The Hole (1998)
"Dong" (original title)

A strange disease starts to affect people in Taiwan just before the year 2000. The authorities order everyone to evacuate, but some tenants of an apartment building stay put, including a ... See full summary »

Director:

Ming-liang Tsai

Writers:

Ming-liang Tsai, Pi-ying Yang

Stars:

Kuei-Mei Yang, Kang-sheng Lee, Tien Miao

6 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview:
Kuei-Mei Yang	...	The Woman Downstairs
Kang-sheng Lee	...	The Man Upstairs
Tien Miao	...	A Shopper
Hui-Chin Lin	...	A Neighbor
Hsiang-Chu Tong	...	The Plumber
Lin Kun-huei	...	The Kid
Jacques Picoux	...	(voice)

Storyline

A strange disease starts to affect people in Taiwan just before the year 2000. The authorities order everyone to evacuate, but some tenants of an apartment building stay put, including a shop owner who lives by himself. One day, a plumber goes to the shop owner's apartment to check the pipes. The plumber drills a small hole in the floor, which comes down through the ceiling of another apartment. The hole never gets repaired, and this leads to some tension between the shop owner and the woman who lives below him.

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Plot Keywords:

neighbor | taiwan | apartment | hole | virus | 

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Taglines:

A search for intimacy in a world of disaster.

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Musical

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Details

Country:

Taiwan France

Language:

Mandarin

Release Date:

24 March 1999 (France)

Also Known As:

The Hole

Company Credits

Production Co:

Arc Light Films, Central Motion Pictures Corporation, China Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in Silent Hill 4: The Room (2004)

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Soundtracks

"Da pen ti"
Performed by Grace Chang

User Reviews

Good but ... pain ....ful .....ly .... S.... L..... O..... W

Compared to this, Tarkovsky is a speed freak.

Compared to this, Bela Tarr is MTV.

Compared to this, the movie "Russian Ark" is a roller-coaster ride.

I've just described 3 of the sllllowwwwwesssstttt experiences I've ever known, and this one tops them all. But that's not saying it's bad. On the contrary, I really liked it. But it was a chore.

I won't describe the plot, because you can easily find that elsewhere. Suffice it to say that the plot is INSANE. It's one of the most creative and bizarre ideas since "Becoming John Malkovich". I believe the interesting plot is the main reason I kept from nodding off (also, the humour was nice. That's something we rarely see in slow, artsy films).

Here we see a bizarre reversal of the norm. Most movies have little plot & little substance; yet they fill 90 mins with a lot of eyecatching images to keep us enthralled. But "The Hole" has 100% plot/theme without much to please the eyes. In that respect, I suppose it's a truly intellectual experience, much like reading a painfully verbose novel like Thackaray's "Vanity Fair" (which I've NEVER been able to finish!).

If you have a tremendous attention span, I think you'll really like this film. Despite its molassessy pace, it's highly creative and imaginative. It's like Jean-Pierre Jeunet on quaaludes and with a drab, dusty camera lens. Best of luck.