Spider Lilies

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Movie
German title Spider Lilies
Original title 刺青
Cìqīng
Country of production Taiwan
original language Mandarin , Japanese
Publishing year 2007
length 94 minutes
Rod
Director Zero Chou
script Singing Chen
production Lin Yun-hou
music Hwang Chien-hsun ,
Chang Chien-yu
camera Hoho Liu
cut Hsiao Ju-kuan
occupation

Spider Lilies (Chinese刺青, Pinyin Ciqing , dt. "Tattoo") is a Taiwanese film drama from the year 2007 . The film is about the young woman Jade, who wants to get a tattoo of spider lilies and feels drawn to the tattoo artist.

The production celebrated its world premiere on February 14, 2007 at the Berlinale , came to cinemas in Taiwan on March 30 of the same year and was then shown at other festivals, including the Golden Horse Film Festival in December and the Asia in 2008 Film festival .

action

18-year-old Jade, who lives with her senile grandmother in a modest apartment, earns her living as a webcam model . At work she creates a childlike appearance; After anonymous chats with users, she offers them face-to-face conversations for a fee, which mostly involves cybersex . Jade is starting to feel too boring for customers, which is why she falsely claims to have a hidden tattoo that she ultimately wants to get done as evidence.

In a local tattoo studio, Jade recognizes the woman in the owner Takeko, whom she raved about in her childhood. But Takeko doesn't seem to remember her and rejects her attempts to flirt. However, Jade is not deterred and when looking for motifs, sees a wall photo of a large tattoo of gold-colored flowers. She is completely fascinated by this and asks Takeko, who also wears the tattoo on her arm, to pierce the motif for her. Takeko refuses, however, because the design of the spider lilies is cursed.

Conversations between the two women gradually clarify the history of the tattoo: Takeko's father, who had the same tattoo, died in the Jiji earthquake when his house collapsed above him. Ching, Takeko's younger brother, whom he was still able to save, saw the dead father's arm in the ruins, which severely traumatized him. Since then he has suffered from amnesia and does not recognize anyone, not even his sister.

The spider lily tattoo is the only memory he has left, which is why Takeko apprenticed to the Japanese tattoo artist Yoshi and had the tattoo done by him, even though Yoshi warned her about the evil nature of the subject. She wanted to restore Ching's memory and continue her father's studio. Takeko also has to take care of her brother on his own and always pick him up after work from the institution where he is being treated. Because Takeko was in her first friend's apartment during the earthquake, she believes that her father's death is a punishment for her homosexuality . Because of this, she never wants to enter into relationships again and behaves coolly towards Jade, whose feelings, however, she slowly reciprocates. Therefore, Takeko decides to compromise a jasmine motif for her. At some point, the two of them also start chatting anonymously with each other on the cam website.

Soon after, Jade is targeted by the young, introverted police officer A-tung, who plans to arrest her with her colleagues for illegal commercial sexual acts in Taiwan . In an anonymous chat, he tries to gain her trust in order to expose her. Instead, he is touched by Jade's account of her childhood, who explains that her parents have abandoned her and that she also works as a webcam model because of her loneliness. A-tung develops ever stronger feelings for Jade during their meetings and deliberately delays the investigation. Realizing that he has fallen in love with Jade, A-Tung tries to convince her to stop working as a webcam model before she is caught. After confessing his love to Jade, she believes that Takeko is behind the anonymous user.

Jade immediately goes to Takeko, with whom she has sex after a kiss. Shortly afterwards, Takeko's regular customer Adong was seriously injured in an argument in front of the studio and was taken to the hospital by her. Because of this, she fails to pick up Ching from the asylum, who is scared there. He runs out to look for her and is hit by a car. Just before the car hits him, Ching is suddenly cured of his amnesia.

In Jade's apartment, A-tung identifies himself to her and warns her to immediately exit the internet to avoid arrest. While Jade is disappointed that the admission of love is not from Takeko, it is with Ching, who has been put into a coma . She therefore sends Jade a message stating that she will not finish the tattoo. While Jade reacts inconsolably, Ching wakes up a little later with complete memory. The delighted Takeko apologizes to Jade and invites her to come into the studio. The film ends with a shot from the beginning of Jade sitting in the waiting area of ​​the studio.

production

Before it was released, Chou stated that she didn't actually produce Spider Lilies as an LGBT representation, but rather to enhance her own creativity. For them, telling an interesting, artistically valuable story is in the foreground. In addition, she wants to appeal to different groups with her films. However, she is interested in the treatment of homosexuality based on her own sexual orientation. Although she is reluctant to be categorized as a lesbian film director, she decided on female protagonists because there are many films about homosexuality, but few about lesbian women.

In 2007, Taiwanese society was very conservative. Because of this, the casting turned out to be difficult, as the producers insisted on famous actresses. They hoped for a high grossing result, which is why the well-known Chinese actress Isabella Leong and the popular Taiwanese television personality and pop singer Rainie Yang were engaged in the lead roles . The two had to be offered a higher fee than usual because they had to expect negative reactions from the public due to their queer roles. This also resulted in a budget overrun.

publication

Spider Lilies celebrated its international premiere on February 14, 2007 at the Berlinale in the Panorama section . The film was shown at other film festivals after its Taiwanese theatrical release on March 30th, including the Golden Horse Film Festival in the same year and in 2008 at the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival and the Asia Filmfest .

reception

In the Internet Movie Database, the film achieved a rating of 6.2 out of ten stars based on 1,925 votes. At Rotten Tomatoes , a spectator value of 50 per cent results based on 2,500 votes.

The film, which was one of the most financially successful in Taiwan in 2007, received a number of positive audiences in its home country as well as in Hong Kong , Singapore and Thailand . Most of these came from young, queer people who could identify with the main characters. In addition, LGBT viewers in Hong Kong and Singapore in particular felt represented by the film, because queer topics were even more taboo in both countries than in Taiwan at the time.

The older, heterosexual audience in these states initially reacted with reservations to Spider Lilies because of what they thought was a "perverse" topic . However, in the end, many people from this group also took a liking to the film. In addition to the game of Yang and Leong, this was mainly due to parallels in the life of the main characters and their own everyday lives. Therefore, the production probably contributed to an increased acceptance of LGBT people, especially in Taiwan.

In AfterEllen, Suzanne Corson praised the chemistry of the main characters and the storyline with A-tung , which perfectly portrays Jade's young, naive personality. However, this is also confusing because of a number of ambiguities, and Isabella Leong also looks too young in her role, which she could have made more of. Despite these weaknesses, Spider Lilies is a touching, unique and convincing love story. According to David Lamble of the Bay Area Reporter, the film starts out like a bizarre cybersex romcom, but quickly becomes dark and fascinating. Chou play all her trump cards and intensify the figure drawing through flashbacks. Lamble's only criticism was the play by Rainie Yang , who sometimes seems too affected in her role. David Wiegand described Spider Lilies in the San Francisco Chronicle as strange but moving. Like the eponymous tattoo, the breathtaking film is artistic, beautiful and strangely captivating.

Lee Marshall described the production in the Screen Daily as worth watching, but quite shallow. Due to the garish scene and the cumbersome plot, the film looks like a fantasy melodrama. However, through Yang's appropriation of this superficiality , Takeko becomes astonishingly captivating. Ultimately, Spider Lilies is a mix between lesbian teen films and art house . For Ho Yi of the Taipei Times, the film addresses issues such as the performativity of homosexuals in an aesthetically unique and interesting way. However, the script does not take full advantage of the promising narrative structure, while the characters are not further developed. Nevertheless, Chou has the potential to become a force in mainstream and queer Taiwanese cinema. Derek Elley criticized Chou's weakness for dreamy quirks in Variety . The flashbacks are the best thing about the film, the rest are boring or amateurish. Despite Leong's dignified game, Spider Lilies is generally weak, clumsy fare.

Award and nomination (selection)

Golden Horse Film Festival 2007

  • Nomination : Best Original Film Song

Berlin International Film Festival 2007

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop: In Taiwan, 'Spider Lilies' fuels a small gay renaissance. In: The New York Times . June 7, 2007, accessed June 20, 2021 .
  2. ↑ a b c Joy Chiu: Director Zero Chou on “Spider Lilies” and the Evolution of Taiwanese Queer Cinema. In: Taiwanese American. September 15, 2020, accessed June 20, 2021 .
  3. ^ Ci-Qing | Spider Lilies. In: Berlin International Film Festival . Retrieved June 20, 2021 .
  4. ↑ Stephen Cremin: Taiwan's Gay Pride. In: Screen Daily. April 13, 2007, accessed June 20, 2021 .
  5. ^ Golden Horse Film Festival 2007. In: MUBI . Retrieved June 20, 2021 .
  6. ^ London's festival of lesbian and gay cinema. In: Pink News. March 17, 2008, accessed June 20, 2021 .
  7. ↑ lifePR (c) 2002–2021: Asia Filmfest 2008, Cinemaids Stammen & Spiering GbR, press release - lifePR. In: Life PR. October 17, 2008, accessed June 20, 2021 .
  8. ↑ Spider Lilies (2007). In: Rotten Tomatoes . Accessed June 16, 2021 .
  9. ^ Suzanne Corson: Review of "Spider Lilies" ("Ci qing"). In: AfterEllen . July 2, 2007, accessed July 25, 2021 .
  10. ↑ David Lamble: Feature this! In: Bay Area Reporter . June 12, 2007, accessed June 20, 2021 .
  11. ↑ David Wiegand: THIS WEEK AT THE LGBT FILM FESTIVAL. In: San Francisco Chronicle . June 10, 2007, accessed July 25, 2021 .
  12. ↑ Lee Marshall: Spider Lilies (Ci-Qing). In: Screen Daily. February 28, 2007, accessed June 20, 2021 .
  13. ↑ Ho Yi: A sassy melodrama on lesbian love. In: Taipei Times . March 30, 2007, accessed June 20, 2021 .
  14. ↑ Derek Elley: Spider Lilies. In: Variety . February 14, 2007, accessed June 20, 2021 .
  15. ↑ Stephen Cremin: Golden Horse Awards announces new nominations. In: Screen Daily. November 12, 2007, accessed June 20, 2021 .
  16. ↑ Björn Seidel-Dreffke: Cross sections through life. In: New Germany . February 19, 2007, accessed June 20, 2021 .