Everything is breaking down for Ling (Chen Shiang-chyi), a lonely middle-aged garment worker in Taipei, starting with her fertility as menopause begins, and her front door which, symbolically, won’t open from the inside. Neither her husband in Shanghai nor her self-absorbed daughter (Jenny Wen) ever answers her calls. While looking after her aged mother-in-law in hospital, she takes pity on a man (Easton Dong) with severe injuries and no family and thus begins a strange, timid but sensual relationship that develops without a word being exchanged. Stylistically, this is very much the Tsai Ming-liang school of sad, damp poeticism, but thankfully without Tsai’s ponderous torpor and studied obliqueness. There’s even a semi-hopeful midsection where it looks as if Ling is going to take up tango dancing and gets some sparkly shoes. Then it’s back to long shots of despair, but lead Chen (a Tsai regular) is outstanding, as always.
