The Hand (III) (2004) User Reviews

The Container For The Thing Contained

[boblipton · 7/10 · 13 August 2023]

Tailor's apprentice Chang Chen pays a call on his master's customer, Gong Li, a call girl who is currently a kept woman. She seduces him so he will make her beautiful clothing.

Wong Kar Wai's 56-minute short feature is an extended version of his movie that appeared in the anthology film EROS (2004), and is a work of obsession, decay and metonymy, in which the clothes of his object of desire become the container for the thing contained. It is also a study in the decay of beauty -- in this case, Miss Li's, the beauty of delayed sexual gratification, the distinction between appearance and reality, and, oh, many things or nothing, depending on the audience; you may simply see it as a bit of smutty rubbish. I don't. Take notice of the dominance of dirty browns and the filth in which the tailors create their beauty.

A piece of art? I suppose you can call it that

[laogui-04449 · 6/10 · 22 February 2023]

A short piece about a tailor, a prostitute declining from high class to penniless, two hand-jobs, and an undeclared impossible love or infatuation, call it what you like. It certainly has Wang KarWai's distinctive mood and camerawork, as you would expect in his movies - the dark corridors for example. It does evoke some of the mood of 'In the mood for love/Hua yang nian hua' but is not a patch on that wonderful masterpiece.

The music I cannot recall but it was there yet forgettable, unlike that of 'In the mood for love'. Short snippets of 20s-30s Shanghai cabaret, silences and the sound of Hong Kong rain. Set in Hong Kong I assume, but with the lead characters speaking Putonghua.

If I am not mistaken the entire movie passes without a single smile - lots of neck chin and face shots of GongLi, many taken over the shoulder of and from behind the male lead, Chang Chen, the smitten tailor. Nothing maudlin or mawkish is said or done, yet it leaves me with that feeling, and it seems to skirt very close.

No great work of art here, be assured!

Another piece of Art from one of the greatest

[niutta-enrico · 10/10 · 8 January 2023]

I really can't believe I'm the first (and only) reviewing this movie...

Anyway... it's another Kar-Wai Wong interesting movie about love, shot entirely in putonghua (Standard Mandarin) despite being located in Hong Kong, that appeared as a segment in an Anthology film called Eros, 2004 (which had a very modest success at the box office...).

For those who aren't familiar with Kar-Wai Wong works, he is the Author of 'In the Mood for Love, 2000', one of the greatest (one of the most beautiful...) Asian movies ever. And (among other titles...) of Chungking Express, which could easily became your favourite movie (or at least one of them...), should you ever decide to watch it.

The present title is a short film (about 50 minutes) and a comparison with the above mentioned masterpieces wouldn't be appropriate.

It's a catching (and somehow surprising) movie that shows how love can get hold of our hearts, fill our lives and determine our fate.

Enjoy.