Help Me Eros - Kang-sheng Lee

(aka 'Bang bang wo ai shen')

Directed by Kang-sheng Lee
Taiwan 2007

In one of the first shots of “Help Me: Eros” you see Ah Jie watching a cooking-show on his television. Onscreen a fish is quickly gutted, sliced, partly fried and served on a plate while it’s alive, the head still gasping for air. The cooks stand around joking about it, wondering what the fish is thinking. “Help me!”, one cook suggests. And that is basically Ah Jie’s story, with him being the fish. He has been burnt financially, his insides torn out, the rug pulled out from under his rich yuppie lifestyle and all he can do is gasp a few last useless breaths before disappearing. The allegory is not subtle but very accurate and there is a lot of that sort of thing to be found in “Help Me Eros”.

Like his mentor Tsai Ming-Liang (acting as executive producer and art designer here), Lee Kang-Sheng uses many long static shots to show his story. While Lee’s compositions are maybe not quite as masterful as Tsai’s, Lee’s seem more daring and the result is very pleasing to the eye. The movie looks insanely good on occasion.

Excerpt from Twitch located HERE

Poster

Theatrical Release: September 4th, 2007 - Venice Film Festival

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DVD Review: Strand Releasing - Region 0 - NTSC

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Strand Releasing - Region 0 - NTSC
Runtime	1:39:06
Video	1.78:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 4.78 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Audio	Mandarin (Dolby Digital 2.0)
Subtitles	English (burned-in)
Features	Release Information: Studio: Strand Releasing Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.78:1 Edition Details: • trailer(s) DVD Release Date: July 22nd, 2008 Keep Case Chapters: 12

Comments:

Perhaps a notch better than I have seen from Strand before - although the single-layered anamorphic image is interlaced - it is barely noticeable. They, again, include large-ish yellow burned-in subtitles. The image detail doesn't look bad but once we put it beside another, viable edition, it will be weaker. I don't see Axiom (UK) listing this yet but I'll wager it will eclipse this NTSC DVD in every area if it does eventually come out from them. Audio is 2.0 channel and unremarkable but clear enough to discern dialogue. Good news again that I don't see excessive manipulation and the image is very clean.

No real extras aside from a trailer for the film and some other Strand discs. The film is a hoot - very cool. I wonder if Kang-sheng Lee will eventually eclipse Tsai as the duo's stalwart festival-oriented director? The film is, obviously, very adult - filled with sex and nudity but I do endorse seeing it, possibly though, not in this Strand DVD unless you can't wait for a better (I could use the word 'real') production house to improve upon it. I guess, being the only game in town for the film, at around $15, fans might consider indulging. I honestly enjoyed the experience - just don't expect a stellar DVD edition from this guys.... ever.

Gary W. Tooze

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