An unsuccessful real estate agent, a homeless man with little hope but an always ironed shirt, and a poor man’s James Dean, always casually balancing a cigarette on his lower lip, have independently chosen the same empty apartment to escape from reality. One simply cannot afford to own anything. The second wants to end his life and she is looking for sex on the uncovered mattress of the cold booth. The only thing they all have in common is that they don’t know where to go, with whom and why, their lives slip away from them and the anonymous city unfortunately offers no support…
The city – here Taipei – is less a Moloch than a place of longing and simultaneous alienation. A nirvana of unfulfilled dreams – loneliness among millions. Silence where there should actually be loud traffic and busy activity. The numb view out of the window, cars driving by, a siren in the distance and colorless sex as the only way to feel yourself or others at all. With his carefully selected images, Vive L’Amour manages to find an atypical cinematic approach to the city, far removed from landmarks or tourist attractions. With cigarette acrobatics and without bed sheets.
Alexander Streb
