Good Men, Good Women

Director: Hou Hsiao-Hsien
Year Released: 1995
Rating: 1.5

Hou is a critical darling that has been gathering unquestionable praise; his approach, similar to Antonioni, forfeits audience interest in favor of detached, cerebral cinema. Shots run on for forever - it sits there, tired, bored - people play badminton, sneeze, walk through a field, everything has this marijuana-laced 'focus,' there's no rush to go anywhere. To be honest, I couldn't make heads or tails out of what the message is - a historical awareness of the political problems in Taiwan might help (I plead ignorance) - but I'm sure a lot of 'poetic' types will find themselves agog.