Absolutely brilliant

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

When it comes to LGBT films, tragedy and loneliness and death are the main narratives being put out there. But in this particular movie, those three elements aren't because of their sexual orientation. This movie is kind of a gem. It handles sex work and sex workers well, doesn't dehumanize them. There is even a character representing men who consume said content and yet feel like they can 'save' the person. That was all amazingly handled. Another side of the story is death by tragedy, and the permanent trauma it caused on a family member. One of the main characters are tied down by their guilt, their sense of responsibility. I definitely think I would've rated this lower if the heaviness didn't end with some light, so thankfully it did.

I am never a big fan of Taiwan movie production as opposed to Korean, Hongkong or even China. Strong acting quality is hardly found in them as clearly shown in this film. I don't consider myself as hard-to-please audience as I am, in fact, a fan of indie movies. However this movie shows weak plot and slow pace. I found myself lost in the middle as to where the plot is going. The acting certainly does not make it better. Rainie's acting is sub par as she 'over-act', trying to be perky and cute. Although I have to admit she is a pleasure to look at. Isabella Leong on the other hand plays a more suitable role as a confused, sad, regretful, extremely reserved character. Overall I find this movie is a disappointment.

i have to say i enjoyed Spider Lilies, no matter what other comments say. it was my first ever Asian lesbian movie and i was rather wide eyed. as part of Outtakes GLBT movie festival it was a breath of fresh air after watching Nina's Heavenly Delights which put me to sleep. BUT maybe because of my culture or upbringing, i found it rather disturbing that Jade (the younger character) was acting as if she's two years old and talking in that kinky childish prostitute voice, all the time not just on web cam, ugh! actually that's what she represented, not a woman and an individual but some male fantasy. the only time she looked somewhat real was in the love scene which was ridiculously short as if an afterthought. Takeko was a rather bland character but she appealed to me because she was more realistic that Jade. the plot could have been interesting, some imagery and drama but the execution of it less than inspiring and left me with a feeling of being skimmed over rather timidly. i would still recommend watching it if you want to see something not too mentally challenging and cute plus the girls are very pretty :)

G/SRAT strongly recommends a new Taiwan lesbian (nutongzhi) film "Spider Lilies". This film will premiere at the Berlin Film Festival February 11, 2007. We hope you will encourage any friends who might be in Berlin to attend the premiere. This is Taiwan's lesbian director Zero Chou's new film. It portrays the love of and between two lesbians, evoking the hopes and hurts of everyone. It is a film remarkable in its fearless, unwavering representation of lesbian emotions while plumbing the depths of everyday lives. The film is further marked by the director's unpretentious concern for people on the margins of society and her humane yet piercing perspective on life.Spider Lilies (2007) – Do as you desire Reviewed by G/SRAT Spider lily is a flower that grows along the path to the gates of hell; it is a tattoo; it is a way of remembering and forgetting; it registers varied experiences of love and trauma.Everyday rituals are a way of du. Du is crossing over the river to the other side; it is also crossing through life to death and one's next life, over and over again. Storytelling through creative ritual action works through suffering that cannot otherwise be overcome (either in remembering or forgetting) in life. The film shows us how ritual storytelling and actions in different forms – webcam blogging, tattooing, getting tattooed, chatting under the guise of police entrapment – allows for crossing over to the other side, in life, and in death. Spider Lilies helps us see how different people have different ways of doing (or du-ing) – acting out, acting upon and acting through their desires, and therefore crossing through trauma to arrive at the other side, where one is no longer imprisoned within suffering but can live with it, having lived through it. It thus suggests to us ways in which we could do (or du) our own impasses.Everyone is non-normative, and must learn to du/do through different actions/stories. In the world of the film, violence and trauma are banal and special at the same time. No one is exempt from this everyday violence and trauma, no one is normal and without flaw. Through this film, all normative positions are under question. Non-normative roles on the other hand are represented in ways that subvert expectations. In Spider Lilies everyday trauma in two lesbian lives becomes the context and condition of their relation to each other. One of the lesbians obsessively remembers her first love at the early age of nine, and is courageous and forthright in pursuing a sign of love in the form of a spider lily tattoo. The other cannot forget early traumas nor can she remember or begin anything else, but finds a way to tell the stories for which there can be no words in her work as a tattoo artist. The film's view of its characters and their situations is a bit like the blind grandma's, fondly amused, and never judgmental. The tattoo is an allegory of cinema: as ritual that allows a crossing through, as a picture that grows, moves and penetrates its subjects, as a story told through pictures that reflect the past and help bring the future into being.