The Wayward Cloud [2004] [DVD]

This movie is one of my absolute favorites. It was one of these moments when I came across it by chance some night on German TV and couldn't believe the amazing discovery.

What drew me in most was the way the scenes work by just letting the audience observe, as an independent and even unnecessary third party, while the plot unfolds very naturally along the way. I would say that this very much reminded me of Jacques Tati movies. There is no doubt that we view a normal series of events and normal bevahior shown by the inhabitants of an urban landscape, as bizarre as it all may seem on second thought. In fact, the characters act very naturally, without anything "larger than life"; for example, when the main character at some point loses the key to her appartment, she seems unsure what to do, wanders about indecisively, eventually talking to the workers on the construction site where she believes she has lost it, then turning around, only to come back one day later because she could not get it out of her mind. Or when we watch her trying to lead her life in her apartment during the water shortage, stockpiling bottled water, and somewhat clumsily using the unusual form of water delivery to replace tap water.

Other characters in the movie happen to be a porn troupe, captured by the camera in exactly the unaffected (and, in this case, explicit) way as someone brushing their teeth with bottled water. Because the way of storytelling does not change, these scences work very well and didn't disturb me at all, except maybe the ending which shows probably less of a "normal" behavior.

One other thing that will prominently stay in your memory after you have seen the movie are the musical sequences that freshen up the piece and are not directly related to the plot, but incredibly colorful and cheesy (and also sport very bizarre costumes).

I found this movie very enjoyable and for me it's really an impeccable piece. Very much recommended.

This is probably the oddest love story I've seen, it takes place during a water shortage in Taiwan and the 2 main leads drift about before meeting each other, she's water obsessed and he's a porn actor.
It's a mixture of sex (not porn contrary to what it says on the cover as you don't see anything you wouldn't see after the watershed on TV), comedy and musical interludes and sometimes it's a mixture of all 3. The dialogue is sparse and I doubt it would fill a sheet of A4 if you wrote it all down but the film is particularly visual, spectacularly so.
You might want to lower the volume for the first and last scenes as your neighbours might think you're watching a Ron Jeremy film or strangling a couple of cats and the last scene in particular will leave you aghast.
I did enjoy 'The Wayward Cloud' but I wasn't blown away by it.

A water shortage in the hot Taipai summer & the city's inhabitants are getting frazzled. A woman drifts into an affair with a man who turns out to be filming a porn movie in her block.
Much of this film is typical Tsai Ming Liang - alienated urban characters drifting into virtually silent relationships - and very good it is too, with the director's usual flair for images (I particularly liked the soap bubbles coming out of taps) and amazing editing - he really knows how to let a scene unfold & the cuts often drastically shift the narrative. Unlike some "slow & minimalist" directors Tsai Ming Liang is never boring, his sense of narrative is always complex & engrossing.
However this time things are spiced up in three ways. Firstly much of the film is blackly comic - maybe his other films are funny but I never quite noticed before as much as here. Secondly there are music & dance numbers (!) - a homage to MGM musicals apparently - but very camp & kitsch. Thirdly Tsai has added the porn element. All his films are a bit disturbing in their attention to physical intimacy & bodily functions, so with the porn scenes he really takes it all the way. At first I didn't have a problem with this, but the final section of the film really is jaw-droppingly shocking. Do not - repeat do not - watch this film with anyone easily offended. Perhaps much of the porn element, including the final scene, is supposed to be disturbing but I don't think that is the main point, Tsai is not out to pass moral judgement but to reach some kind of existential truth.
One thing is for sure - Tsai Ming Liang & his incredible troupe of actors are consistently going WAY beyond what any other contemporary film makers are doing.