A fishing village by the sea. Has there been a disaster? A disease? Or was it always a disastrous place where the fish die quicker than elsewhere? Were the inhabitants always poor and without prospects? The film leaves that question unanswered, as so many others. There are onsets to stories that aren’t finished to start up other concepts. Fragments and impressions. Together they form a special mood, evoking life in a tropical coastal village where there aren’t any tourists to be seen. The inhabitants try to survive or to forget their sorrows by visiting a prostitute. For instance we have Yun Ding, who does all kinds of things to make ends meet. Such as putting planks with nails on the road so he can mend the punctured tires. Fairly innocent, even though he treats his friends sister Su Ling less innocently later. And there is the silent fisherman Ah Ngau. He was at sea for days and when he came back his wife had died. And he became even more taciturn. He doesn’t even say anything when he visits the prostitute. Plenty of fish in the film but where is the elephant? Did it disappear in the disaster too? Anyway it does make an appearance in the film – as in a dream. All the story fragments breathe the same mood, so that all parts together form a whole. Even more than the sum of the parts. ( GjZ )
