San tiao ren (Away with Words) - Christopher Doyle (1999)

San tiao ren (aka Away with Words)
From Christopher Doyle

Quote :

The protagonist is Asano who has had an amazing memory since his youth spent in Okinawa. Words have tangible shapes, tastes and colours for him. This goes so far that he is not even able to forget words once he has heard them. He travels the seas and because 'Hong Kong' feels wonderful, he goes ashore there. He chances upon the Dive Bar, that soon turns out to be the haven of comfort he has been seeking since his youth. The bar is run by the flamboyant, hospitable Kevin, who is also an alcoholic, eclectic lover and a perfect confidant to Asano. But Kevin keeps forgetting all kinds of things and that gets him into trouble sometimes. Words seem only to stand in the way of the relationship between Asano and Kevin...

Here is one very difficult to summarize as well as very difficult to fully understand, I found it quite confusing. It is not bad, but I feel like I've just watched a movie while I was drunk (and I swear I was not ). if you watch it, you'll understand what I mean
Anyway, there are some good things in this movie: the big big plus is the cinematography: stunning! Christopher Doyle is actually a quite famous Cinematographer (he was the cinematographer of In the Mood for Love, Hero, 2046, Paranoid Park....) so visually you can only expect good and it is! The way the images fit together is amazing, it's beautifull and original in the same time. Great work! Then comes the story, if there is one, which can lead to very different interpretations so I wont risk my self giving one. The story is a combination of thoughts from a drunk guy who can never remember where he is, child memories from another guy, gay people dancing in a strange bar and an old woman as a MC
Some funny moments but overall also a bit pointless. Luckelly the amazing soundtrack saves it all