The River (He liu) (1997)
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70% of critics liked it
(10 reviews) -
76% of users liked it
(978 ratings)
Tsai Ming-Liang's The River, the Taiwanese master's third feature, opens with a chance encounter between Xiao-Kang (Lee Kang-Sheng) and an old friend (Chen Shiang-Chyi), an unexpected meeting that sets this bleak and ultimately disturbing film on its course. Persuaded to accompany his friend… More Tsai Ming-Liang's The River, the Taiwanese master's third feature, opens with a chance encounter between Xiao-Kang (Lee Kang-Sheng) and an old friend (Chen Shiang-Chyi), an unexpected meeting that sets this bleak and ultimately disturbing film on its course. Persuaded to accompany his friend to a film set where she works as a production assistant, Xiao-Kang is recruited by the director to play a corpse floating in a polluted river. After the shoot, Xiao-Kang struggles to wash the river's stench off -- and begins to feel a twinge in his neck. Meanwhile, the movie shifts its attention to two other people, a middle-aged woman (Lu Hsiao-Ling) working as an elevator operator in a restaurant, and a man (Miao Tien) who alternates his time at McDonald's and a gay bathhouse. It's eventually revealed that the two are Xiao-Kang's parents, and that the three of them live together in a Taipei apartment building that's as much in need of repair as their relationship. As Xiao-Kang's neck pain lingers, the parents grow increasingly concerned and help him seek relief in both science and superstition, to no avail. A trip to a provincial healer becomes the last resort for the ailing Xiao-Kang and occasions a devastating twist that brings the movie to an unsettling close. ~ Elbert Ventura, Rovi
- Directed By
- Ming-liang Tsai
- Genres
- Drama
- In Theaters
- Nov 1, 1997 Wide
- Studio
- Kimstim
Critic Reviews
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Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle
Tsai is so adept at pacing and mood, and so good at capturing a sense of yearning, that his film draws us in despite its unusually long takes and sparse cutting.
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Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
The result is a stunning surreal film that remains unexplored in all the mysteries it holds, just like the river that flows in the city.
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Scott Tobias, AV Club
The River is difficult and unpleasant at times, but as a somber metaphor for contaminated lives, it's masterful.
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Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
A brilliant, multi-layered work by a true artist of the cinema.
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Rod Armstrong, Reel.com
Too murky and long to swim in.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Kang-sheng Lee
as Lee Xiao-Kang
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Lu Hsiao-Ling
as Mother
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Tien Miao
as Father
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Chen Chao-jung
as Young Man At Sauna
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Shiang-chyi Chen
as Xiao-Kang's Girlfriend
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Ann Huei
as Film Director
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Lu Chiao-Lin
as Mother's Lover
