Being a mortuary cosmetologist, Min-Hsiu is used to seeing dead bodies until she accidentally spots a female corpse – her high school teacher Miss Chen Ting. Nie Cheng-Fu, Chen Ting’s husband, loves his wife profoundly and tries to find more memories of her with Min-Hsiu’s help. At that point, a detective, Kuo Yung-Ming, senses that the truth behind this case may not be as simple as it seems. Death is not the end of life, but another beginning of it...
Cinematography
Pale, luminous frames that blur living and dead.
Acting
Nikki Hsieh's restrained grief, barely held together.
Direction
Lien Yi-chi's patient, mournful atmosphere.
Director
Lien Yi-chi
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Taiwanese funeral customs emphasize proper appearance for the dead; mortuary cosmetologists occupy a liminal spiritual role rarely depicted in cinema.
Director Lien Yi-chi specifically cast Nikki Hsieh after seeing her ability to convey emotion with minimal dialogue—crucial for a character who speaks to silence.
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