Public Toilet (2002)
Reviewed by: dandan on 2009-07-20
Summary: i prefer hong kong...
a meandering musing from fruit chan, focussing the world of the public toilet. dong dong (abe tsuyoshi) lives in beijing: he is known as "god of toilets", having been delivered by his mother as she crouched in a public convenience and fished out by his grandmother. dong dong, is searching for cures to ailments, whilst they visit and discuss public toilets. in new york, dong dong meets sam (sam lee), a hitman who is off for a meeting in, you've guessed it, a public toilet. dong dong's friend, tony (ma zhe), travels to india to find a cure for his ill brother and meets two indian brothers who work at a public toilet in hong kong. then dong dong travels to korea, where we also get the story of a cho (cho in-sung), who meets a mysterious sea dwelling girl (kim yang-hie), living underneath his family's portable toilet...

yep, not your average narrative. the film is a low budget, indie affair, or at least it feels that way, despite the location hopping, and it's shot on dv, although that in no way detracts from it. as a film, it is okay, if not slightly stained with dribbles of pretension. there's a lot i like about the film but, at times, it is just a little dull. i can't really think of anything else to write. it's by no means a sublime slice of art house meditation, neither is it a piece of crap (pun intended); if you've read this and think it sounds rubbish, then you should avoid it. if it sounds interesting to you, then give it a watch...

flushing...