There is a thin line separating a excruciatingly boring film from a very absorbing one. This masterpiece by Hsiao-hsien Hou highlights this fact. It is a movie that cares not for the viewer or in gentler terms includes the viewer as an after thought. It is very interesting to note that Hou plays scant respect to the 180 degree rule just like Yasujirō Ozu to whom this piece is dedicated.The film trails Yôko (Yo Hitoto, who is a pop icon in Japan), a frail beauty disconnected and floating in her own world. The only time I felt her to be alive is when riding on the innumerable trains connecting various corner of Tokyo. Our friend Tadanobu Asano also makes fleeting appearances in the film. Deftly mesmerizing and completely dangerous for the run of the mill movie viewer.
Rating: * * *
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