Zuì hào de shí guang
A soldier courts a hostess in a 1960s pool hall; the patron of a courtesan in a brothel in 1911 fails to recognize her wish that he free her from indenture; and in an eerie modern-day tale, commodification of people and objects sets up firewalls between lovers that might have been. Magnificently photographed, director Hou Hsiao-hsien's plaintive statement on love's elusiveness aches with longing and tragic beauty.
Producer: Chang Hua-fu. Director: Hou Hsiao-hsien. Screenwriter: Hou Hsiao-hsien. Cinematography: Mark Lee (Ping-bin). Editor: Liao Ching-sung. Cast: Shu Qi, Chang Chen, Mei Fang, Liao Shu-chen, Ti Mei. 35mm, color, in Mandarin and Taiwanese with English subtitles, 130 min.