sleeping alone??

It's not very often that I write a review of movies I've watched. But I've decided to write a review for this particular arthouse movie I've watched recently. I Don't Want To Sleep Alone was directed by Tsai Ming Liang, was based in our neighbouring city of KL during the haze-attack days. Hsiao Kang was a homeless guy with no penny to his name. He was attacked by some swindlers in a back alley, and managed to lingered some distances before he fainted by the road side. Rawang, a Bangladeshi worker, found him lying in injuries and took him in to nurse his wounds. As Hsiao Kang was greatly injured, Rawang did everything for him, including helping him to pee and cleansing his body with a damp towel. Rawang also allowed Hsaio Kang to share his precious mattress (which he found at a not so nearby garbage area).

As Hsiao Kang recovered slowly, he began to wonder around in the nearby vicinity. He meet this girl by the name of Chyi. Chyi was almost a silent servant to her lady boss. She waits her boss at her coffee shop daily, took care of everything details of her paralysed son, and slept on this make-shift attic jus above her boss' room. Her dark and rubbish-filled sleeping quarters was a distinct contrast to the bright and airy room of her boss' below.

As Hsiao Kang tried to get close to Chyi, he found himself liking her and u can sense the rising expectations for a sexual encounter. They finally decided to settle their lust on the mattresss Rawang had pain-stalking carried. However, the haze was just too strong, and they stole the mattress up to Chyi's quarters. Rawang, upon finding out about his stolen mattress, was furious. Or rather, he was heart-broken. He sought to find Hsiao Kang and even threathened to kill him. But it seemed that his feelings for Hsiao Kang was far greater than his angst.

In the end, it seemed that the 3 of them jus shared the mattress.

I loved the way the director managed to create a sense of waiting. There were a few scenes where there was not much movements, just a camera pointing at the same angle for about 2-3 minutes. I felt the mood it was trying to capture: the not-wanting-to-do-anything feeling and just wanna see the sun rise mood, the I'm-tired-so-i-jus-wanna sit and do nothing mood. There was a particular haunting scene where the paralysed son was being cleaned by Chyi. It was a very silent scene, no dialouge at all. The camera was focused only on the son's face. But you can actually feel the intensity and the helplessness of the son, his not being able to clean himself. His eyes turned from white to red to teary, from sad to feeling humiliating to angst to self pity.



Overall, I've not seen an arthouse movie that created an impact of fun, intensity, emotional and funny for a long time... However, it's not meant for the faint hearted, mainly due to the too silent theme of the movie.