The Hole

A man in a white undershirt sits on the floor of a sparsely furnished room beside a large opening in the floor. A beverage can and scattered household objects are nearby.

Set just prior to the start of the 21st century, Tsai Ming-Liang's The Hole is a vaguely futuristic story follows two residents of a quickly crumbling apartment building in Taipei who refuse to leave their homes in spite of a virus that has forced the evacuation of the area.

As rain pours down relentlessly, a single man is stuck with an unfinished plumbing job and a hole in his floor. This results in a very odd relationship with the woman who lives below him. Combining deadpan humor with an austere view of loneliness and a couple of unexpected musical numbers, Tsai Ming-Liang crafted one of the most original films of the 1990s —an end-of-the-world romance that remains disarmingly funny and feels eerily prescient in our post-pandemic world.

The Hole screens in a newly struck 35mm print, courtesy of Big World Pictures. Originally produced for French television's 2000 Seen by... series, the film was initially broadcast in a 69-minute version called Last Dance, but this longer version is the director's preferred cut.

In Mandarin and Taiwanese with English subtitles. Part of our "Restorations & Rediscoveries" series. Courtesy: Big World Pictures

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