Millennium Mambo (2001)
Millennium Mambo (2001) 6/10
Millennium Mambo opens with a brilliant, almost sublime tracking shot of Hsu Chi as she saunters down a fluorescent-lit overpass, smoking a cigarette with an occasional, effervescent backward glance. Exquisitely lensed by Mark Lee, who was also responsible for Wong Kar Wai’s In the Mood For Love, Millennium Mambo is beautifully shot, but this technical perfection is let down by the aimlessness of the film. Director Hou Hsiao Hsien is clearly one of the most talented Taiwanese directors alive, but one cannot shake of the feeling that Millennium Mambo is one of the lesser films of his oeuvre. The style taken here is reminiscent of Wong Kar Wai’s moody melancholy, but it lacks the finess of Wong and the slight and aimless plot fails to craft a coherent tale. Having said that, Hsu Chi deserves major praise for anchoring the film and clearly shows her acting capabilities. More than just a pretty face, she displays remarkable depth in her acting and has a magnetic screen presence. However, nothing much happens in the film, and despite the technical brilliance in which the film is shot and the solid performance of Hsu Chi, the plot and film fails to impress. One technique Hou uses is to narrate in voice-overs what will happen next. It is a technique used in films like Barry Lyndon but here this technique does not seem to serve any purpose. If anything, it makes the already glacial pace even more stifling by removing any ounce of anticipation. The film’s disjointed feel is further enhanced by a seemingly trite sequence that brings the protagonists to Japan, something that felt unnecessary.
Overall the film, which won the Technical Grand Prize at the 2001 Canne Film Festival, is more style over substance. There are moments of movie magic, but the whole is less than the sum of the parts.
“this shimmering excursion through Taipei nightlife—scored to a ghostly, faraway electro throb and coated in a neon glaze by cinematographer Mark Lee—is a slow burn of profound sadness salved by some of Hou’s most breath-catchingly beautiful passages to date.”- Dennis Lim
“Like most of Hou’s films, Millennium captures the haunting nature of the ordinary, displaying the director’s melancholy perspective in which life is defined as a series of losses, an accrual of broken ideals and irretrievable loves.”- Levy
“This is one of the most demanding films of the last few years because it asks you to understand the message but doesn’t give you the tools to get into those characters. The great visuals, the pumping techno music and the atmosphere generate a mood that almost make you forget the story. ” - LoveHKfilm
