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Millenium Mambo (2001)

Millenium Mambo (2001)

A tale about Taipei, along with its ups and downs

The Very Best

9.0

Movie

France, Taiwan
English, Japanese, Mandarin
Drama, Romance
2001
HOU HSIAO-HSIEN, HSIAO-HSIEN HOU
Chun-hao Tuan, Doze Niu Cheng-Tse, Duan Chun-hao
106 min

What it's about

Vicky recalls her romances with her exes Hao Hao and Jack in the neon-lit clubs of Taipei.

The take

The atmosphere in Millennium Mambo is magical. The opening scene alone will leave you enchanted, with long walks through a tunnel-like space and dreamy techno music playing in the background. We are misled into thinking that this will be a movie full of colors and dance, and to some degree, this is true, as it portrays Taipei and its neon colors of green, pink, and blue, featuring dance sequences in a bar that serves flashy drinks. But as the movie develops, a chilling shadow is cast as we become entangled in a brutal relationship that is as full of cruelty as it is of love and lust. Narrated from the future, the story shows how the present-day protagonist, Vicky, grapples with her identity as she looks back upon her past self from ten years ago.

Chaotic, messy, but also peppered with moments of serenity and shot with flawless camerawork and cinematography, Millennium Mambo makes time feel fluid, and serves as a reminder that no matter how rough the journey may be, everything is always okay in the end.

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