Favorite New Films on DVD: Help Me Eros
posted by The Joe
For years, Lee Kang-sheng has been the silent protagonist in all of Taiwan-based Tsai Ming-liang’s slow, quiet meditations on the loneliness of humanity. Now, with Tsai serving as executive producer and production designer, Lee takes up directing reigns along with starring in Help Me Eros (which skipped a U.S. theatrical release).
Tsai’s influence is felt immediately, in both the long takes of nothing much happening and the theme of loneliness. After losing all of his money in the stock market, Lee calls a suicide prevention hotline and falls in love with the operator. Mistaking her identity, however, he continually stalks another operator while projecting his sexual fantasies on a girl who works in the downstairs of his apartment building. All these people want is a connection, something they never cease to fail at.
Emotion and eroticism burn within every scene of the film, despite what little appears to actually be occurring, and the dreamy neon nightlife of Kaohsiung provides a gorgeous backdrop. While not as good as Tsai Ming-liang’s efforts, Help Me Eros is still one of the more beautiful and bizarre recent offerings from Taiwan.
Help Me Eros - Trailer (NSFW)