Film Program | Millenium Mambo

A stylish and seductive submersion into the techno-scored neon nightlife of Taipei.

Hou Hsiao-Hsien's Palme d'Or-nominated cult classic stars Shu Qi as an aimless bar hostess drifting away from her slacker boyfriend and towards Jack Kao's suave, sensitive gangster. A transfixing trance-out of a movie, drenched in club lights, ecstatic endorphin-rush exhilaration, and a nagging undercurrent of weightlessness.

The director's follow up to the widely acclaimed Flowers of Shanghai captures the sheer weightlessness, inertia, and amnesia of life in contemporary Taipei. With magnificent cinematography from Mark Lee Ping-bing (In The Mood For Love), the hypnotic narrative focuses on Vicky as she floats into the new millennium seemingly unfettered by work, love, or family.

Hsiao-Hsien Hou's dreamlike, neon-filled film screens at Vivid LIVE newly restored in 4K.

Classification MA15+ for strong drug use | Taiwan, France | 2001 | Mandarin | Drama