Rebels of the Neon God

Dispirited Taiwanese youth flit across the screen. Each rebels in their own way. Ah Tze (Chao-jung Chen), a petty thief walks his life in a disconnected haze. The connection that comes his way in the form of Ah Kuei (Yu-Wen Wang) only scares him. Hsio Kang (Kang-sheng Lee), a dispirited student, rebels against his father by walking out on school. These disparate lives soon form a closed circuit by a random act of violence by Tze against Kang's father in Ming-liang Tsai's first film. Long shots with minimal dialogs succinctly captures the spirit of the youth in the movie conveying their forlorn mood and inner turmoil.

Rating: * * +

What Time Is It There?

A very introspective and beautiful film set across the cities of Taipei and Paris. A girl buys a watch from a street watch seller in Taipei and flies to Paris. He walks around Taipei resetting watches to Paris time. She floats all alone in the city of Paris. Weaved into this storyline is the watch seller's mother who is awaiting for the return of her dead husbands spirit. The common thread is each character's inarticulacy, loneliness and despair.

Rating: * * +