The sophomore feature from Tsai Ming-liang (Rebels of the Neon God; Goodbye, Dragon Inn) finds the acclaimed master of Taiwan’s Second New Wave demonstrating a confident new cinematic voice. Vive l’amour follows three characters unknowingly sharing a supposedly empty Taipei apartment. The beautiful realtor May Lin (Yang Kuei-mei) brings her lover Ah-jung (Chen Chao-jung) to a vacant unit she has on the market, unaware that it is secretly being occupied by the suicidal funeral salesman Hsiao-kang (Lee Kang-sheng). The three cross paths in a series of precisely staged, tragicomic erotic encounters, but despite their physical proximity, they find themselves no closer to a personal connection.

Featuring an intoxicating mix of Antonioni-esque longing and surprising deadpan humor, Vive l’amour catapulted Tsai to the top of the international filmmaking world and earned him the prestigious Golden Lion at the 1994 Venice International Film Festival.

(Tsai Ming-liang, Taiwan, 1994, 118 min, in Mandarin with English subtitles)
Synopsis courtesy of Film Movement.

“Watching Tsai maneuver these people into proximity with each other so that their lives may be changed is a large part of the film’s pleasure, but it doesn’t eclipse the sheer joy of discovering gradually where the film’s own heart lies.” – Time Out

“Tsai Ming-liang’s marvelous tragicomic study of contemporary urban alienation in Taipei brings home the aching loneliness of its subjects’ lives with excruciatingly long takes, often using static medium and long shots, of his characters doing virtually nothing in anonymously impersonal contexts.” – Bernard Hemingway, Cinephilia

“...a terrific showcase of not just the director’s work but also the Taiwanese New Wave in general. The final scene, a more than five minutes long one take featuring May Lin, an iconic Taipei location and, yes, an intense palpable loneliness, will surely refuse to leave your minds for days on end.” – Rhythm Zaveri, Asian Movie Pulse