Su qi er (1993)

"a distant sequence of images flashing on the screen."
Millennium Mambo (Hsiao-Hsien Hou, 2001)

I've been trying to write this review for a month, forcing myself to mull this movie over in my head, because everyone and their mothers raves about the films of Hsiao-Hsien Hou. Now, I'm more than willing to admit that I'm just thick most of the time, but I'm not entirely sure that's the case here. Maybe I don't get it because there's just nothing to get.

Millennium Mambo is a slice-of-life film about a bunch of youth. Sex, drugs, and what in slightly earlier days would be rock and roll (but instead, is the pale imitation known as techno). The cast is ensemble, though Vicky (Qi Shu of Sex and Zen II and The Transporter, among many others) is as close to a central character as we've got. She's got a boyfriend who DJs and a pretty nasty drug habit, and much of the film is spent following her around to various clubs and the like. She eventually meets gangster Jack (Jack Gao), who promises her a way out of the endless wheel in which she's trapped, but does she have the courage to take it? And even if she does, is it truly a way to a better life?

There is some good acting to be had here, and there's no doubt Hou is a gifted director. I read a comment on IMDB's message board for the movie that rings true (and reminds me of comments I've read about a number of other movies of this stripe I just didn't get, most recently Spun): "If you have lived the 'clubbing life' anywhere in the world, you would maybe better understand the movie." I've never seen the appeal of the clubbing life, even as a casual clubgoer. Millennium Mambo hasn't changed my mind, either to give it more substance or to give it less (which would certainly be another valid interpretation; I might find it more attractive were is sufficiently soul-destroying). Another comment in that same thread: "You either watch the film and "live" it and relate to it, or it is a distant sequence of images flashing on the screen. As the latter the film fails miserably. As the former, it is one of the best movies I have ever seen." Obviously, for the person being quoted, the film was the former. As I found no way to relate to it, I found it the latter, and his succinct, clear analysis is spot on. * ½

Lost Souls in Taipei: Visually Stunning, But Emotionally Too Detached
In the neon-saturated city of Taipei lives a young woman named Vicky. She is living with her boyfriend Hao, but he isn't working now and moreover, is a very jealous guy. Vicky is also attracted to Jack, a man living in underworld and running a night club.

Acclaimed Taiwanese director Hsiao-hsien Hou's film is all about Vicky played by Qi Shu, but "Millennium Mambo" is nothing like eventful "Transporter." In short, nothing "big" happens here. So if you happen to read Vicky's story and expect something dramatic and romantic in "Millennium Mambo," probably you will be disappointed.

Not that the film is total failure. On the contrary, this quiet film, which employs such techniques as long, continuous shots or non-linear timeline, is what exactly we should expect from the director of "A City of Sadness." The difference is "Millennium Mambo" does not deal with Taiwanese history, but modern life of young people of the land represented by Vicky. Whereas in "A City of Sadness" one historical incident plays a key role, in "Mambo" the life of Vicky has nothing to say, or suggest, except ... Vicky, who is not particularly interesting presence per se as she embodies what the young generation of Taiwan is all about, according to the director.

Some would think naturally that the film is tedious and boring. After all, the director is not interested in Vicky's story itself. Curiously Vicky herself tells the story of herself, looking back from ten years after the events described in the film. The strange voiceover makes Vicky all the more detached from us, making herself part of the scenes of everyday life in Taipei.

And probably this is what Hsiao-hsien Hou intended. He is always good at capturing the atmosphere, or air of the places where the characters are living, and in this he does not disappoint. He also successfully makes a great contrast between the stifling rooms in Taipei and the chilling, snowy landscapes in Yubari, Japan, where Vicky looks most cheerful and lively. (This film was really shot during the film festival in Yubari City, in February, 2001, and the old lady working at the Japanese bar was really running the place.)

For all these merits, I couldn't bring myself to like this film because, in spite of the visually stunning cinematography, it is hard to keep watching the life of someone depicted in an emotionally detached fashion. Hsiao-hsien Hou's touch is not cold, rather compassionate in his own way when showing Vicky and Hao, but once we realize what he is trying to, we are to keep watching him making the same point over and over again for the rest of film.

Not a movie for everyone...
"Millennium Mambo", directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien, is not a movie for everyone. The reason why I say that is pretty simple, as not much happens, and the story is somehow slow, unless you get caught up in what is happening to the main character. I did, and that is the reason why I enjoyed this dvd...

The main character of this film is Vicky (Shu Qi), and "Millennium Mambo" is just a way to allow her to tell her story, in her words, from a very subjective point of view. Vicky is an extremely beautiful young woman that lives in Taiwan and doesn't have a clue regarding what to do with her life. But is that her fault, or is that loss of direction something that has to do with the spirit of our time? And why does she make us care?

I should point out that this movie doesn't end neatly, so those who only like that kind of ending won't find it here. "Millennium Mambo" is open-ended, in more or less the same way that Vicky's own story is in the process of changing and doesn't have real fixed limits. I find that fitting, at least for this movie, and I think that you will deem it appropriate too. Recommended!

- Belen Alcat, June 2007 -

PS: I give this movie 3.5 stars out of 5 :)