Advertisement

Movies & TV Movies & TV Reviews

Parking

PARKING (Chung Mong-Hong). 112 minutes. Subtitled. Opens Friday (November 27) at the AMC Yonge & Dundas. See times in Movies. Rating: NNNN


Go ahead and add Chung Mong-Hong to the distinguished list of directors putting Taiwan on the cinematic map.[rssbreak]

His debut feature, Parking, might feel like Crash, Short Cuts and many other films about the coincidences that link a group of disparate people, but he has a poetic eye and confident storytelling style, continually swerving away from pat sentimentality and melodrama.

When handsome Taipei husband Chen-Mo (Chang Chen) finds his car blocked by a double-parked vehicle, he goes in search of its owner, only to get enmeshed in the lives of a lonely old couple whose son has died, a chubby tailor who’s involved with the Mob and a prostitute who’s trying to escape from her pimp.

The parking metaphor – incivility in a busy society – isn’t overworked, and quick flashbacks reveal characters’ pasts without being heavy-handed. Coloured filters and an eclectic score go a long way to establish mood and tone, which effectively veers from comic to tragic.

Chung’s economical script, meanwhile, reveals lots about the lives of people in a city and country that’s rapidly changing, suggesting all the good and bad that come with progress.

Advertisement

Exclusive content and events straight to your inbox

Subscribe to our Newsletter

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

By signing up, I agree to receive emails from Now Toronto and to the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.

Recently Posted