
Forest fires burn in Sumatra; a smoke covers Kuala Lumpur. Grifters beat an immigrant day laborer and leave him on the streets. Rawang, a young man, finds him, carries him home, cares for him, and sleeps next to him. In a loft above lives a waitress. She sometimes provides care and attention. More violence seems a constant possibility. They find another man abandoned on the street, paralyzed. They carry him. While no one speaks to each other, sounds dominate: coughing, cookin... (Full plot summary below)
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Forest fires burn in Sumatra; a smoke covers Kuala Lumpur. Grifters beat an immigrant day laborer and leave him on the streets. Rawang, a young man, finds him, carries him home, cares for him, and sleeps next to him. In a loft above lives a waitress. She sometimes provides care and attention. More violence seems a constant possibility. They find another man abandoned on the street, paralyzed. They carry him. While no one speaks to each other, sounds dominate: coughing, cooking, coupling, opening bags; music and news reports on a radio, the rattle and buzz of a restaurant. It's dark in the city at night. We see down hallways, through doors, down alleys. Who sleeps with whom?
Leave your thoughts about I Don't Want to Sleep Alone.
| eye WEEKLYJason AndersonThe geographical shift from Tsai's familiar Taipei to his homeland of Malaysia results in both a revitalization of those elements and a new level of visual beauty. The stunning final shot makes it a masterpiece. |
| Hollywood ReporterMichael RechtshaffenIt's an achingly poignant meditation on passion and loneliness in oxygen-choked Kuala Lumpur. |
| Boston GlobeWesley MorrisThe movie is a block of paper that, when Tsai's finished with it, becomes a chain of snowflakes. Loneliness doesn't often get such a gorgeously ornate tribute. |
| Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean AxmakerIt's a return to the dreamy style of Tsai's studies in urban alienation and social disconnection, in which feelings often are suppressed and words are rarely spoken... |
| Reel.comPam GradyThe longing is palpable, for love and for just companionship. In this languorous world, the drama's title speaks volumes. No one wants to sleep alone. |
| Combustible CelluloidJeffrey M. AndersonThe pleasure here belongs to Tsai's images, which can be both familiar and baffling, or beautiful and humorously deadpan, or realistic and supernatural. |
| Film Comment MagazineChuck StephensI Don't Want to Sleep Alone-which ends with a vision of fragile and drifting bliss as oneiric as anything in the swamp-moss-pherics of Andrei Tarkovsky-is nothing short of a dream |
| Times (UK)Wendy IdeWhile not as erotic as other films by this director, there's a languid sensuality to the story. |
| Reeling ReviewsLaura CliffordIf it is sometimes confusing sifting through the characters drifting throughthe Malaysian nights, I Don't Want to Sleep Alone is nonetheless successfulin creating a mood that lingers. |
| Time OutDavid FearA serious return to creative form and a renewal of focus; there's a sense that every perfectly timed slow take and studied composition serves a purpose. And not a single melon gets shtupped. |