Spider Lilies (2007) User Reviews

If I told you I had a tattoo somewhere private, would you want to see where it is?

[lastliberal · 7/10 · 10 February 2009]

Jade (Rainie Yang) has a porn web-blog and is remembering her first love after she runs into her at a tattoo parlor. Takeko (Isabella Leong - The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, The Eye 3) has a tattoo that Jade wants. More importantly, Jade wants Takeko to remember her. Takeko wants to forget because of trauma that occurred when the two of them were together many years previous.

It is not a girl-on-girl story, it is just a love story with two women, about obsession and trauma, with tattoos as the tie. One doesn't have to get into philosophy to understand love and pain. Just sit back and enjoy.

It was an incredibly beautifully shot film with a great score and two great actors that made it worthwhile.

A Nutshell Review: Spider Lilies

[DICK STEEL · 7/10 · 31 March 2007]

A spider lily is a flower that is said to line along the pathway to Hell. It contains poison which will cause one to lose our memory. Memories are central to the story, as the characters involved are questioned as to whether their memories are faulty, and if one can choose to repress them in the attempt to forget, be they happier times, or times of woe.

Jade (Rainie Yang) is an Internet web-cam girl, living with her grandma, and making a living out of smut, enticing men to trade money for moments of online peek-a-boo pleasure. She has a love since 9 years of age, and it is the relationship with Takeko (Isabella Leong), a tattooist, that forms the fulcrum of the story. Takeko herself bears a strong spider lily tattoo on her left arm, and it is something that Jade wants for herself, trying to rekindle and capture memories of her lost love, now found again.

There had been a recent fad about tattoos, nevermind the negative connotations once associated with this permanent body art. Perhaps this movie will change opinions about tattoos, as it opens your mind to specifics as to the reason behind each design, and the rationale that each person probably had when making their choices on a particular design. And as a plot device, it was a hand in glove, a tattoo's powerful symbolism of hiding real intentions or emotions behind, or to feed off its perceived energy and possessing the design's qualities.

Spider Lilies has fine editing which serves the movie extremely well in engaging the audience with the characters' past. In fact, the rich back stories created for the characters make the story very compelling to watch. If there is a chink in the armour, then it's the characterization of Takeko's brother Ching (Shen Jian-hung), who is a bit slow in mental intelligence, and spends a lot of screen time pouting for his sister's attention, which totally messes up her social life, out of love and obligation to provide the only family care for him.

The fear and pain of being forgotten in a modern society might resonate with many, and anyone who has spent enough time on the internet, will know that its anonymity can often lead to misunderstandings. That subplot perhaps added a touch of lightness coupled with a tinge of sadness and irony. As most youths today turn to the net as an outlet for expression, most will be able to identify with this portion of the story arc.

I'm quite unsure if this movie will be able to make it to Singapore, given its more obvious subject material that the authorities will probably frown upon. But at its core, it's a tale of change and to have courage to live the life you want to lead, interwoven with a tale of love. If Saving Face can make it to our shores, I hope Spider Lilies will too.

Surprisingly good

[dbborroughs · 7/10 · 19 April 2009]

To be honest I picked this Chinese film up because of the case. Its a weird tie closed case with Tattoos and post cards bound inside of it. I like odd box sets, especially Asian ones, which is why I picked this up. Its been sitting on myself since I got it two years or so ago. Unsure of what to watch while I sorted papers I pulled this off the shelf and gave it a go.

The plot centers around a girl who runs a racy web cam site, her grandmother, one of the men watching her (he's cop trying to bust her), a kid who finds power in tattoos, a lovely tattoo artist and her brother. The girl is attracted to the tattoo artist and vice versa but because of complications and plot that is much too complicated to explain simply, things are not as easy as you might think.(nor as complicated as I'm making it out to be) I really liked this film. It has any number of very real characters that worm their way into your heart. This is an odd film at times in that it plays with the notion of why we remember and how we remember and what is real. Why do you remember what you remember? Are you sure that you really remember everything? This film noodles with the ideas at times with memories repeated differently. There are several characters who's memory is failing and we see how that effects those around them.The film also skirts around how we perceive people on line, as the cop falls for the girl and the girl isn't sure who is telling her they love her.

There is something about the characters that made it all real. I mean how can you not help but love a film that shows the dangers of being a web-cam girl when you live at home with your grandmother.

I need to say I loved how the romance between the characters is handled as something that just sort of was. The fact that its two women isn't really the point, its that its two people. Forgive me I'm tired of films that are same sex romance and they beat you over the head with it to the point that you wonder if its about anything other than being gay or lesbian. This is about the people.

My only real complaint with the film is that the layers of memory and stories and reality kind of reach a breaking point about an hour and twenty minutes in. Somewhere about that time the film seems to be juggling way too many balls and I began to lose track of what was happening. Its a minor flaw because by that time the characters have built up enough good will it just carries you to the end.

I think its worth a look, and even a repeat viewing.

just sweet

[showercomb · 6/10 · 29 May 2007]

i have to say i enjoyed Spider Lilies, no matter what other comments say. it was my first ever Asian lesbian movie and i was rather wide eyed. as part of Outtakes GLBT movie festival it was a breath of fresh air after watching Nina's Heavenly Delights which put me to sleep. BUT maybe because of my culture or upbringing, i found it rather disturbing that Jade (the younger character) was acting as if she's two years old and talking in that kinky childish prostitute voice, all the time not just on web cam, ugh! actually that's what she represented, not a woman and an individual but some male fantasy. the only time she looked somewhat real was in the love scene which was ridiculously short as if an afterthought. Takeko was a rather bland character but she appealed to me because she was more realistic that Jade. the plot could have been interesting, some imagery and drama but the execution of it less than inspiring and left me with a feeling of being skimmed over rather timidly. i would still recommend watching it if you want to see something not too mentally challenging and cute plus the girls are very pretty :)

HK Neo Reviews: Spider Lilies

[webmaster-3017 · 7/10 · 21 July 2010]

A beautiful, yet unfulfilled romance… It seems that Taiwanese cinema is finally re-establishing in a manner of art house flicks. With Silk, Eternal Summer and now Spider Lilies, there is no question of doubt that Taiwanese directors are wonderful talents. While Spider Lilies seem rather commercial on the cover of the artwork, with the cute-eyed Raine Yang and the almost unrecognisable Isabella Leong, there is little questioning that it attracted a lot of a certain gender's attention. Full credit must be given to Isabella, who has now taken a path to a career stepwise an inch closer to Best Actress glory, with 2005's Isabella and now this. With that being said, Spider Lilies is certainly a beautiful film to watch and the constant cuteness of Raine is always going to add further viewing points, but the film ultimately remains slightly lacking and leaving the audience rather unfulfilled.

The movie goes like this: Rainie Yang plays cute web cam girl Jade, who wants to get a tattoo to attract her online clients. She visits the tattoo parlor run by Takeko (Isabella Leong), and immediately remembers Takeko to be her childhood crush. Jade sees a stunningly beautiful spider lily pattern on Takeko's wall. She pleads Takeko to tattoo that on her body as "a mark of love", without knowing how special this poisonous flower means to Takeko. Takeko pretends to have forgotten Jade, but there are actually traumatic experiences that Takeko can never forget...

Director Zero is no stranger to queer movies and apparently won the Taiwanese Best Director Award for some film called Splendid Float. Here, Zero seamlessly plays the film like a normal film and making the lesbian scenes all the more natural without a tick of queerness. Perhaps it is due to the pretty face of Raine who performs well enough to be acclaimed as an underrated performance. However, the real star of the show is really Isabella. Perhaps it is due to her make up or whatever; Isabella is acted like an accomplished actress beaming with confidence. Neo is daring to say that Isabella is an outside chance to be the next Maggie Cheung Man-Yuk. At times, Neo felt as though he is watching someone else, a real TB (tomboy) and now that's a compliment.

Still, director Zero struggles to create something more, something deeper and something more relevant. It is a shame that the built up and structure seems so promising and along with the photogenic faces, one can only wish Zero should have done more. When the film reaches its conclusion, it fails to answers most of the questions that it initially raised, which only further hampers the film.

Needless to say, the film is beautiful filmed and the lighting and use of colours are amazingly beautiful to endure. However, Spider Lilies come up rather short of its lofty ambitions and the result is an unfulfilled movie and leaving the audience wanting a lot more. Aside from these short comings, it is almost impossible to resist the moment when Raine kisses Isabella and their steamy hot sequence. Without being bias from a male perspective, the film does attempt to say something about memories. Perhaps it is true that it is human nature to remember the moments and people that they like and choose to forget moments that they do not want to remember. While, Neo can relate to the aforementioned line, the film fails to capitalize on any real issue and once again comes up falling short. Then again, any of that is unlike to deter the fans of the ultra cute – Raine Yang…

I rate it 7.5/10

• www.thehkneo.com

Not What Was Expected and No Surprise

[Adorable · 4/10 · 15 April 2007]

Almost in the same league as Yonfan's rather atrocious Color Blossoms, Spider Lillies drives the point home that you can make cutting edge cinema without the edge, or much in the way of cutting. It's a Taiwanese film, which in this day and age is becoming a novelty at an alarming pace, but more than that tidbit, we can find very little in the way of the noteworthy here.

You should know that ostensibly Spider Lillies is also a lesbian-themed story, but in every aspect this is nothing but a plastic ploy to lure in the easily seduced and gullible. In several ways we have here a repeat of fellow recent Taiwan release Eternal Summer. Then it was gay men getting the shortchange treatment, now we have the same thing with women. Zero Chou presents, for your non-existent edification, a tale likely to titillate at most a fifteen year old. They managed some of the art house stance, but in the end this results in a most inane, simply uninteresting foray.

The Hong Kong angle comes in the form of Isabella Leung (Bug Me Not, Isabella, Diary), here sporting her most butch look yet. Although somewhat likable in her previous jobs, Isabella in Spider Lillies is listless and lacking in most departments. Either her heart wasn't into it or the whole lesbian drama pitch didn't quite appeal to her sensibilities.

She does a Taipei tattoo artist who's shy, reclusive and in charge of a mentally challenged younger brother, played by John Shen, who thankfully grants the movie its only thespian-related redeeming feature. Isabella's character, oddly named Takeko but supposedly hailing from Hong Kong, soon hooks up with disaffected youth Jade (Rainie Yang from fondly-recalled Meteor Garden). The latter lives with her grandmother and has a whole list of grievances due to being left behind by her parents and life in general. Sure, the grandmother component works well and is touching, but otherwise Jade as a protagonist is just as unmoving as her counterpart Takeko.

The two women share a past and lots of inadequately covered angst, with Jade working as a webcam girl while Takeko keeps her father's legacy alive with a unique tattoo of a spider lilly emblazoned on her arm. Jade also wants to acquire this very design, which leads to Takeko exploring internal feelings of the issue via flashbacks and rather minimal discourse with the spunky Jade.

Well, if there's little discourse to write the homebase about, is at least the intercourse memorable? In a word, no. They kiss and feign doing the nasty close to the end, but just as Eternal Summer reminded us not long ago, there's a gulf measured in lightyears between showing sexual content and making ticket buyers think they're about to see sexual content.

This cynical expectation-building seals Spider Lillies' fate. With a weak story, ho-hum acting and an overall dearth of relics to take away from the theater with you, this one kind of makes Color Blossoms look good, come to think of it. At least there we got a bit of Teresa Cheung's mammaries. No, Spider Lillies is no AV masterpiece and should be stricken from the playlist of even the most mundane and timid GLB movie festival.

Amazingly for a pseudo-indie release, not even the soundtrack and cinematography produce moments of inspiration. That's just as well, since it makes passing on Spider Lillies much easier. Believe you us, avoid it and you won't be missing out on anything good.

Rating: * *

Deep, very deep...

[shoganai · 10/10 · 11 March 2008]

It's hard to summarize this movie without giving anything away. I will however praise the actors and the production team for doing an amazing job! The movie's soundtrack is one of very few on my ipod that I can listen to daily, after watching the movie the first time it's really worth it just to go back and re-watch it, focusing on the scenes with the backing tracks. They really add amazing atmosphere (and meaning to a small few scenes in particular!) Rainie is amazing as Jade, especially for those that are familiar with her music and drama roles. As soon as the music rolls, the intro titles come up and the viewers see rainie for that first time as Jade, you'll realise you're in for a real treat! Some parts of the movie, typical of foreign movies (if you're a frequent viewer) leave you sitting there thinking, 'what...?' but tie in with the script towards the end, if just barely.

One thing that I really liked, which others may not, is that it is definitely original, unpredictable, and the relationship between the main characters has you glued to the screen in anticipation. Definitely one of my favourite movies that is watched over and over and over.....

Unclear Intention

[rhermanto · 3/10 · 6 January 2010]

I am never a big fan of Taiwan movie production as opposed to Korean, Hongkong or even China. Strong acting quality is hardly found in them as clearly shown in this film. I don't consider myself as hard-to-please audience as I am, in fact, a fan of indie movies. However this movie shows weak plot and slow pace. I found myself lost in the middle as to where the plot is going. The acting certainly does not make it better. Rainie's acting is sub par as she 'over-act', trying to be perky and cute. Although I have to admit she is a pleasure to look at. Isabella Leong on the other hand plays a more suitable role as a confused, sad, regretful, extremely reserved character. Overall I find this movie is a disappointment.

strongly recommends to you a new Taiwan lesbian film "Spider Lilies"

[jw-chiang · 10/10 · 11 February 2007]

G/SRAT strongly recommends a new Taiwan lesbian (nutongzhi) film "Spider Lilies". This film will premiere at the Berlin Film Festival February 11, 2007. We hope you will encourage any friends who might be in Berlin to attend the premiere.

This is Taiwan's lesbian director Zero Chou's new film. It portrays the love of and between two lesbians, evoking the hopes and hurts of everyone.

It is a film remarkable in its fearless, unwavering representation of lesbian emotions while plumbing the depths of everyday lives. The film is further marked by the director's unpretentious concern for people on the margins of society and her humane yet piercing perspective on life.

Spider Lilies (2007) – Do as you desire Reviewed by G/SRAT Spider lily is a flower that grows along the path to the gates of hell; it is a tattoo; it is a way of remembering and forgetting; it registers varied experiences of love and trauma.

Everyday rituals are a way of du. Du is crossing over the river to the other side; it is also crossing through life to death and one's next life, over and over again. Storytelling through creative ritual action works through suffering that cannot otherwise be overcome (either in remembering or forgetting) in life. The film shows us how ritual storytelling and actions in different forms – webcam blogging, tattooing, getting tattooed, chatting under the guise of police entrapment – allows for crossing over to the other side, in life, and in death.

Spider Lilies helps us see how different people have different ways of doing (or du-ing) – acting out, acting upon and acting through their desires, and therefore crossing through trauma to arrive at the other side, where one is no longer imprisoned within suffering but can live with it, having lived through it. It thus suggests to us ways in which we could do (or du) our own impasses.

Everyone is non-normative, and must learn to du/do through different actions/stories. In the world of the film, violence and trauma are banal and special at the same time. No one is exempt from this everyday violence and trauma, no one is normal and without flaw. Through this film, all normative positions are under question. Non-normative roles on the other hand are represented in ways that subvert expectations. In Spider Lilies everyday trauma in two lesbian lives becomes the context and condition of their relation to each other. One of the lesbians obsessively remembers her first love at the early age of nine, and is courageous and forthright in pursuing a sign of love in the form of a spider lily tattoo. The other cannot forget early traumas nor can she remember or begin anything else, but finds a way to tell the stories for which there can be no words in her work as a tattoo artist. The film's view of its characters and their situations is a bit like the blind grandma's, fondly amused, and never judgmental.

The tattoo is an allegory of cinema: as ritual that allows a crossing through, as a picture that grows, moves and penetrates its subjects, as a story told through pictures that reflect the past and help bring the future into being.

mundane movie

[teina-tokyo · 5/10 · 24 September 2014]

Overall, not a bad movie at all. Visually, it was quite nice and stylish. Despite of having a description as "a lesbian movie" it is pretty safe to watch and not vulgar. Perhaps as a music video or any kind of short movie, it would definitely perform better. But as a movie it is just not very original. Till the end I kept on finding pieces that I have seen in other places and they still did not bring any other meanings. I am not sure whether I was from the targeted age category to watch it. Storyline suggests there is either a prequel or a book to explain, yet none is actually existing. Could be a better one, if split into several movies. After it finished, I could not find anything remarkable. No, not even the soundtrack. This might be a nice thing to watch if you ever considered getting a tattoo...:)

Deep story

[countymd · 8/10 · 9 July 2007]

The Spider Lilies has a deep content. It talks about how much people can remember the past and continue to pursue it. Leong is trapped in what happened in the past whereas Yeung is also trapped by her own past. The fate brought these 2 together and helped each other to build their future together from the past they shared. The story is strong but the acting is kind of weak. Not much chemistry between these two. There is not much going on when they get intimate with each other. It is not convincing the two share the same passion. I guess that is the major drawback in the film. It was sweet and bitter when the film showed their past. There is actually more emotion involved and more convincing with their past. Overall, it is a nice movie to watch.

Not the great but touching and subtle

[yorozuya_tsundelea · 9/10 · 22 January 2008]

It looked like another typical lesbian movie when I saw the commercial of this movie but actually this movie is so interesting,touching and desirable after watching this movie.

It depicts a relationship of two girls Jade and Takeko.Jade is a web-cam girl who always thinks her world is beautiful although her world means her colorfully decorated bedroom for service.Her thought is actually to cover her painful past.The other is Takeko.She is a tattoo artist who always thinks her painful past (leaving her brother alone and the death of her dad ) is her fault.She has Spider lilies tattooed on her arm.One day,Jade asks Takeko for Spider lilies because Jade can remember that her first love was a girl who had Spider Liliies tattooed.

The main issue of this movie is about remembrance which drives two girls love each other.so their relationship is tender and touching meanwhile this movie can portray how the internet world that many teenagers usually rely on and the real world which they attempt to escape conflict.So this story is powerful and this movie would have been the best if there were not some unnecessary scenes to interrupt the emotion Such as Ah-Dong scenes.

Nevertheless,the performances of two leading actresses are outstanding and effective.Raine Yang as Jade can develop herself from a teen pop star to be a promising starlet.Her character looks simple.Actually,she is still finding real love in the real world.While Isabella Leong as Takeko is the greatest highlight.Sincerely,I have loved this woman instantly when she appears.She looks mysterious and introvert but she is artistic and sensitive.Before being Takeko,a cool girl(or guy) ,Isabella has been several different characters from sweet girl(bug me not) to a psycho(Diary).When she becomes Takeko,she is desirable and subtle.She can portray deep emotion by her manner although speaking mandarin is an obstacle because she usually speaks Cantonese in a lot of HK movies. This movie is able to prove how talented she is but I am surprised why these two didn't get nominated any awards.

We are made of memories and only exist so long as we remember and are remembered.

[GraXXoR · 9/10 · 11 January 2018]

The film struck a chord with me back in 2008, so much so that I reviewed it on my old "Nanchatte" Wordpress Blog back in '08...

Since then my Japanese has become fluent and I have spent some years learning Chinese and tonight watched it one more time, wondering if it would bear repeated viewing after all the changes in my life.

Although, 10 years ago, this film was marked due to the lesbian theme, this film has nothing to do with lesbianism... at all... It makes exactly Zero (no pun intended) statements regarding sexuality and the main characters are totally at ease with their orientations.

No, this is essentially a Cathartic film about trauma and the different ways people deal with it.

One of the leads tries her hardest to remember everything, to hold on to every single sweet moment, few and far between though they were, as if they were her last and most precious possessions. She believes that everything is transient and that existence is only as real as the memories of those involved. Be forgotten and you cease to exist. She surrounds herself with all her positive memories and lives almost in a dream.

The other is the opposite: Stony and cold, she has cut herself off from the pain of her past by forcing herself to forget everything, and plods lifelessly through the present like a rootless tree. For her, only the present has meaning and as soon as something moves into the past, it is left behind. Contradictorily she fills her days and nights with guilt for something she perceived as her fault and as apparent punishment she denies herself any solace that would heal her.

Flashbacks serve to flesh out the pasts and allow us to come to understand why they are the way they are today, one's slow reawakening from a morbid, empty state and another's persistence to never be forgotten.

We learn how guilt can arise from one's actions in times of stress and cause one to blame oneself and how emotional starvation can present itself in a multitude of ways.

As a father in Japan a country which has had more than its fair share of disasters, some of the scenes I found indescribably painful, the scenes where this film depicts loneliness though brief, were some of the most heart wrenching moments I've seen on screen to date and left me in tears for the second time.

As for the acting, the 18 year old Isabella Leong shows remarkable adaptability for this demanding role; She plays a high school pupil, a devoted sister, a substitute mother and a passionate lover with believability and empathy.

Every moment she's on the screen, she captivates and convinces the audience, pulling them into her world.

Rainy manages to pull entirely different heartstrings throughout the film and bares her damaged soul in an extremely convincing fashion.

The one other actress, whom for spoiler reasons I won't mention is really an unsung highlight of the movie... I found myself blubbering like a babe pretty much every single time she was on the screen...

The non-linear storyline flits from present to past in a slightly uneven and disconcerting way. Some scenes appear cut short and hurried, while others appear to linger a little longer than is comfortable. Intentional no doubt, but it does make the rhythm of the film a little difficult to follow.

Despite this slight incoherence and the loss of focus of the jumbled ending, Spider Lilies is without doubt, an intelligent and thought provoking drama. It makes a valiant attempt at uncovering the wide vista of human emotional survival in the face of hardship and succeeds where a lesser film would fail to involve.

p.s. The subtitles on the DVD I rented were OKish but have distinct errors in places.

A Powerful Statement About Abandonment

[tabuno · 8/10 · 20 January 2019]

25 May 2008. Earthquakes, death, and abandonment are tragic and in this movie, four people are seriously intertwined in the aftermath of pain and suffering. One is seeking power through a tattoo. Another is seeking love through a tattoo. Another is seeking hope and redemption through a tattoo. Another is simply lost. In this contemporary movie, an Internet porn website became a vehicle for connection and for lies and mistaken identities. "Spider Lilies" reveals itself in the complexity of reality and fantasy and the depth of emotional pain and healing. In the end, we experience both the isolating power of the Internet as well as the ability to free one's self. Yet when realty meets Internet fantasy, the fusion of connecting becomes much more difficult. A powerful movie about the vital need for taking care of each other. Eight Stars out of Ten.

Profound and melancholic

[tsimshotsui · 14 March 2017]

When it comes to LGBT films, tragedy and loneliness and death are the main narratives being put out there. But in this particular movie, those three elements aren't because of their sexual orientation. This movie is kind of a gem. It handles sex work and sex workers well, doesn't dehumanize them. There is even a character representing men who consume said content and yet feel like they can 'save' the person. That was all amazingly handled. Another side of the story is death by tragedy, and the permanent trauma it caused on a family member. One of the main characters are tied down by their guilt, their sense of responsibility. I definitely think I would've rated this lower if the heaviness didn't end with some light, so thankfully it did.