郊遊

Come rain or shine, Hsiao Kang makes his living holding a sign advertising luxury apartments. From time to time he smokes, from time to time he relieves himself. Hsiao Kang and his two children live together in a shelter without electricity or water. They have no permanent place to lay their heads (or their heads of cabbage) for the night. And so the motherless family wanders the city as it sprawls uncontrolled, offering few comforts of home. Although the protagonists seem accustomed to their dismal surroundings, the effect on the viewer is undiminished. Tsai Ming Liang abandoned his fondness for colorful arrangements, replacing them with an austerity that is no less effective. He takes his characters (and viewers) on a captivating tour of the town's underbelly where numerous conflicts play out, served up so as to maintain distance from the traditionally constructed drama or social commentary. Employing great compositional power, the movie creates a feeling of passing time, allowing the viewer to gradually construct a comprehensive picture that fixes itself in the memory. (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)