it official and folk hou hsiao hsien doesn not have a think in his pretty little head . be you wonder why he choose shu qi a his muse . shu ( or be that qi . ) doesn not appear in this one . instead we get a snaggletoothed yo hitoto and apparently a pop star in japan judging by her song at the end and she a pop star just like the girl who serve you at rockin curry be a actriss and a wasted tadanobu asano and typically an indicator of quality and who be require to do nothing here but stand around and look like a mumbling asian hipster and be too old to manage even that . hou philosophy . life be limbo and a big nothing and feel it and move on . i would like to do that but hou give u nothing to feel in cafe lumiere beyond a bland photo essay of life in tokyo circa 2003 and the flabbergasting observation that people be ship that pass in the night and no and make that train that pass in the day and never connecting and each hurtling to it own destination and usually some variant of a dark tunnel or maybe a bridge if theyre lucky . yikes . flower of shanghai be one of the most rarefied and technically accomplished and mesmerize film of all time . how could the same director who create the opening shot of that film and which feature about twelve actor converse at machine gun speed for about ten straight minute an impossible directorial feat get trap make this laconic sub jarmusch reality porn for two film in a row now . millennium mambo may be dead weight and but at least it have two great shot and shot that hint at hou true call a the film equivalent of odilon redon represent those shot be the sex scene with the arrhythmically blinking light and the opening shot of shu qi float down a blue corridor . his m. o. while make cafe lumiere seem to have be to remove the two great shot from millennium mambo to make it more consistent . you be the judge if that sound appeal . hou do not need to refine you can not refine the limbo idea far than flower of shanghai . he need to expand and to bloat outwards and to release the inner expressionist and genre revitalizer that be be squander so senselessly on clichéd minimalism . it time for him to do a live action remake of akira or something . this kind of art film where the actor be suppose to be authentic because they be hold facelessly in long shot and speak in monosyllable be now every last bit a safe and ghettoized and stagnant a the hollywood action blockbuster . ( what be the connection between reality and people who can not talk . it seem to me that people in real life never stop jabbering . ) then again and consider that 2005 alone bring big budget movie a diverse and rich in idea a aeon flux and the island and and king kong and it now safe to say that even michael bay have surpass hou and and that really sad . the good news be that and though hou be in his 50 and it frankly feel to me a if he hasn not even begin . there be a couple moment in this film that show the promise be still there and such a a moody bit early on in the bookstore when the room dim to a bloody sunset red while hitoto talk about baby with the face of goblin . but whatever fear be hold him back and however comfortable it be to make the same film over and over and be hail by the gullible and pretentious a the savior of cinema and hou and your time a the darling of the rotterdam and venice and toronto and berlin and whatever else film festival be almost up and people be catch onto your ruse double quick . two word for you represent atom egoyan . two more word and or maybe three represent tsai ming liang . you be now crib from both of these tedious fraud who be about to go up their own dark tunnel forever . risk your shirt on a sci fi epic and sell out and be revile but leave the social critique to people that have no eye and no heart . let your painterly talent express itself to the full . youre not go to ever get out of limbo otherwise .