Wayward cloud

FIrst paper in exactly 2 weeks time. I was reading the discussion forum on Cinematics yesterday and was amused by how some interpret films.

QUote by XX
Firstly, the symbols, I saw the watermelon as a complete whole of Taiwan. When it is cut into half, it has two halves of a complete watermelon. I likened the halves to the pro-unification camp and the other to the pro-independence camp in the political arena in Taiwan. The two female lead also represents the two respective camps and the male lead is symbolic of Mainland China.

Quote 2 by XX
In the closing scene, it gets even more interesting. I felt that the unconsciousness of the porn actress (representing pro-unification) tells me that this camp is totally incapacitated and unable to see people (China people) manipulating them. Bear in mind that the other girl symbolic of pro-independence dragged her out of the lift and watched a porn film about her and then decided to drag her away. This is symbolic of how the pro-independence camp tried to reach out to the other camp for unity, however, upon watching the porn film (representing the media manipulation), realizes that there is no hope in getting the porn actress to wake up from her delusions and decided to send her away (turn about for pro-independence camp’s effort to reach out to the pro-unification). The exaggeration of the cameraman, lighting crew and director serve to drive home the idea of representation of the mass media, while the director seems to me to be the old generation of the Communist party and the man that is screwing the girl to be that of the current leaders of China. It seems like the old generation of leaders are still directing the way the current leaders are tackling the situation of reunification. The cameras (mass media) seems to tell us that what we see is media manipulation of depicting the situation saying China treats Taiwan (rather the only the pro-unification camp) with respect by having sex the normal way (meaning unification of two bodies with pleasure for both) when in fact he desires the girl in the window partitioned (representing the borders of Taiwan and China). The girl at the window is able to watch what is really going on (i.e. manipulation) and yet lusts for it because deep down that is what she hopes for too. Yet, upon climaxing the guy shoves his penis into the girl behind the window’s mouth. This representing the fact that China is not satisfied with just having the pro-unification camp and desires to have the pro-independence camp as well. Yet the mere fact of the position of being at a higher ground by the man (China) and shoving his penis into the mouth of the girl (pro-independence camp) shows that China wants to have a submission by the pro-independence camp for it’s own gratification. The tears represent the sadness that reunification is not possible when China only wants to make use of Taiwan. This coupled with the backdrop of the Taiwanese airline poster girls on the other side of the wall also served to demarcate the two zones. That is to say, Taiwanese airlines are not granted direct flights into China airspace, thus the boundary division

The film in discussion is "wayward cloud" directed by Tsai Ming-liang in 2005. It portrays the repetitive joyless sex of sex actors, juxtapose against musical sequences. The movie seems metaphorical with its extensive display of objects that are seemingly hinting at something, and the pain (or joy?) of watching this movie is to guess the underlying meaning the director is trying to bring across. What distrubs me is that while other students are able to link the movie to political or social issues, I'm only able to read the film as how it is presented. What I know of the film is only what is told to us explicitly by the director, which is nothing.

However, after reading the discussion forum, I made an interesting observation. All the opinions on what the film is really about differ. The one that is quoted above for example, links water melon as a whole of taiwan, and cutting it into halves represents the pro unification and independence halves. I think the link is very weak, but is there a way to prove him wrong? There are 101 different opinions and which one is really correct? Is there even an accurate answer to this kind of film?

Perhaps the film triggers different emotions and memories from its audience, and that provides the unique experiences to the individuals. Unfortunately, I can't link it to anything. I hate art films.

What is more interesting for me is the war that is breaking out in the forum. I hope the teacher will not stop it prematurely.

quote 3 by YY

Political hints are seen, apparent or subtle(depends on how you interpret it), in this film. however I disagree with XX's assertion that the entire film is so much about politics. The fact that the so called "pro-independence lead" longs to have an intimate relationship with the male lead has already repudiated your argument.
Film viewers without much in-depth understanding of the cultural and political environment that contributes to the making of the film usually tend to delight themselves with the rationalization of their seemingly smart judgement.

Quote 4 by XX
Hi YY, nice to hear from you after a long hiatus. Taking a second dig at me for being harsh the first time round? =) If NTU were to have a political science course, u'll top the class... All the best for the coming exams...

This is even more interesting than the movie