The Hole (1998) - Ming-liang Tsai

Anyone who is familiar with Ming-Liang Tsai knows that his films are definitely not known for their brisk pace.  The Hole takes place in an alternate
reality (now at least) where the millennium virus is an epidemic that is slowly killing everyone in Taiwan.  The main characters in our film live in a district that has been evacuated with the water being shut off permanently come January 1, 2000.  The setting of the film is an extremely depressing, wet, rotting, apartment in this district.  The story revolves around a young man who meets a woman who lives below him in the apartment complex after a plumber knocks a whole in the floor to try and stop a busted pipe.  Both of these characters lives are empty, and this small connection that they form serves as a distraction from the world around them.  This can be seen in the music numbers which are sprinkled throughout the film which consist of the female lead singing upbeat 1950s style songs typically about falling in love and relationships in general.  Ming-Liang Tsai's films are not particularly straight forward and this one is no different in that regard.  Many casual viewers would definitely find this film boring but its just a minimalist experience which left me with a lot of questions and things to think about, which I don't believe at all to be a bad thing.  For me, Tsai wants to show how fragile life is and how we are inherently lonely and weak individuals but the connections which we can form with each other is what can make us strong. 

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