ST, Aug 3, 2005
THE WAYWARD CLOUD (R21)
114 minutes/Opens tomorrow/***
HERE are two ways to watch a Tsai Ming-liang movie - you see it with either exasperation or a wry smile.
The exasperation comes from not knowing what it is that you are actually watching. The smile occurs when you see the weird things he makes his actors do.
In this rojak mix of quiet drama, comedy, retro musical and graphic 'is-it-real' smut, you amuse yourself with scenes of Tsai's regular muse, Lee Kang-sheng, doing outrageous things: getting butt-naked, fondling himself, having sex with a Japanese porn actress (Sumomo Yozakura), lip-synching to 1960s Mandarin cabaret showtunes and, at one stage, dressing up as a giant phallus.
.....
A porn movie gets made while souls hanker for something, voyeurs look at one another, hardly anybody talks and, in one hilarious scene, Shiang-chyi gives birth appa rently to a big watermelon.
To stay sane in the confusion, you would do best to just go with the flow. There is method and meaning to Tsai's madness.
In the songs he chooses and the symbols he uses, he is offering us two sides: The girl, Shiang-chyi, represents the Soul while the porn actress personifies the Body......
so its true.. you love me