| Language: Chinese Director: Kang-sheng Lee Running time: 103 min Release year: 2008 |
| Cast: Kang-sheng Lee, Jane Liao, Dennis Nieh, Ivy Yi |
Movie Review:
In the opening sequence to “Help Me Eros” we see the main character lying in a fetal position and watching TV. On television there’s a fish that has been freshly gutted, but still alive. The fish is placed on a plate (in a position similar to our main character) and seems to be gasping for air in its last bid to stay alive. When the announcer asks his co-host what the fish may be thinking the co-host says “Help Me.” Meanwhile, our main character picks up the phone and calls a suicide hotline for help. And with that smashing opening sequence we have “Help Me Eros.” |
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“Help Me Eros” is the second movie directed by Taiwanese actor Kang-sheng Lee. Although I haven’t seen Kang-sheng’s first film “The Missing,” his second film unmistakably takes after his mentor and frequent collaborator Ming-liang Tsai. As an example, if you’ve watched Tsai’s “The Wayward Cloud” then you’ll likely feel right at home with “Help Me Eros.” Like that movie, “Help Me Eros” offers an odd combination of stoic static shots, wacky scenes that are as funny as it is unexpected and a handful of gratuitous sex scenes.
In “Help Me Eros” Ah jie (Kang-sheng Lee) is a washed up stock broker just hitting rock bottom. His apartment has been repossessed, but since he doesn’t have anywhere else to go he sneaks into his repossessed home every night. His car has also been repossessed but he steals it back when opportunity strikes. During this time, Ah Jie withdraws from society and find solace by growing and smoking his marijuana plants. When his despair deepens he calls a suicide hotline, but becomes obsessed with the lady on the other end.
Meanwhile, beneath his repossessed apartment there’s a betel nut stand that employs scantily clad girls to sell their nuts. Ah Jie notices a new girl working there and fantasizes that the new girl is the lady from the telephone hotline. After the new girl, named Shin, gives Ah Jie a ride to reclaim his repossessed car they find themselves bonding over Ah Jie’s homegrown marijuana.
Although Ah Jie has an affair with Shin he still fantasizes about the girl from hotline. Ah Jie then starts to stalk a lady he believes to be the girl from the suicide hotline. In actuality the girl he is stalking is her co-worker. The actual girl he is obsessed with is Chiyi. While Chiyi helps Ah Jie gain control over his life, Chiyi has no control over her own life. She’s overweight, has an eating disorder, and is married to a gay chef.
In a nutshell what we have hear is a good ole fashioned love triangle. All three characters carry gaping holes in their hearts that they desperately try to fill. When portraying feelings of alienation, loneliness, or isolation movies can sometimes alienate the audience as well. “Help Me Eros” is guilty of this. Perhaps from its attempts to convey the feelings of loneliness or perhaps from its desire to have its outlandish qualities as well, the connection between audience and the characters are lost in translation.
Likely to raise eyebrows are those steamy betel nut stands that really exist in Taiwan. For those unaware of the custom, Taiwanese betel nut stands have booths that are lit with neon bulbs and girls dressed like lingerie models. If those betel nut stands doesn’t catch your eye, then the sex scenes in “Help Me Eros” likely will. Again, similar to Tsai’s “The Wayward Cloud” the sex scenes in “Help Me Eros” are hardly erotic, but eye opening because of the various sexual formations shown in the film.
While “Help Me Eros” has a lot to offer, but the lack of connection between audience and main characters keeps the movie from becoming a smash hit. Instead you get a movie with a handful of brilliantly scripted scenes, a separate batch of pure shocking scenes to tell your friends about, and a third batch that is just “meh.” |
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