I've always admired Lee Kang-Sheng, both as an actor and filmmaker. As an actor in Tsai Ming-Liang's films, he rarely speaks but is able to carry his emotions across. The best films he's done with him are "The Hole", "The River" and "What Time Is It There?". As a filmmaker and also lead actor in "Help Me Eros", he is deeply affecting, and the film is somewhat depressing but also highly recommended. In this earlier work, he plays a farmhand, loaned out to various farms. He lives with his parents in rural Taiwan with his wife and daughter. When the wife dies during childbirth, giving birth to a son, he at first falls apart. His mother chastises him for this, effectively stating he is not a man. The film spreads out over years, with the daughter growing up, but not saying much. Also, Keng-Sheng's character finds a lover. This is a slice of life from a place people never see and would not otherwise ever witness. If I have one complaint, its this: The film is too long. It travels at a slow pace, with not very much happening sometimes. However, life is like that too, and I would suppose that was the point. Difficult at times, but worthwhile.
