The Hole

explores the themes of isolation, loneliness and yearning for love in the most relevant way. It's a story of two neighbors who start interfering into each other’s lives through a hole in their shared floor/ceiling, one small wall between them yet it felt so far. It shows modern urban living and alienation and the pandemic setting and rains made it even more haunting. Like in many Tsai films, here also dialogue and plot are used in favor of poetic imagery, long shots of ordinary and mundane behaviors, and a series of cryptic, comically absurd vignettes. Using “Taiwan Virus” which induces cockroach-like behavior in those it infects. This metaphor highlights the kafkaesque feeling in the film, questioning their own existence and state of life. Through the long shots of walking, eating and walking through vacant haunting like places alone, the film tries to display the sense of melancholy and longing for desperate emotional connection. It was brilliant how he added musical scenes to show a character's inner feelings. The film uses vibrant song-and-dance routines that adapt the emotional and generic logic of the Hollywood musical with an emphasis on reality. These numbers begin suddenly and unexpectedly, taking unstated emotions and launching into wild romantic engagement. This film can make you enfold your experiences and feelings and imagine yourself earning for hand through a hole to pull you up. It combines our fantasies and our disappointments, and projects a genuine human connection in a world where it seems all but impossible.