Tian bian yi duo yun (2005) The Wayward Cloud - My Opinion.

Directed by Ming-liang Tsai

Starring Kang-sheng Lee, Shiang-chyi Chen

*May contain spoilers*

A film about love, loneliness, longing and sex.

Hsiao-Kang is an actor in porn films, sex is a job and has ceased being a pleasure for him, what he needs is love, genuine love that doesnt necessitate sex.

Shiang-chyi on the other hand is lonely for love and the intimacy of sex, her path crosses with Hsiao-Kangs several times until a quite sweet point where the silence is broken and recognition of each other (from the earlier film What Time Is It There?) is confirmed.

They share time together but Hsiao-Kang isnt interested in getting into a sexual relationship whereas Shiang-chyi appears very willing to give herself to him. Things change when she opens the lift (elevator) one-day to find a girl sprawled on the floor, totally whacked out, probably from drugs. The girl is a porn actress from Japan and before she knows it, Shiang-chyi is helping to drag her limp body to a flat where the porn shoot is taking place. Its here that she discovers what Hsiao-Kang does for a living, its also where the film has its most controversial scenes!

The film is full of metaphors, some very clearly defined, Watermelons for sex and lust, not just one aspect of sex but many. From the substitution of half a watermelon for female genitals, through the juice and pulp as offerings of sex, to the use of a whole melon as a substitute baby.

Water on the other hand equates to love and hope, Taipei, maybe the whole world suffers from a lack of genuine love as opposed to sex which like watermelons can be bought and sold as a commodity. Taipei itself is going through a drought reflecting the lack of love and the loneliness of most of its inhabitants; there is a key moment (sic) where love breaks through bringing with it a trickle of water and hope.

The title The Wayward Cloud in my opinion represents the characters, each listlessly drifting in their own direction until by chance they might bump into another creating rain and a ray of hope. 

The film is also interspersed with a number of scenes choreographed and mimed to Chinese popular songs from the 60s, these illustrate how the most innocent sounding songs can actually be full of innuendo and double entendre. I thought the idea to put these throughout the film was pure genius, from the girls dancing around the statue of Chiang Kai-shek surrounded by overblown phallic and yonic plants to the routine set in a large public toilet, tacky, cheesy, camp and brilliant. 

So overall what message does the film hold? Porn is cold, uninvolving, machine like and unemotional but not just porn, sex without love is almost as bad. Love is the saving grace for us and although the two can and do mix, you shouldnt substitute, equate or confuse one with the other. 

I enjoyed the film but obviously there are moments that have the intention of making you feel uncomfortable (and so they should), definitely only for a mature and fairly broadminded audience, well worth seeing in my opinion.

Cheers Trev.

No BBFC rating but definitely 18.

Region 3 DVD available from several retailers.