I watch the wind, and, dreamlike, vanish
Ah-Chuan
Ah-Chuan, are you all right
Everything seems normal
I think he should stay in the hospital for now
And... we may have to do some tests
Then talk to a psychologist
It could be depression
Uncle... Uncle...
What are you doing here
You don't have a room
In two days, my room will be empty
If you still don't have a room then
you can stay in mine
Shit,
this car's like riding a boat
Shaking all over
Ah-Chuan gets sick
The company won't even send a bigger car
Telling us to drive ourselves
All of us crammed in here
Is that good for his health
Seeing him like this, it's damned tragic
If I knew, I wouldn't have come
Don't fuck with me
You said you wanted to come
We only needed two to bring Ah-Chuan back
You insisted on coming
Complaining how Taipei's dull
And you wanted fresh air
Didn't I tell you it'd be cramped in the back?
Didn't I
You said, it was fine
Time will fly looking at the scenery
What else did you say
Let's go see the naked girls climbing the spider web in Taichung tonight
Shit, we haven't seen the spider web yet and you're bitching
How did this all start
A few days ago,
Ah-Chuan suddenly collapsed in the restaurant
Did anything happen before that
He was more quiet recently
But
A few weeks ago
One night, it was very late
We heard a very strange sound from Ah-Chuan's room
We opened the door
And saw Ah-Chuan striking his own head with his fist
Over and over
The next day I asked him
He remembered nothing at all
The past two days, some co-workers said
they saw him do a similar thing in the restroom
Then yesterday when Ah-Chuan was hospitalized
Business was heavier, and we couldn't be there
Today was better
so the boss asked us to hurry up and send Ah-Chuan back home
Your boss is a good man
To send him home as soon as there's trouble
Chuan, get up and eat something
Chuan, come
Let's eat something, ok?
You haven't eaten since you arrived
Come, eat something
Chuan
Can you hear me talking to you
I don't need help with the spraying
You head on back first
See if your brother's woken up yet
Dad, did you know last night Chuan got up to eat
He ate all the cold porridge in the fridge
You didn't heat it up for him?
No, I didn't join him
Dad
Something's weird about Chuan
What's weird
I've been back for three days already
I cook for him and he doesn't eat any of it
Then he gets up to eat in the middle of the night
Isn't that weird
He's the only brother you have
Never call him weird
You should get your return luggage ready for Taipei now
And spend more time with your brother, before you go
Who knows when you'll ever see him again
What happened
She wanted to hurt me
She's your sister
Why would she hurt you
Old man
I have no idea who she is
Then who are you
I wanted to ask you that
What are you doing here
I saw this body was empty
so I settled in
Where's Ah-Chuan
He left
He said he would be back in a while
Did you meet him
Yes
when he was leaving
Where
On the road
Uncle Wang
Anybody home
Uncle Wang
Classmate, what are you up to
I keep hearing noise but you don't open the door
Where's Uncle Wang
Hey, classmate,
how long have you been back
You didn't even call
Little Wu, when did you get in here
Uncle Wang, no, I knocked at the door for a long time
I was showering, didn't hear you
Showering
Uncle Wang, why do you shower with your socks on
Where's Yun
Did she go back already
She has been here three days, it was about time
She left this afternoon
Uncle Wang,
is this blood
You killed a chicken?
Yeah! Killed it this afternoon
I'm preparing it for Ah-Chuan tonight
Then how did the blood get on the table
I was making blood cake,
spilled some by accident
All of it?
There's still half a bowl
Is that enough for blood cakes
It's enough
Uncle Wang, your blood cakes are my favorite
When I used to come by for dinner
If there was blood cake, Ah-Chuan and I would eat it all
All right, have you had supper yet
Not yet
Then you must be hungry
Been busy all day, I haven't eaten a thing
Well then you better go home and have dinner
Eh
Get up, get up
Go home, go home
Go home for dinner?
Yeah
Come back next time
Ah,
then I'll come by to see you in a few days
Mr. Wang, what's the matter
I haven't slept well lately,
I wake up in the night
Any troubles on your mind
None
Then it's probably age, I'll prescribe something for you
Can I ask if it's sleeping pills
Why do you want to know
Because I tried buying them, and they didn't work well
Where'd you buy them
A small drugstore near my home
You tell the owner to be careful
Selling drugs with no prescription
there's no end to that jail time
How's this
I'll give you more
but don't take too many at once
Take half a pill
if that's not enough, take the other half
Dr. Wu
how many is too many
One or two is a lot already
What happens with too many
It'd put a cow to sleep for a few days
though if it's a lazy cow, that's another matter
Anything else you want to ask
Dr. Wu, it's like this
A friend's child has been acting strange lately
he doesn't even recognize his own parents
He even speaks like he's a different person
You mean your own child?
It's a friend's child
Then tell him to bring the child here himself
I just want to know
as I'm rather close to this child
If it's a mental illness,
the child should be examined
What is a mental illness
Basically,
the patient is like a wandering soul
Loosely speaking
it can be people with extramarital affairs
evil thoughts or contact with spirits
Can these illnesses get better
For an affair or evil thoughts
taking medicine won't help
But mental illnesses can be controlled with drugs
though there are side effects
For instance, wet dreams...
sleepwalking, weight gain
desire to get a sex change
Could you call that curing the disease
Honestly, it's hard to say
Dad
Why are you showing up without a word
Didn't Yun just go back
I called the house, no one ever picked up
I thought something had happened
How are the orchids blooming this year
They're blooming late
Will it affect business
Not too bad
Dad,
why did you put Ah-Chuan in the shed
Ah-Chuan is sick
I can take care of him here
Is it serious
Not too bad The doctor recommended more rest
Dad,
Yun hasn't come home yet
Yun went back three days ago
She said she'd be gone three days when she left
But I called yesterday, and no one picked up
Why did you only start calling yesterday
I was busy the past two days
Business is so good, huh?
So busy you don't even notice your wife's gone
Even brought a little money-bag
What the hell
Dad, I didn't come here to listen to this
I came to tell you
Yun is missing, I can't find her
I'm very worried if she's all right
I kept calling yesterday, no one picked up
Until nighttime, ok, someone picked up
But didn't say anything
But the sound from the receiver was
was the sound of a man breathing
What are you saying
Dad, I'm not suspecting Yun of anything
I'm worried something happened to her
I'll show you
Strange, no one's picking up
No one's there
Dad
I think that's Yun's ringtone
Your wife's been dead three days you only come looking now
You bastard
I thought you'd take good care of Yun
She's the only daughter I have
Give it to me
Give me the phone
Why did you take her phone?
Please break it, I don't mind
What do you mean I took it, the phone was on the ground
Why was it on the ground
Did you use a pallet truck to bring the woman here that day
Then where did you put her
Did you put her in the shed
You must've been afraid someone would see her while you dug
Of course
I don't think you even had to do that
Since it was so late
no one would come here
Then you went out to dig
Where you dug, I don't know
Then you lifted her out to bury
But you never realized
When you lifted her, the phone fell out
You bastard
Old man
I was just guessing
If it really happened that way
You shouldn't blame me
Old Li
Can I come by to borrow your excavator
The soil collapsed in my orchid garden again
I'll do some digging and return it in the morning
Thank you
Why does yours look more delicious
You know you put too much soy sauce in the braised pork
You bought the wrong cut of meat too
I had a dream last night
In the dream I was driving
I took a mountain road as a shortcut
After a while, I saw three people
They carried something on their backs
I think they were guns
Suddenly the three of them turned and waved at me
Like they wanted to hitch a ride
I'm asking you
If it was you
in such isolated countryside
would you pick them up
Did you end up driving them
I ended up being woken by the sound of your excavator
Actually, you know
You could have gotten me up
It would've been quicker with two people
Classmate
Hey, what are you doing
Classmate
you remember that teacher Huang you hated?
I met him recently
He told me about your practical joke
Do you remember one day
You dragged me to the bathroom
Then you put a newspaper on the floor
Then shit on the newspaper
Then wrapped it up
Folding and folding
Then you dragged me all the way to Mr. Huang's door
Rang the doorbell and put it on his doorstep
Then you set it on fire
You pulled me to the side to watch
Mr. Huang came out
Then saw there was a fire, yeah?
Then he stomped on the newspaper again and again
Hey, classmate
Wait a moment
Classmate
Do you still remember this
The marbles we won back when we were little
Back then you didn't dare bring them home
And wouldn't let me either
We ended up burying them there
They've been buried about twenty years
Back then we often came to this shed to play
After your mother passed away
We rarely came here anymore
Later you left to work
And rarely came back
I still often come back here
to see how your father's doing
And to see whether you'd returned too
I've got no more smokes
That was my last one
I threw that on the ground
Oh
You looking for me
No
Well, I was looking for you, anyway
Who are you
If even you can't recognize me
then no one can
Just call me the messenger
What's the message
It's a message from the other side of the woods
What message
Ah-Chuan says
He won't be back for a bit
You should stay for now
I wasn't going to leave
Anything else
That's all
Anything you want me to tell him
No
If there is, I'll find him myself
Alright, then I'll be going
Hello
Hello,
Is this Mr. Wang
May I ask who's this
This is the Taipei Zhongzheng 2nd police district
My name is Yang I'm very sorry to call you so late
What's the matter
It's like this
Do you know about your daughter and son-in-law
I know they've been missing a few days
How do you know that
My son-in-law's family called me
Has he visited you
No, he only called me
When did he call you
About three, four days ago
Did he tell you where he was going
No, he only said Yun hadn't come home yet
Do you know where your daughter might be
To be honest, I really don't know
Have you called your daughter
Yes, I have but no one picked up
Are you worried if something happened to them
Of course
What do you think could have happened
Mr. Detective, how am I supposed to answer that
Were they engaged in any conflicts or financial difficulties
I don't think so
Alright, Mr. Wang
If you hear anything further
Please contact us as soon as possible
I will
Thank you very much
Old man
Old man, have you been sleeping well
Getting by
What happened to your mouth
The past two days
My tongue's grown blisters
Let me see your mouth
Stick out your tongue
A bit further
It's fine
Old man
Do you want to go see a doctor
Why
Do you know
These past few days, when I slept
There's been someone was staring at me
Do you want me to come with you to the doctor
Sure. But you have to promise me
No running around
No speaking out of turn
Who's this with you today
My son's been home on vacation the past few days
There's nothing to do in the house So he came with me
Oh
Mr. Wang, how've you been Have you slept alright
Not too bad.
But recently, a few times, when I wake up
I seem to have moved
Did anything happen
I remember falling asleep in bed
But when I wake, I'm somewhere else
What happened in between
I'm not sure
The medicine can have some side effects
It's probably your constitution
I'll adjust the dosage again
Anything else? Any other problems
Dr. Wu
Do you remember last time I asked you
about a friend's child
And you mentioned the wandering soul?
Miss Huang
Take this to the filing room
And make an order of dumplings, while you're at it
Do you want beef or pork
Beef dumplings
Alright
You had beef noodles only yesterday
Then pork
Ok
What happened to him
He suddenly doesn't recognize me
Does he talk to himself or speak gibberish
He's not that kind of person
Who wears a pot on his head
Walking down the road
And talking to himself
Has he attacked anyone
No
He hasn't attacked anyone at all
Is there anyone else at home
Just myself and him
And... my daughter
Your wife?
Passed away 20 years ago
Was she ill
Dr. Wu
What do these questions
Have to do with my son's illness
Schizophrenia often has familial factors
She was ill
But she didn't die from illness
What
She committed suicide
Was she depressed
No
For a while
She was sick and coughing
I thought it was a common cold
After the doctors
And the drugs
She still didn't recover
Then they found out it was leukemia
She was in and out of hospital for months
Until
She couldn't stand being hospitalized
But after she came home
Her condition still didn't improve
It dragged on that way
One day
In the house she hung herself
Did the child see
No. I found out
How old was your son then
He was in 3rd grade at the time
When the mother passed away, who took care of him
Just myself
Although most of the time his sister looked after him
And the sister?
She married
Is your son working
Yes
Is he having any difficulties
I'm not sure
The past few years
He seldom comes home
And doesn't keep in contact
Sometimes I wonder
Whether he's still on this earth
Are you saying
Sometimes you think he's dead?
I never considered that he died
I just wonder
Whether he's disappeared
Has anything been frightening you
Do you often hear
People talking to you or telling you to do things
Can you still remember the past
If you hear things or see things
You know what
They're all your hallucinations
Including you?
Messenger
What are you doing here
Collecting branches
How can you collect every branch in a place like this
You're right
Of course I can't
They're as countless as the thoughts in your head
You're up so late. Where are you going
Looking for someone
Who
Ah-Chuan
What for
It's about his father
What about his father
He's not doing well
You want to help him?
I've got no choice
What do you mean, 'no choice'
Things have already gotten to this point
You really want to find him?
What's this
Can't you see it's a well
Why is it covered
What if it was uncovered and someone walked by at night and fell in
Is the well deep
Does the well have an end
What do you mean by "end"
You
What does that mean
In your experience
Does everything in this world have an end
Where does the well lead to
Weren't you looking for someone
You're telling me to jump down?
Why else would I uncover it
Once I'm down there, how do I find him
Once you jump, you'll know
Then how do I get back up
Sir
I'm only showing you the path
It felt like you were having a very long dream
I dreamed of your son and wife
In the shed on the mountain
Did they say anything to you in the dream
Have you killed someone
Didn't you see that
I'm talking about earlier
Why would you ask that
Because I saw your son
He kept crying and saying
'I saw It'
It must have been when Ah-Chuan was nine years old
His mother was in the hospital
For quite a while
She told me she wanted to return to the mountain
I said 'Come back then'
Not long after she returned
She moved into the shed
The shed you stayed in
She didn't want to disturb our lives
Her return didn't improve her condition though
One day
Ah-Chuan's mother suddenly told me
She wanted to go
And wished me to help her
No one suspected?
Yes
Ah-Chuan did
Since that day
I knew
He always avoided me
Why did Ah-Chuan suspect
When I left the shed
I discovered Ah-Chuan, looking towards it
What're you doing
I'll sleep in the shed after all
I'm not used to it here
Don't worry, I won't run
Fuck
Hello
What the hell's he growing up there
Orchids
Then down here
what's growing in front of his house
Oh, they're fruit trees
But after Uncle Wang had a stroke
he put other people in charge of them
I'm warning you
If that next bend in the road
Takes another twenty minutes
I'll use all my connections
to transfer you to the traffic division down the mountain
I'll make you traffic police forever
N...no, just a little farther
Hurry up
I'm telling you, you're dead
I'm going to transfer you
I'll have you do fucking traffic forever
Don't be angry, Constable Yang
It's right here
What kind of road is this
What the fuck kind of road is this
It's a footpath
Why's the old man live in this kind of place
Wait for me a moment
Okay
It's here?
What the hell is this place
Hello
is something wrong with your head
There was a road here all along
Why'd you drag us through hell
No, the road's been in disrepair
That mud is slippery, cars can't drive up
Why's the earth fresh here
Huh?
Maybe Uncle Wang turned it over
Bullshit
he did that all by himself?
There's no way to do all this without machinery
Little Wu
Uncle Wang, what were you doing up there
I had some time
so I went up to check if there were any broken water pipes
Oh, this is...
Hello, Mr. Wang
I'm Constable Yang who spoke to you on the phone
you remember?
I remember, I remember
It's like this
Your son-in-law's family
they've been at the police station several times
So today I've personally come up
to ask for your help with some questions
Your son-in-law
Did he ever come looking for you
No
I remember when we spoke on the phone last time
You told me
He called you on the phone
Did he tell you
Where he was at that time
No
When did your daughter return
Yun took the Monday 4:25PM bus back
You saw her?
No
Then how do you know she took the Monday afternoon
Because I saw Yun was still there that morning
Then I went to perform the fire drill exercises
after 3 o'clock
When I came back to see Uncle Wang in the evening
Uncle Wang said she had already left
There was only that one bus that afternoon
Alright, alright, alright
Thank you, thank you
Mr. Wang
Allow me to ask you a question, it may seem rude
Don't be offended
Your daughter and son-in-law
How is their relationship
It couldn't have been very good
How do you know
She's my daughter
I can tell more or less if she's happy
How about their financial situation
It should be fine but not doing great either
How can it be both fine and not doing great?
In terms of work
they both have incomes
So it should be fine
But my son-in-law's car it's the same one
he's driven for 6, 7 years, since before the wedding
So their finances can't be very good
Oh
so you mean
You've seen that car
Did you or did you not see the car
No
Then how do you know he's still driving it
Life on the mountain's difficult, huh?
It's not easy
Ah, that's right
Take a look
This is this your son-in-law's car
Should be
We recently spent a lot of time
searching all the footage of tollbooths in the province
We found out that the last place your son-in-law's car turned up
Was the Mingjian tollbooth
He was traveling from north to south
The time, was last Thursday morning
In other words
heading into the mountains here
In addition
we looked into their phone records
The record shows the last phone call
was made last Thursday afternoon
It was your son-in-law calling your daughter
But the location it was received in
happened to be in these mountains
So I wondered
whether they never left here at all
Of course
strictly speaking I don't believe
you're connected to your daughter's disappearance
I didn't believe that coming here
and of course I don't believe it now
Or else, look
why would I dress up so nicely
It's because I wanted to come up here and just talk for a bit
Afterwards I have to hurry down the mountain to Taizhong
To eat at a friend's wedding feast
These shoes. They're new
Look, now they're like this
I bought them just yesterday
To tell the truth, Mr. Wang
If there's anything at all
Just tell me the whole nine yards
It's alright
I won't cause trouble for you
Do you also have a son
It seems when your daughter came here
it was to take care of him
Could I talk to him
Ah-Chuan's sick I don't think it'd be very convenient
Mr. Wang this isn't a matter of convenience
You see how sincere I am
making the effort to come all this way
All the way up the mountain
and now this
I only wanted to talk with him a little
It won't take much time, really
What's that shed for
Ah-Chuan lives in there
Ah-Chuan
Ah-Chuan is his son, is he?
Huh?
Little Wu, Little Wu
Have you lived up here so long you can't understand me talking
I asked if it's his son living there
Yeah
Good, I'll go talk to him
Stay with Mr. Wang
Hey, Constable Yang
Hey
Mr. Wang. Don't worry
It's just a regular conversation
There won't be problems
Once we talk, I'll go
There's still an important wedding feast
Waiting for me down there
Where are you going
Mr. Wang
Mr. Wang, Mr. Wang, calm down
Let go
Come, come
it's raining hard
There's a shack let's stay under it for now
The hell are you doing
Hey, Mr. Wang
Let me go
are you police or a gangster
What's the difference
Mr. Wang, slow down
Don't hurt yourself
please, cooperate with our investigation here
Little Wu -Ah
Give me the handcuffs
We shouldn't
The hell we shouldn't, come on
quick
The hell are you doing
Handcuffs
Give them here
Little Wu -Ah
I'm warning you
If you dare let him go
I'll make your life hell, you hear me
But he
You wanna die, huh?
You hear me
Yeah
You
you're that
Mr. Wang's son, Ah-Chuan
If it wasn't for Uncle Wang's sake
I would have fucking killed you already
Little Wu, hurry up and uncuff me
Get over here and uncuff me
Uncle Wang, I really didn't mean to
The gun went off by accident
Constable Yang?
He's dead
Where is he
He's... at the woodshed
Still hurts?
Then you won't die
Little Wu
bring him to the cart, I'll take a look
Okay
Little Wu
How long has it been since you transferred back to the mountain?
Since the academy
it's been about ten years
Do you still remember five years ago I called you about my stroke?
Of course you didn't quite believe it
You laughed and said
"Uncle Wang, you're having a stroke, how can you be calling me"
In the end you hurried over
or else this life of mine would be gone
You know, with Ah-Chuan's sickness
I never quite understood that kind of illness
Sometimes I wonder whether he's really sick
He's even gotten smarter
Not at all like the old Ah-Chuan
The past few days have been the longest I've been with him
and the most I've talked with him in years
I was thinking
there probably won't be any chances after this
When you and Constable Yang came today
I saw you talking from far off
and I could feel that everything was wrong
So I hid some wire fencing behind my back
And approached you two
When Constable Yang was speaking to Ah-Chuan
I stabbed it into his neck stabbed several times
You drew your gun on me I grabbed your hand
and in the struggle
the gun went off and hit Ah-Chuan
But you quickly overpowered and handcuffed me
Do you understand what I'm saying
What I mean is
sometimes the things you see aren't what they seem
What you saw today had nothing to do with Ah-Chuan
understand?
Then... Uncle Wang
how do you think my eye got hurt
How could you be a police officer for so many years
without any imagination
I leave Ah-Chuan's sister to you
Please find her a spot with a good view to bury her
Just listen to what's said to you
don't speak, and heal that injury
One year later
Didn't you visit him these past few days
How was he
Actually he was sent to a sanatorium two months ago
The staff at the last place treated him well
It's just that his condition was bad
so they transferred him there
Was he alright there
You know as old people
the sanatorium suits more
But even if he doesn't look like it
he still keeps worrying
He kept asking me
'How is it on the mountain'
How else could it be
it's how it is
What sorts of people live in the sanatorium
It should be full of people like you
My friend
is something bothering you
Why are these singers here
They come at every Mid-Autumn Festival
This is where they're staying
Your father sleeps here
They dry their clothes and shower here
Do you want to meet your father in the parlor
Can I wait for him here
Wait a moment for me
How are you doing
It's ok
How have the orchids on the mountain been doing
Very well
I think they'll be even better this year
You know how to take care of them now
Yeah
Little Wu helps me
We've even got the orchard back up already
Next time a typhoon comes remember to pick them
Don't wait until there's nothing left to pick
Also
if you're climbing to the top to check the water
Remember to bring someone along
Don't end up like old Sun
if something happens to you, no one will know
And also those apple locusts
Do you still remember the dream I told you last time
What dream
The one where I drove someplace to take a shortcut
I turned into a narrow, narrow road
There was no way to turn around
I met three people with rifles on the road
They wanted to hitch a ride
I finished that dream two days ago
Do you still remember I asked you before
If it was you, would you let them in the car
Would you
I wouldn't
Actually, all three of them didn't look like nice people
But it was a good thing I let them on
Because not long after
there was a landslide on the road
The road was full of rocks and mounds of earth
The three of them got out of the car
And quickly cleaned the road of rocks and earth
You know what
If it wasn't for them, I would've been trapped there
After we passed the landslide they got off
As they got out they smiled and told me
The exit would be straight ahead
But it was a long, long road
I drove from when the sun was on high
until it was almost below the mountains
I still hadn't found the exit
After that
I saw a child walking ahead of me
I stopped the car
And asked where he was going
He said he was lost
I told him to get in
He kept very quiet
I asked him
Where are you from
Where are you going
He said he was going home
I asked him
What's your name
The child told me
His name was Ah-Chuan
3 NG Film Taipei Postproduction Co. Arrow Cinematic Group Present
Production Creamfilm
Co-Production Ocean Deep Films
Rolf-Peter Wille & Lina Yeh
Director of Photography Nagao Nakashima
Focus Puller San-Lang Liu
Gaffer Chih-Hsuan Chen
Art Director Shih-Hao Chao
Sound Mixer Duu-Chin Tu & Li-Chi Kuo
Still Photographer Chen-Hsiang Liu
Music Si-Ming Tseng
Editor Shin-Ching Lo
Costume Li-Wen Hsu
Assistant Director Hsiao-Hsuan Ho
Producer Yeh JJufeng& Shao-Chien Tseng
Production Supervisor Ming-Chung Sung
Director & Writer Mong-Hong Chung