Berlin International Film Festival 2000

You Shi Tiaowu by Stanley Kwan

For one mad, scrambled night, seven people find themselves trapped on a small island in the South China Sea. The authorities have identified the place as the probable source of a deadly new disease and have put it under quarantine: no arrivals or departures. The blockade is soon lifted, but not before one of the seven has died and others have changed their minds about many things.

Stanley Kwan follows up his Silver Bear winner Hold You Tight with another story of colourful characters torn between inhibition and naked self-exposure.

The Island Tales throws together Chinese, Japanese and American characters including an uptight lesbian, a dope-happy good-time girl, an idiosyncratic photographer and a starlet who got famous by taking his clothes off and watches them collide in the mind of a hypochondriac writer who is on the island to improve his health.

Kwan gets terrific value from his all-star cast, and switches gears between comedy, drama and tragedy with conviction and assurance. This marks the first venture into regional co-production for Japan's Pony Canyon. Clearly, it won't be the last.

Tony Ryans