River (1997)

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Avg Rating: 2.8 / 5. Voted: 17

No one cared thus far. Do you?


AKA: He Liu
Directed by: Tsai Ming-liang
Starring: Lee Kang-sheng (Hsiao-Kang), Miao Tien (Father), Lu Hsiao-ling (Mother), Chen Shiang-chyi (former girlfriend)
Country: Taiwan; Effed Up Hong Kong-Chinese-Taiwanese Films
Language: Taiwanese Mandarin (Eng Subs)
Runtime: 01:55:51

Plot – Spoilers:
A Taiwanese man, Hsiao-Kang, doesn’t do anything much and while doing this bumps into a former girlfriend who interestingly addresses him by the name of the actor playing him – Lee Kang-sheng. Since Kang’s doing nothing much, she invites him to a film shoot that she’s involved with, where he lands the role of a drowned corpse in a dirty river. He gains some sex in return for the stench but also picks up a kind of neck affliction that gets progressively worse.

At home, things are mostly silent barring the constant drip from a leaky roof. Dad is gay and Mom seems to know this and spends her free time with a porno chap.

Massive Spoilers:
The River is a work of pure class that doesn’t shy from darkly comedic scenes like when father and son ride a bike with the father propping up his son’s flailing neck.

And there’s of course the most poignant moment – when everyone rejects you, only your father can inadvertently comfort you by jerking you off.

Is the leaky roof at home related? Dad was willing to live with it because he was incapable of solving it. Mom on the other hand made the effort and fixed it. But then her vibrator didn’t work, whereas Dad was able to bond sexually with the son.

Genres: Gay, Family, Incest

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Ward
Ward
July 20, 2023 10:44 pm

lmmfao—- the description of this movie is so hysterical that I simply HAVE to watch it

Buttrodgers
Buttrodgers
February 7, 2023 3:44 am

The most godawful bore fest on this site! The longest 2 hours in my life for sure. Watch this if you like watching paint dry

Zed Man
Zed Man
August 30, 2022 9:15 am

Hey, EUM guys. Not requesting anything, just recommending. Recently watched a Taiwanese movie called ” The Sadness ” and had to comment on it. Its the most goriest fucked up film I have seen in years and would make a great addition to this site. I think a lot of ppl on here would enjoy it, but like I said, only a suggestion. Cheers. Zed.

Xiao Joon
Xiao Joon
June 9, 2022 4:48 am

Depressing. Bleak and miserable. In Hong Kong, we say “Bié dānxīn méiguānxì”!

20 Spaces For Names!
20 Spaces For Names!
June 3, 2022 6:32 pm

Hey admin,
isolation
bleak
disconnected
unsettling
So, yeah, thanks for
the spaced out movie !

FabulousAmigo
FabulousAmigo
May 28, 2022 1:05 pm

I just watched a movie with a guy taking a 20 second piss. nice

Badmoviejoe
Badmoviejoe
May 21, 2022 2:59 pm

I tried I really did, but every scene is way too long. Do we really need 15 minutes of them messing with a dummy in the water or 2 minutes of the director lady lighting her cigarette? Oh man and that riveting opening of a dry ass conversation between two old friends infront of a loud escalator. That that the longest 10 minutes of my life.