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I Don't Want to Sleep Alone

Original title: Hei yan quan
  • 2006
  • 1h 55m
IMDb RATING
6.9/10
2.3K
YOUR RATING
I Don't Want to Sleep Alone (2006)
DramaRomance

A day laborer is badly beaten, and a young man nurses him back to health.A day laborer is badly beaten, and a young man nurses him back to health.A day laborer is badly beaten, and a young man nurses him back to health.

  • Director
    • Ming-liang Tsai
  • Writer
    • Ming-liang Tsai
  • Stars
    • Kang-sheng Lee
    • Shiang-chyi Chen
    • Norman Atun
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    6.9/10
    2.3K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Ming-liang Tsai
    • Writer
      • Ming-liang Tsai
    • Stars
      • Kang-sheng Lee
      • Shiang-chyi Chen
      • Norman Atun
    • 18User reviews
    • 54Critic reviews
    • 78Metascore
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 2 wins & 6 nominations

    Photos17

    I Don't Want to Sleep Alone (2006)
    I Don't Want to Sleep Alone (2006)
    I Don't Want to Sleep Alone (2006)
    I Don't Want to Sleep Alone (2006)
    I Don't Want to Sleep Alone (2006)
    I Don't Want to Sleep Alone (2006)
    I Don't Want to Sleep Alone (2006)
    I Don't Want to Sleep Alone (2006)
    I Don't Want to Sleep Alone (2006)
    I Don't Want to Sleep Alone (2006)
    I Don't Want to Sleep Alone (2006)
    I Don't Want to Sleep Alone (2006)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Kang-sheng Lee
    Kang-sheng Lee
    • Hsiao-Kang
    Shiang-chyi Chen
    Shiang-chyi Chen
    • Coffee-shop Waitress
    Norman Atun
    • Rawang
    Pearlly Chua
    • Coffee-Shop Boss
    Lee-Lin Liew
    • Coffee-Shop Tea Maker
    Leonard Tee
    • Light Seller
    Su-Yee Toh
    • Boss's Second Son
    • (as Samantha Toh Su-Yee)
    Kok-Fai Chiew
    • Boss's Grandson
    Rong-Sin Chan
    • Estate Agent
    Kok-Choy Loh
    • Financier
    Shiva
    • Indian worker
    Mohammad Rani Bin Baker
    • Magician
    Rusli Bin Abdul Rahim
    • Hooligan
    Azman Hassan
    • Hooligan
    • (as Azman Bin Muhammad Hasan)
    Hariry Jalil
    • Hooligan
    • (as Muhammad Hariry Abdul Jalil)
    Mohammad Abuha Bin Rosli
    • Hooligan
    • Director
      • Ming-liang Tsai
    • Writer
      • Ming-liang Tsai
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Chosen by "Les Cahiers du cinéma" (France) as one of the 10 best pictures of 2007 (#10, tied with "Ne touchez pas à la hache" and "Sang sattawat")
    • Alternate versions
      The Malaysian Censorship Board banned the film for what is described as incidences shown in the film depicting the country "in a bad light" for cultural and ethical reasons. Tsai agreed to censor parts of the film according to the requirements of the Censorship Board, which allowed his shorter version to screen domestically.
    • Connections
      Featured in The Story of Film: A New Generation (2021)

    User reviews18

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    7/10
    Probably my least favorite Tsai film, but still very good
    This may be Tsai's first film set and made in his homeland of Malaysia, but he doesn't stray at all from Tsaiville. Which isn't much of a problem, really, if you're a fan of the director. Sure, we could complain that he's been hitting the same notes for eight features now, but there are artists in every medium that are like this. Either we get sick of it, or we like it and we stick with it. I'm sticking with Tsai. His moods and rhythms haunt my mind. He captures images like no other director, and he's definitely one auteur whose work you could identify from just one shot (granted, you have about ten times as many frames in that one shot as you do in your average auteur's work!). I Don't Want to Sleep Alone is probably my least favorite of all of his films (all of which I've seen except his previous, The Wayward Cloud – I've seen the first five minutes and am aching to finish it). This is mostly because I wasn't too sure what was going on through much of it. The plot seems to concern a young Chinese man (played by Tsai's boytoy/regular Lee Kang-sheng) who gets beaten senseless in Kuala Lumpur. A construction worker saves him and nurses him back to health, mostly with lustful intentions. But when the Chinese man is up and about, he goes off and sleeps with some women, which understandably pisses off his savior. Then there was a bunch of stuff I didn't quite understand, notably a guy in a coma (also played by Lee Kang-sheng). A lot of my favorite shots involved that guy, but I'm not 100% sure what was going on in that plot line. The images here are top notch, and though there is little dialogue, Tsai's use of sound – and music – is wonderful. Much as Tsai uses Taipei, Kuala Lumpur is an area of urban alienation. Late in the film smoke drifts over from a nearby Sumatran forest fire, covering the city with a thick haze. Many of the scenes are set in a crumbling building (not quite sure what this was all about, really), which reminds me of the post-apocalyptic landscape in my favorite Tsai film, The Hole. I actually think I might have enjoyed this more had I watched it when I was less tired. Unfortunately, I'm not sure I want to give it another chance with the awful DVD, courtesy of Strand Releasing. It's cropped, for one thing. The image also looks a lot less crisp than any of Tsai's other films, though that may have been his stylistic choice this time around.
    helpful•5
    6
    • zetes
    • Nov 18, 2007

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • March 23, 2007 (Taiwan)
    • Countries of origin
      • Malaysia
      • China
      • Taiwan
      • France
      • Austria
    • Languages
      • Min Nan
      • Malay
      • Mandarin
      • Bengali
    • Also known as
      • Dark Circle
    • Filming locations
      • Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
    • Production companies
      • Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée (CNC)
      • Dama Orchestra Malaysia
      • EMI Music Taiwan
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $19,292
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $4,377
      • May 13, 2007
    • Gross worldwide
      • $226,026
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 55 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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