capsule : a science fiction allegory . at the millennium a lethal contagious virus has hit taiwan . officials have cut off water and other services to the center of contagion . life there devolves and degenerates . a man in an apartment has a hole in his floor and with it harasses his downstairs neighbor . a slow but harrowing film to be missed if possible . , low -1 ( -4 to +4 ) - the taiwan virus is ravaging taiwan and the part of the city that is the center of the contagion has been evacuated of anyone who will go . one apartment building still houses people . a woman , formerly an office worker , ( yang kuei-mei ) is tormented by her upstairs neighbor ( lee kang-sheng ) who has a hole cut by a plumber in the floor and is using it as a drain . neighbor runs a small failing grocery store . - to make things more depressing , it is constantly raining hard . - upstairs neighbor vomits through , pours water , etc . a small and almost entirely one-sided war starts . allegory about callousness and selfishness . - woman is living on a pile of rolls of toilet tissue . - incongruous songs added to show downstairs neighbors dreams . these are the songs of popular taiwanese singer grace chang . - apartment is falling apart . wallpaper is separating from walls . plumbing is failing . - boredom shown by long cuts in which nothing happens . a lot of film seems to be used up . - this story might have been done much better as a ten-minute animated film . - stars are considered to be great dramatic actors by one reviewer . - this film seems longer at 95 minutes most two-hour films .
