Search - Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors on DVD

"One Can't Do Everything One Wants In Life" ~ A Slip Of The

Brian E. Erland | Brea, CA - USA | 03/29/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Note: Cantonese with English subtitles.



Judging by the title of this rather obscure little Asian film you are led to expect something entirely different than what is actually presented on the screen. Who wouldn't expect something highly pornographic in nature when they read the title `Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors.' It turns out to be nothing of the kind.



What you find yourself watching instead is a slow moving study in existential longing and alienation presented in a manner that Ingmar Bergman would be proud of. The film is shot in black and white, the season is winter. The trees are barren of foliage, the lake in the park frozen and the sky overcast and gloomy. The mood and atmosphere is so stark and minimal you almost expect to see Sven Nykvists' name in the closing credits.



Synopsis: Two attractive young people meet through a mutual acquaintance and begin a tentative friend which slowly evolves into a meaningful relationship. The tale is told twice, first from the male perspective, then the female. This is definitely a love story of the mundane kind. It contains no exhilarating expressions of love or carefree emotional outbursts. The only brief moment of openly affectionate behavior between the two would-be lovers comes late in the film, finally adding a brief but positive and uplifting note to an otherwise dreary relationship.



It took me awhile to figure it out the filmmakers intent, but I think I finally did. The message of the film is found in the cinematic mood, not the dialogue. The mood is the message. From a personal perspective two hours and six minutes is an awfully long time to simply bask in the atmosphere of a movie, but maybe that's just a product of my American perspective. If not for the presence of the alluring beauty Eun-ju Lee as the female love interest I would've never lasted to the end."