I wasn't sure what to expect of this film, but watched it because of the incredibly impressive cast, and the high rating it had been given.

This film busily changes between about half a dozen different and unconnected stories, so the lack of subtitles and the mostly mandarin dialogue was a big disadvantage in following the fine detail.

I found the opening 20 minutes really dull and rather pointless, consisting mainly of four women playing mahjong and doing just normal domestic stuff. The other stories ranged from quite amusing to just plain weird.

The beginning of each new story had its own set of actor credits, so at least I knew, most of the time, who it was I was watching. The great cast and, to a lesser extent, the strange and arty style made it of some interest to me, but generally, I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who does not understand Mandarin.