MILLENNIUM MAMBO Asian New Classics

The film opens with Vicky (the vivacious Shu Qi) bouncing along an elevated pathway, lit by overhead fluorescents. A simple opening that in Hou Hsiao Hsien’s hands (and the eyes of cinematographer Mark Lee) becomes a scene that’s beyond beauty in color, mood and music, a moment of pure cinema.

Vicky is shacked up with Hao Hao, an obsessively jealous boyfriend who does a bit too many drugs and nothing much else except spin records. To pay for rent, Vicky works in a hostess bar. Jack, an older man and a gangster, runs the bar and takes care of Vicky when Hao Hao leaves her. When one of Jack’s shady business connections goes awry, he has to leave Taipei for Japan. Vicky follows after him, finally breaking off from Hao Hao.

The film is narrated by Vicky, as she looks back on this time in her life . MILLENNIUM MAMBO is a fascinating portrait of Taipei youth and street culture, and as Hou speaks his unique cinematic language, the result is one of his most engaging and accessible films to date.