Production: 3H Productions and Paradis Films
Producers: Chu Tien-wen and Eric Heumann
Executive producers: Hwarng Wern-ying and Gilles Ciment
With: Shu Qi, Jack Kao, Tuan Chun-hao
Editing director: Liao Ching-sung Sound designer: Tu Duu-chih
Cinematographer: Mark Lee Ping-bing Production designer: Hwarng Wern-ying
Script: Chu Tien-wen
Directed by Hou Hsiao Hsien
She broke up with Hao-hao,
but he always tracked her down.
Called her...
Begged her to come back...
Again and again.
As if under a spell
or hypnotized...
she couldn't escape.
She always came back.
She told herself...
that she had NT$ 500,000 in the bank.
When she'd used it up,
she would leave him for good.
This happened ten years ago...
In the year 2001.
The world was greeting the 21st century
and celebrating the new millennium.
Can you read this simplified Chinese?
"Certificate".
It certifies that I took part in the World Magic Contest.
But it's in English! We need translation!
Allow me...
- It was in Mainland China... - Then why is it in English?
Makes it look more professional.
Really?
What it says is... blah blah blah...
Ding Jianzhong... blah blah blah... competed in this event...
and won the bronze prize.
My act was called "Dream of a Dove Flying".
- Flying? - A cash prize of 5,000!
It's around NT$ 20,000.
So where's the 5,000 now?
- Use magic to figure it out! - I spent it all.
It was an international contest.
So nowl use only international coins.
American gold coins, never China or Taiwan coins!
- A slave to foreign fashion! - You bet!
Okay, watch this... Notice how many coins l have?
- How many is it? - Five.
Five coins.
- How many in my left hand? - Two.
Nothing up my sleeves!
Here are two.
How many in my right hand?
- Three. - Are you sure?
One, two, three...
- How many? - Three.
So I'm holding them tightly.
One more time... One, two, three,
four,
five... hold tightly.
Alright...
One, two, three, four... Vicky, help me out here,
hold them tight. And press down on the table.
How many coins in all?
Four, I still have one here.
Open your fist.
How many?
Five.
That's great!
Thank you.
No applause?
Watch out!
You seem scared!
All bark and no bite!
Happy birthday, Jenny!
What the hell is that?
Not much cop at all!
Feeble!
-I brought it back from China. - No wonder!
So feeble!
A great thing with not much inside!
Pass it on.
- You want a bigger glass? - No, I've had enough.
- Give me the biggest glass. - You have it already!
Really?
Anybody needs a glass?
Everyone has one?
Happy birthday!
Stop that!
Spread your legs.
She began fooling around at 16,
with Xuan-xuan, most Saturdays.
They took the train from Keelung to Taipei.
They'd go into the toilet together,
take drugs,
and get high.
She first met Hao-hao in a club on He Ping Road,
'Spin'.
That day she and Xuan-xuan
planned to go to a karaoke club with friends.
But the girls were stood up.
Hao-hao and his friends started chatting to them.
Asked them to sing.
She noticed that
Hao-hao was staring at her all evening.
Shyly, without saying anything.
She never finished high school.
He stopped her sitting the final exam.
The night before the exam,
they were in a motel together.
He deliberately didn't wake her.
He didn't want her to take the exam.
He was afraid she'd move on if she did.
Later, they began living together
in a rented apartment in Taipei.
Neither of them had a job.
Sometimes, he'd ride his bike back to Keelung
to borrow a little money from his friends.
One time,
he stole his father's Rolex.
He pawned it for NT$ 80,000.
When his father noticed the loss, he called and questioned him.
But he denied stealing it.
So his father went to the police.
There was a strong wind that day. It was sunny.
The cops came. They found the pawn ticket
and took both of them to the police station.
Come on!
Who is he?
That guy?
Don't know, I've seen him around.
Who's that?
- Who? - He's called Doze.
Don't really know him.
What?
- What is he up to? - You know her?
- What's it to you? - I think he's after Vicky.
- You want to shag Vicky? - Mind your own business.
Piss off!
Fuck! You hit me!
Stop it!
Hey, stop it!
Sorry, he's drunk.
He's had too many.
Come here! Come here!
Never mind, never mind.
Get off me!
Let me at him!
That's enough! Stop it!
Hold me tightly.
Hello?
What?
No!
No, I didn't.
You've misplaced it.
I didn't take it!
I told you, I didn't!
What's up?
My father...
What did he want?
His Rolex.
He thinks you took it?
He found out.
So what did you say?
Hao-hao!
- What? - There's no hot water.
- The heater's packed up? - I'm trying to take a shower.
- No hot water? - No.
Turn off the cold tap. Leave the hot tap on.
- Is the hot tap running? - Yes.
Is it hot?
No, still cold.
- It's full on? - Yes.
Strange.
- Maybe the battery's dead. - So?
- I'll go buy one. - Okay.
- Don't be long. - I won't.
- Let me back in. - Okay.
- What took you so long? - Police, Miss.
A Mr. Tuan Chun-hao lives here?
Excuse me.
What's the problem?
Tuan Chun-hao is implicated in a theft.
We have a warrant to search these premises.
A simple search... Is he here now?
He's out. He went out this morning.
Who are you?
His girlfriend.
So, can we begin our search?
He's very much implicated.
Will you show us around?
- You want to... -Yes, which is his room?
Which is his room?
As you see, our place isn't big...
That one.
This one, right?
Watch the door. Stay with me.
Miss, please come over here.
We'll search this room, please stay there.
He's implicated in this case.
That's why we need to make this search.
- Should I come in? - Please do.
Where does he keep his things?
- Here. - This is all his?
- Mine too, it's all mixed up. - Mixed up?
Do you know when he'll be back?
- No. - You don't?
What are you looking for?
He's suspected of involvement in a theft.
A theft?
Hence the search warrant.
What's going on?
- You are Tuan Chun-hao? - What do you want?
You're implicated in a theft... We have a search warrant.
Here, my ID.
We're from the criminal division.
Sit there for a moment.
Please accompany me to your room.
Mr. Tuan, here.
To avoid military service,
Hao-hao deliberately starved himself.
He took lots of speed.
Often Hao-hao looked through her bag.
If he found a blank receipt... he'd call up the shop
to enquire about it.
And when her phone-card showed
she had made along call,
he grilled her about it.
Once, he even threw a thermos flask at her.
But when she packed to leave...
he cried and begged her to stay.
Hao-hao often scribbled notes...
to tell her...
they belonged to different worlds.
He said: "You came down from your world...
to mine."
"That's why you don't understand my world."
What's that?
What are you smoking?
What's what?
Can I try it?
- What do you know about this? - So you know a lot? What is it?
Give it to me! We can smoke it together!
Okay, take it.
- What are you doing? - What?
What?
What the fuck are you doing?
Throw it away!
Get rid of it!
Give it to me.
Let you!
It'll fucking kill you!
Why did this call take so long?
- I called home. - Really?
Yes, I called Keelung, long distance!
Why didn't you call from here? Why do it on a phone-card?
I wasn't here at the time.
You're fucking cheating me again, aren't you?
Why would I cheat you? Why have you been through my things?
- Who were you calling? - I told you, I called home!
- Who did you call? - I said, I called home.
Who?
- Which one was it? - You're getting mad for no reason.
Are you crazy?
As I said, I called home, Keelung...
Have you lost it?
You'd better not be lying.
- Crazy! Why would I lie to you? - l'll fucking beat you, you know.
Fuck, why did you go through mythings?
So what? I wanted to, so what?
- You've completely lost it. - Screw you!
Psycho!
Who are you calling a psycho?
Who's a psycho?
Who did you call?
Tell me!
I told you, but you don't believe me! What can I say?
What are you doing?
Going home.
Let go of me!
- What are you doing? - Fuck off!
If you leave, don't come back!
Fuck, who wants...
And then,
to get his rent,
the landlord found her a job in a hostess bar.
Every day, as she went to work
and while she was at work, before closing time...
Hao-hao kept calling her.
If she got back late,
he'd be waiting for her on the stairs.
He was jealous that she worked.
But he never worked himself.
He often called his friends over...
to get high,
pop dexies,
play video games...
and turn the music up loud.
At the hostess bar, she met Jack.
They'd met before in Spin.
Jack often took her home to Keelung.
He liked taking her around.
Jack always had guys with him.
There was always trouble.
Jack never refused anyone.
Everybody liked talking to Jack.
And doing business with Jack.
She knew that Jack spoiled her.
He always brought her along.
He treated her...
as if she were his closest buddy.
One more.
Your family lives in Taiwan?
No...
My father's relatives and my aunt live here.
The others live in Hokkaido.
- In Japan? - Yes.
Ever been there?
Never to Hokkaido.
It's very, very cold.
So when are you leaving?
The day after tomorrow.
May | visit you?
If I go to Japan?
Of course.
Your telephone number.
She knew the Takeuchi brothers
from the Texound club.
They reminded her of Hao-hao.
Quiet, shy...
Their father's Taiwanese.
Mother's Japanese.
They were born in Yubari, Hokkaido.
A mining town in the mountains.
Then the mine was shut down.
It became a museum.
Their grandma still lived there.
She kept a very old inn.
Every February, during the Yubari Film Festival,
their mother asked them to come back to help.
Ko told her...
Yubari Film Festival was in progress.
They had to work into the small hours every night.
The inn was packed.
And he said there was a'Film Street'.
Above the shops there were billboards with movie posters.
These were old films.
Tora-san was there.
Ishihara Yujiro.
And Charlie Chaplin.
Takeuchi Jun told her...
the whole family was converging on Yubari
for his Grandma's eightieth birthday party.
Everyone wished her
another decade of health and happiness.
But grandma answered that
she wanted to live to be 100.
She wanted to see how
Yubari would change.
You know, I think we're from two different worlds.
How can we ever get along with each other?
You are crazy!
Stop that.
Finished?
- Did you hear what I just said? - What did you say?
I'm talking to you nicely, but you're still angry.
Is it painful to be with me?
I'm going out.
Vicky's back!
We can play and get high!
I'm into it now!
Tuan Chun-hao!
- Take that off. - What do you want?
What do you want?
Leave me alone!
Stop that!
We can shower together.
Get out!
You can't do this!
Get out right away!
Come in here!
Open the door!
Let go of the door!
Are you crazy?
But he always tracked her down.
Called her...
Begged her to come back...
Again and again.
As if under a spell...
or hypnotized...
she couldn't escape.
She always came back.
She told herself...
that she had NT$ 500,000 in the bank.
When she'd used it up,
she'd leave him for good.
Vicky,
come over here.
I want to tell you something.
Let's go outside, okay?
- What's wrong? - Nothing.
We can talk outside.
Okay?
Hao-hao, what's up?
Can we? Outside?
Why don't you tell me here!
Let's go outside, I do have something to tell you.
Can we? Please?
- What's up? -I need to talk to her.
Let them chat for a bit. He has something to tell her.
Vicky, any problem?
- Vicky's fine. -I have something to tell her.
Huang, Vicky's okay with it.
Hao-hao, you shouldn't be here.
It's alright.
Doze...
Doze, it's okay. Huang, it's okay.
Let them chat. Just for a bit.
It won't take long.
Say something!
I want to go outside. It's private, between her and me.
- What does that mean? - It's alright, calm down.
Are you sure, Vicky?
- What's this'private' business? - She's my girl, asshole!
Jack, it's nothing.
Huang, don't do that.
It's okay, Huang.
Take your hands off me!
Huang, please, we're just talking.
Cut the fucking crap!
Okay, that's enough.
Huang, stop that!
Vicky, will you come with me?
Will you? Will you?
- It's between us. - What the fuck is there between you?
- Okay, enough! - Who do you think we are?
Just leave!
-Jack, I get it, but I really do... - Okay!
It's Vicky's business.
She can handle it.
- So I can talk to her? - Sure.
- Really? - Vicky, deal with it yourself.
Okay, the party is over.
What is it, Vicky?
Come in.
Take off your shoes.
It's Hao-hao again, right?
Are you okay?
You'll be alright here.
Jack, do you have any Lights?
No, only these.
Any chilli sauce?
Here.
Can I open this? It's spicier.
- Is it ready? - Here you go.
I'll take it through.
I will have some wine first.
Not too much.
To open the appetite.
Did Pauline get off drugs?
It's hard.
Pauline's mother went to a Buddhist monk.
He wants us to chant a sutra for her.
He says it will help a little.
Does it work?
I promised her mother I'd do it. Three times a day.
It should help.
Have you seen her? Is she any better?
Or still the same?
Your cigarettes.
Don't drink too much.
My mother was just here.
What did she say?
She went to pick up my things with my brother.
They told me Hao-hao
has ripped up all of my clothes.
All that's left is my cell-phone, which still works.
Between you and Hao-hao...
What do you want to do?
That's all over...
I'm thinking...
I'm just thinking about what I should do now.
I don't want...
I don't want to go back to the hostess bar.
I don't know what I can do.
My mother asked me to go back to Keelung with her.
But I don't want that either!
I don't know what I should do.
If you stop working in the bar...
that's fine!
It's complicated there.
You earn a lot, but you spend even more.
The main thing for you is to get your life back to normal.
Students who work in my coffee-shop get NT$ 80 a day.
I mean NT$ 80 an hour.
They seem happy enough.
Normal lives.
Maybe that would help?
You think I could work in a coffee-shop?
Why not?
| see.
I know what's been going on.
You tricked some guys at Stonehead's place, didn't you?
- They phoned. - Who? Stonehead?
Ding made their money disappear?
What were you thinking of?
What did they say?
Well, they've seen through your 'magic'.
And now they want something done.
Why are you always making trouble?
What did he say?
He wants me to handle the problem.
But I don't see what I can do.
Drink with me.
Doze! Doze!
Hello? Hello, I'm listening.
Okay, got it.
Is everything okay? Jack, what did he say?
I don't know how to handle it now.
Where's Ding?
Stonehead got you into this?
Right.
You go home first, okay?
You guys, take Vicky home.
- Vicky, go home first. - Everything is okay?
Vicky, go home first.
It'll be fine... Leave it to me, okay?
You can't handle it. I'll make some calls.
It won't be that easy.
- I don't want to go home. - Go home and get some sleep.
He left the key of the room and a mobile to you.
Vicky, it's me.
I'm in Japan.
You were deep asleep, so I didn't wake you.
Doze is in deep shit.
And I haven't solved the problem yet.
I may have to stay in Japan for a while.
I'm at the Koryu Inn in Shinjuku.
The number is 33 69 55 26.
33 69 55 26.
Room number 403.
If you feel like...
taking a break, come and join me here.
But don't tell anyone...
I'm in Japan.
That's all.
Jack, is that you?
Mr. Kao?
Jack never showed up.
He never called either.
It snowed in Tokyo that winter.
She wandered around with the cell-phone
Jack left for her.
The crowded streets were full of workers, students,
housewives.
She pretended to be one of them.
She ate noodles. Watched TV shows.
Hung Jack's coat around her shoulders.
It smelt of after-shave and cigarettes.
Finally she sensed that Jack was missing her.
When he suggested that she could come...
and said not to tell anyone he was in Japan,
it all really meant...'You come!'
'Come alone!'
'Yubari's Road of cinema.'
Ko told her
that Yubari's winters are very cold.
Minus 30° Celsius.
It's the country of snowman.
When the sun rises, the snowman
melts and vanishes.
Once, she was making love with Hao-hao...
she suddenly had the feeling
Hao-hao was just like the snowman.
He would vanish...
as soon as the sun came up.
Making love was sad that day.
Even years later,
she still remembered it.
This happened ten years ago.
Back in the year 2001.
That year...
there was heavy snow in Yubari.
With:
Vicky: Shu Qi
Jack: Jack Kao
Hao-hao: Tuan Chun-hao
Jun: Takeuchi Jun
Ko: Takeuchi Ko
Doze: Niu Chen-er
Production manager: Liao Ching-sung
Director: Hou Hsiao Hsien
Cinematographer: Mark Lee Ping-bing
Production designer: Hwarng Wern-ying
Costume designer: Wang Kuan-i
Make-up director: Liao Ching-sung
Editing director: Liao Ching-sung
Sound designers: Tu Duu-chih and Kuo Li-chi
Music: Lim Giong and Yoshihiro Hanno
Translation: Tony Rayns