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The River (1997)
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Synopsis
Tsai Ming-Liang
's The River, the Taiwanese master's third feature, opens with a chance encounter between Xiao-Kang (Lee Kang-Sheng) and an old friend (Chen Shiang-Chyi), an unexpected meeting that sets this bleak and ultimately disturbing film on its course. Persuaded to accompany his friend to a film set where she works as a production assistant, Xiao-Kang is recruited by the director to play a corpse floating in a polluted river. After the shoot, Xiao-Kang struggles to wash the river's stench off -- and begins to feel a twinge in his neck. Meanwhile, the movie shifts its attention to two other people, a middle-aged woman (Lu Hsiao-Ling) working as an elevator operator in a restaurant, and a man (Miao Tien) who alternates his time at McDonald's and a gay bathhouse. It's eventually revealed that the two are Xiao-Kang's parents, and that the three of them live together in a Taipei apartment building that's as much in need of repair as their relationship. As Xiao-Kang's neck pain lingers, the parents grow increasingly concerned and help him seek relief in both science and superstition, to no avail. A trip to a provincial healer becomes the last resort for the ailing Xiao-Kang and occasions a devastating twist that brings the movie to an unsettling close. ~ Elbert Ventura, All Movie Guide
Cast
Lee Kang-Sheng
Lee Xiao-Kang
Lu Hsiao-Ling
Mother
Miao Tien
Father
Production Crew
Liao Peng-Jung
Cinematographer
Tsai Ming-Liang
Director
Chen Sheng-Chang
Editor
Chen Sheng-cheen
Editor
Chung Hu-Ping
Executive Producer
Wang Ming-Tai
First Assistant Director
Hsu Li-kong
Producer
Shiu Shun-ching
Producer
Ku Chia-Chao
Production Designer
Lee Paolin
Production Designer
Tsai Ming-Liang
Screenwriter
Tsai Yi-Chun
Screenwriter
Yang Pi-Ying
Screenwriter
Yang Chin-An
Sound/Sound Designer
Year: 1997
Runtime: 115
Country: Taiwan
MPAA Rating:
Category: Feature
Genre
Drama
Produced by
Central Motion Picture Corporation
Awards
1997 - Silver Bear - Special Jury Prize - Berlin International Film Festival
© 2009 Spout LLC. Portions of content provided by All Movie Guide.