Vive l'amour

The lives of hawker Ah-jong who sells fake branded items, May a slightly older realtor’s assistant and Hsiao-kang a very shy urn salesman intertwine in a soon to be sold, yet empty luxury apartment.

Yearning is the operative word in Vive l'amour, yet the desire for contact is seldom assuaged. Turning this mildly depressing plot into captivating, minimalist cinema is Tsai Ming-liang’s forte. Not much is said in Tsai’s second feature film, but all the more attention is paid to the characters’ body language, the sounds of the city and minor movements: flipping open a phone, drinking a bright green drink.

Former NRC Handelsblad film critic Hans Beerekamp wrote: [this is] “an absolute film, a radical one that doesn't compromise and acts cruelly towards its audience”. All in the style of legends such as Michelangelo Antonioni and Ingmar Bergman. Cinematic art in other words.

Film selected by Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Nuri Bilge Ceylan picked Vive l'amour for his film programme accompanying the exhibition at Eye. Despite their different backgrounds, it is clear where their affinity lies; because of a shared unhurried, contemplative style with a melancholic undertone, Tsai and Ceylan are often mentioned in the same breath as standard-bearers of 'slow cinema'.