Erotic movies are not the most common theme in Asian cinema, at least not in the submissions for film festivals around the world. Nevertheless, “Leave me Alone” follows the “recipe” of the particular genre, while lingering somewhere between the thriller and the social drama.
Leave Me Alone is screening at Osaka Asian Film Festival
Loong is a pimp who handles a number of high class call girls, in his continuous effort to reach the upper echelons of Taiwanese society. On the side, he cooperates with one of his clients, Brother Chao (the ever-present, ever-great Chen Yi-wen), into convincing the owners of apartments in the block he lives in, including his unwilling father, to sell in order for the building to be torn down and a new one to be erected. All the while, he retains an erotic relationship with his half-sister, Chin-sha, who is also one of his “girls” who eventually finds herself feeling closer to a client who insists they take sleeping pills every time they meet. Nai-wen is a gallery director who has been having an affair with the chairman of the organization she is employed from, and is now pregnant with his child, while he is in a coma in the hospital. Eventually she meets Loong and starts an affair with him, but her psychological status and his mentality make their relationship rather questionable.
One of the most interesting questions Fan Yang-chung presents here is whether the two protagonists actually feel love, or if they are just using each other to achieve their goals, Loong to get a step closer to high society and Chin-sha to feel good through sex after her failing relationship, and release the pressure she receives from the chairman's peers, to let go. This question carries a significant part of the narrative, even if after a point the one-sidedness of the whole endeavor becomes painfully evident, with the answer eventually coming, but not before the ending, in the most memorable scene of the movie, despite its subtlety. At the same time, the filmmaker also presents two very interestingly broken characters, essentially making a comment about the reasons people connect, with their antithetical chemistry working quite well for the narrative, also due to the very fitting acting by Fandy Fan as Loong and Christina Mok Yun-wen as Nai-wen.
Apart from this intense, initially exploitative romance, however, Fan also makes a number of social and philosophical comments through his characters, with the most central one showing how difficult it is for people to change their status, and the significance class and genealogy play in that regard. Furthermore, the concept of relocation highlights the corruption that is usually associated with such schemes, with the concept adding another level of despicability to Loong, who has sex with his half-sister, is a pimp, and is eager to go to extremes to achieve, essentially Brother's Chao's goal, including cheating his own father. At the same time, that Fan manages to keep Loong likable throughout the movie, by presenting him as a “product” of his circumstances, emerges as one of the most interesting aspects of the movie. Lastly, the connection Chin-sha feels with the “sleeping” man could also be perceived as a comment regarding the ways intimacy is generated, with Jenny Wen giving a great performance in the role of the former.
Equally important with the context are the film's aesthetics, with Fan capturing the pretentiousness of the high class art world in the best fashion, particularly through three factors. The first one is the difference in attire, which is exemplified through the appearance of Chin-sha and Nai-wen, along with how much Loong stands out when he visits the “world” the latter inhabits. The second is the excellent combination of cinematography and art direction, which results in a number of images of polished beauty that fit the overall aesthetics to perfection. The third one is that the main casts are rather good looking, something that is also toned up by the way they are dressed, in an element that also benefits the erotic scenes, and subsequently, the sensuality that is another key element of the narrative.
Granted, the story maybe goes a bit too far on what is happening, particularly in Loong's arc, but in general, the movie emerges as a rather entertaining watch, equally for its story, comments, and visuals, in a rather hopeful debut
