Taiwan is suffering from a drought, & therefore the water is
shortened to the extreme, with the most popular thing to drink soon
being juice from watermelons, which are more popular now than ever ... so
young Shiang-chyi (Chen Shiang-chyi) has to take desperate measures -
collecting plastic water bottles, even from trash-bins, & steal water
from toilets of public buildings. Eventually she meets Hsiao-kang (Lee
Kang-sheng). who has once been a water delivery boy - that's why she is
interested in him in the first place -, & soon, tender romance between
the two develops ...
What Shiang-chyi does not know of course that Hsiao-kang is a porn
actor, making his latest film only a few floors above Shiang-chyi's
appartment. So it's all teh more ironic that the two make love the first
time in the porn department of a video rental ...
Eventually, Shiang-chyi finds a passed out woman in her appartment
building's elevator, & drags her to her appartment, only to find out
it is that woman's face on the cover of one of the porn-movies she has
rented. Subsequently, she helps one of the film crew to get her back to
the appartment where the film is shot - only to find Hsiao-kang tehre,
dressed only in a towel & waiting for his shag. & even though the
woman is still unconscious, the crew undresses her & Hsiao-kang starts
shagging her on camera.
Shiang-chyi is appalled at first, but even though she wants to she just
can't leave & instead watches Hsiao-kang giving his last shagging the
unconscious woman ... & eventually, Shiang Chyi starts moaning herself
into ecstasy in her stead - which gives Hsiao-kang a boost for his
performance, & finally when he's about to come he lets loose of the
unconscious girl & forces his penis into Shiang-chyi's mouth to let
her have the full load - which, in signs of water shortage, might be
something ...
Even if it does by no means sound like that, this is probably Tsai
Ming-Liang's funniest film - & it's so effortlessly funny it seems he
has made a comedy without even trying (which is of course not true). As
ever so often with Tsai Ming-Liang the film is compiled of often
minute-long static shots that at first don't seem to show anything
important, yet gradually they start to tell a story (& a funny one at
that). Plus the narration as such is interrupted by schmaltzy but ironical
musical numbers, which alone are worth the price of admission.
Recommended.
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