Millennium Mambo (Chinese: 千禧曼波) is a 2001 Taiwanese romantic drama film directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien. The film was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, where Tu Duu-chih won Technical Grand Prize.

Plot

The main character, Vicky (Shu Qi), serves as the principal narrator of this film, revealing to the audience in 2011 details of her life from a decade earlier. She describes her youth and the changes her life undergoes at the beginning of the new millennium. She works as a hostess in a trendy bar. Vicky is torn between two men, Hao-Hao and Jack, and her parallel love affairs showcase her inner life and her attitude towards her fleeting youth.

Cast

ActorRole
Shu QiVicky
Jack KaoJack
Duan Chun-haoHao-Hao
Chen Yi-HsuanXuan
Jun TakeuchiJun
Doze NiuDoze
Jenny Tseng Yan Lei
Pauline Chan
Huang Xiao Chu

According to Maggie Cheung, speaking at a press conference for Wong Kar Wai’s In the Mood for Love, she and Tony Leung Chiu-wai were initially tapped to play the main roles in Millennium Mambo.

Reception

Upon release the film received favourable reviews from critics, on Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 84% based on 34 critics, with an average rating of 7.4/10. On Metacritic the film has a score of 72% based on 12 critics indicating generally favourable reviews.

Stephen Short of Time Asia perceived the film's depth as shallow, calling the script "feckless" for not developing the relationship between Hao-Hao and Vicky further.

Awards and nominations

External links