Help Me, Eros (2007)

This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

This is in my opinion an excellent movie. I will start by its cinematic qualities, which in my opinion should always come first when reviewing a movie, and then extend into contents and general feel.The direction and photography are amazing. I've seen some bold attempts at making sexual sequences into art, but rarely have I seen such great achievement as in this movie. The use of colors, patterns, shades and glitter, is superb. I find the acting excellent as well. The soundtrack compliments the images adoringly and finds its climax at the music video-like sequences that emerge as marijuana visions with simple mellow songs that do shine, unfolding all the emotional tension that has been gathered throughout our incursion into this bleak urban universe we've dived into... A faithful portrait of contemporary contradictions in human society interlocked with the everlasting themes of the pursuit of pleasure, love, momentary relief and loss of purpose.On second notes I would add that this movie brings an excellent opportunity to have a first look at Taiwan's most exotic cuisine...In the end this comes as a strong movie (emotionally violent) whose thematic is well developed and as an artistic experience perfectly accomplished.

Gorgeous. I was just expecting more Tsai Ming Liang super-freaky alienation porn, full of campy soul music interjections, but this was surprisingly emotional and ethereal. Unlike Antonini and even Tsai (his mentor) actor turned director Kang-sheng Lee understands expressing alienation doesn't mean every environment must be cold, dreary, and colorless. The world of "Help Me Eros" is neon lit from start to finish like a minimalist version of Coppola's "One From The Heart" with every frame worthy of being hung in a museum. The bright colors of Lee's world are indeed beautiful but they create a fake rainbow, like the manufactured brightness of a red-light district.A stockbroker lost all of his money for reasons that are never disclosed, sits in his apartment "Leaving Los Vegas" style watching his world fall apart one trip to the pawn shop at a time. He smokes joints constantly and tends his marijuana plants growing his closet, the only living things in his apartment. He calls a suicide hotline, where he has feelings and fantasies for a specific operator and the two begin communicating via email.This woman and her life with her chef husband who feeds her exotic animals like Ostrich and Eel to distract her from their non-existent sex life, forms the main sub-plot as these two lonely souls seek connection. In between this our hero falls in lust with several girls who sell some kind of nuts outside of his building in enticing outfits to attract repeat clients/johns. There are two sex scenes, neither as graphic or as numerous as Wayward Cloud's or Nine Song's, and both arising within a context of the story, not as just a rhythmic "device" or stylistic detour. The music far from being inorganic to the script, is pulsating electronic or soothingly acoustic and vulnerable, each underscoring the specific emotions of longing, regret, exhilaration, and emptiness that the rest of the film echoes.Shots of standing in a moving car through the sun roof as the city flood by in a blur, of beautiful Tai girls lounging around a neon lobby like cat's on a hot day, and a disturbing but tasteful bathtub full of eels, linger and don't dislodge themselves from memory easily. Kang-sheng Lee's themes are not original, but his delivery is immaculate, his fantasies genuinely erotic(something Tsai's stilted humping though more naturalistic rarely achieves, or seeks to), and his art design courteousy of Tsai himself, a joy for the eyes.Searching for affection and finding only sex, waiting for the sun and seeing only halogen and strobe, sitting in a deserted cafe in front of a River called "Love River"(according to an observant IMDb writer from Indonesia) and trying not to appear lonely, have rarely seemed so convincing or heartfelt. Like Movern Callar, the film is not the plot, but the sensual accumulations of sights and sounds, that drown the viewer like a warm bath. Dryly deadpan, minimal dialog, glowing with life, and cinematic daring, "Help Me Eros", would along with "Wayward Cloud" serve as perfect introductions to Taiwan's burgeoning avant garde aesthetics, which if you are not familiar with you need to see for yourself.

If one has seen films made by Tsai Ming-Liang, one would recognize Lee Kang Sheng, the actor and director of Help Me Eros, as he is the main character in all his films. Thus, it is no surprise that Help Me Eros feels like an extension of Tsai's films, as it mimics his style and atmosphere. Sadly, Lee Kang Sheng has not learned his mentor's directing touch. As a result, his work becomes a muddling piece of junk and I consider it a complete failure.In Help Me Eros, the film opens with a memorable opening scene, similar to Tsai's films, and appears to head in a promising direction. However, by the end of the film, the film bored me to death, as I struggle to finish the film, and I ask the question: Is this an art film, or a soft-core porn film? Even though its style is reminiscent of an art film, the director is unable to convey a message to the audience. At the same time, although the explicit sex scenes definitely belongs to the porn film category, they do not go far enough. Instead, they become out-of-place and unnecessary. Help Me Eros, in the end, is a hybrid soft-core porn and art film. Sadly, the result fails to deliver the mystique of either an art film or the "satisfaction" and "fulfillment" one get from a porn film. It is just a messy piece of work.There is absolutely no point to this film. Don't bother with this film. Check out Tsai Ming-Liang's films instead.

Subdued is an acronym for the following: Strange, Ugly, Beautiful, Depressing, Upsetting, Erotic, Decisive. I saw this film at the Toronto Film Festival with Lee Kang Sheng in attendance. He called it a slow moving film and, if you've ever seen his films as an actor in Tsai Ming Liang's movies, you'd understand what he means. However, this movie (which Tsai Ming Liang executive produced) is not at a glacial pace. The main story is about Shen's character, an unemployed suicidal man who has been calling a suicide helpline. A parallel story is of a television chef who specializes in exotic cooking, who plies his overweight, sexually frustrated wife with the foods he cooks on television. In other words, that is the extent of their relationship now. There is excessive loneliness in this film. Kang Sheng's character also grows marijuana in his apartment and this helps garner the attention of hostess girls who are working in a bar below his apartment. To a one, the ladies are all young and sexy. The wife of the chef, it turns out, works at the suicide helpline, so there is the connection between her and Kang Sheng's character. Like many of Ming Liang's films, the city of Taipei is a co-star, ultra modern, detached and noisy. There are scenes which are darkly comic, thought provoking and sad. This movie affected me greatly. I felt for this man trying to rise out of the depths of despair. Not for the faint of heart, but if you're a fan of Tsai Ming Liang & Lee Kang Sheng, this is essential viewing.