Life Is Cheap... But Toilet Paper Is Expensive

Wayne Wang

P&I Selection 2022

  • 84'
  • United States
  • 1989

Now, who wouldn’t want to know what a film with so much wisdom in its title has on offer for its ever-curious viewers? The answer is: a plethora of mad antics and outré dares, loosely connected by a plot that seems very aware of its supreme MacGuffin’ess. Life Is Cheap... But Toilet Paper Is Expensive sets out to tell the story of some dude travelling from San Francisco to Hong Kong to deliver a bag – sounds like a gangster flick, right?

But then, young Wayne Wang has much more important stuff to talk about than that damn bag. In one scene, the aesthetics and virtues of striptease get discussed; in another, we witness someone taking a perplexingly extended dump; then some zany jokes involving cucumbers get told; with the film's true climax being a darn long chase on foot through some of Hong Kong’s shadier back alleys and dirtier squares. 1989 IFFR audiences ate up Wang’s avant-garde entertainment of digressions and asides with relish!

Life is Cheap… But Toilet Paper is Expensive has been digitally restored and remastered by Lightbox Film Center at University of the Arts (Philadelphia) in collaboration with University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive with funding from Ron and Suzanne Naples, and Wayne Wang.

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Not available on Festival Scope Pro

Wayne Wang

P&I Selection 2022

  • 84'
  • United States
  • 1989
Director
Wayne Wang
Country of production
United States
Year
1989
Festival Edition
P&I Selection 2022
Length
84'
Medium
DCP
Languages
English, Cantonese
Producer
Winnie Fredriksz
Production Company
Far East Stars
Sales
Arbelos Films
Screenplay
Spencer Nakasako, Wayne Wang, Amir Mokri
Cinematography
Amir Mokri
Editor
Sandy Nervig, Chris Sanderson
Music
Mark Adler
Cast
Spencer Nakasako, Cora Miao, Chan Kim Wan, Victor Wong, Cheng Kwan Min, Lam Chung, Lo Wai
Director
Wayne Wang
Country of production
United States
Year
1989
Festival Edition
P&I Selection 2022
Length
84'
Medium
DCP
Languages
English, Cantonese
Producer
Winnie Fredriksz
Production Company
Far East Stars
Sales
Arbelos Films
Screenplay
Spencer Nakasako, Wayne Wang, Amir Mokri
Cinematography
Amir Mokri
Editor
Sandy Nervig, Chris Sanderson
Music
Mark Adler
Cast
Spencer Nakasako, Cora Miao, Chan Kim Wan, Victor Wong, Cheng Kwan Min, Lam Chung, Lo Wai