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Bookmark this pageSweet Degeneration (1997)
Director: Lin Cheng-Sheng
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
A plaintive sax solo blows through Lin's third feature, evoking both the romantic fecklessness of Chuen-Sheng (Lee), a young man fresh out of military service with dreams of making it as a musician, and the forlorn longing of his sister Ah Fen, unhappily married, who nurses a secret incestuous passion for him. While Chuen-Sheng steals money from his father and squanders it on roach-infested hotel rooms and cheap hookers, Ah Fen decides she can't face her life any more and runs away. In other words, there's no plot: just scenes from unfulfilled lives, acutely framed and sharply observed, which work to dissect all the ways that people can fool themselves emotionally. Lin has said that Chuen-Sheng is essentially a candid self-portrait, based on the years when he was a petty criminal and jailbird; maybe that, as much as Lee's excellent performance, explains why it all rings so true.Author: TR
Cast & crew
Director: Lin Cheng-Sheng
Producer: Hsu Li-kong
Cast: Lee Kang-sheng, Chen Xiangqi, Chen Shihuang, Zhang Penyu, Lin Zhilong full cast
Duration: 118 mins
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