The Hole (Dong, Taiwan, 1998)

In this rather depressing film, two neighbours (let’s call them the guy and the girl, since their names are never mentioned) live in a shabby, old apartment building in downtown Taipei. The government authorities have urged them to leave the building before the year 2000. The story takes place one week before New Year’s Eve. Additionally, there is also a strange virus in the city that starts with a flu and makes people act like cockroaches, crawling around searching for moist and shallow corners. If this is not depressing enough, it is always raining in the movie, non-stop. Water leaks appear everywhere in the apartments, and the girl gets tired of calling the plumber to no avail. Her upstairs neighbour, the guy, discovers a hole in the living room. He starts spying her neighbour without her noticing. In between the scenes, there are five musicals. The girl and the guy sing and dance together in their apartments, in the building lobby and all around the building. This is a sharp contrast to the overall sad circumstances in which they are living. There is an absence of background explanation as to why these two persons are living there and why are their apartments in such a bad state. Nevertheless, director Ming Ling-Tsai comes up with an unconventional story, a mix of minimalism and musical film.