Do Is Secret - dir. Rodger Grossman - USA - Peace Arch - with Shane West, Bijou Phillips, Rick Gonzalez, Noah Segan, Ashton Holmes, Tina Majorino

Spanning Time

I'm currently working on my graduation paper, which is due in a week, so all of my updates will probably be in the form of Cannes updates or DVD announcements, just to let you know. I do have a couple of DVD announcements to make... so here goes:

Strand will release two films in July: Lee Kang-sheng's Help Me Eros (which is quite good) on the 22nd and Ekachai Uekrongtham's Pleasure Factory, set in Singapore's red light district, on the 8th. They will also have Sam Garbarski's Irina Palm, starring Marianne Faithfull, Miki Manojlovic, Kevin Bishop and Jenny Agutter, on 12 August, with the perfect tagline, "the best right hand in London."

Liberation Entertainment will release Jeff Nichols' critically-acclaimed Shotgun Stories on 1 July, and the Weinsteins will be releasing My Blueberry Nights on the same day as part of their Meridian Collection. No word on whether the disc will include their cut of the film or the international one, but from what I've been told, you won't notice the difference (not that I support what they do).

Arts Alliance will release Gina Kim's Never Forever, starring the lovely Vera Farmiga, on 15 July. Farmiga plays an American woman having an extra martial affair with an immigrant worker (you might also notice that the photo above would be the second film with a Spiderman kiss in this update). IFC Films will release Larry Fessdenden's (Habit, Wendigo) horror flick The Last Winter, starring Ron Perlman, James LeGros, Kevin Corrigan, Jamie Harrold and the director himself.

Lost fans should know that the fourth season of the series will be on shelves 9 December, giving a month or so for those to catch up for the fifth, and second-to-last season.

And finally, Kino will release Jeffrey Lau's Eagle Shooting Heroes on 15 July. The film was produced by Wong Kar-wai and features all the same actors from Ashes of Time, including Maggie Cheung, Leslie Cheung, Tony Leung and Brigitte Lin) in a martial arts parody.