The Hole, a Taiwanese film from 1998, is one of my all-time favorite films. I hadn’t really thought about it, though right before stay at home orders, I loaned my DVD to a neighbor. When he returned it a few days ago, I realized what a perfect film it is for our moment! Tsai Ming-Liang is a master of deadpan comedy and pathos. This one, from 1998, concerns two people in quarantine, one living above the other. (One is a major hoarder of paper goods.) They’re strangers, neighbors who irritate each other in a drab apartment complex who are also alone amidst disaster, full of fear and yearning. The jack hammered break in their infrastructure is the only thing that offers hope for human connection. There’s wry delight in the way that they seep into each other’s lives.
And it’s a musical!
Not streaming, but here are a couple of links.