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James Marsh

2/5 stars
Wu Kang-ren reveals a new side to his talents as he bares all in erotic drama The Chronicles of Libidoists. Wu plays one of four lonely souls living in present-day Taipei who search for meaning to their lives by engaging in extreme sex.
The film has courted considerable controversy for its prolific nudity and explicit sex scenes, but proved a box office success in Taiwan.
Writer-director Yang Ya-che, whose previous features include the acclaimed GF*BF (2012) and The Bold, the Corrupt and the Beautiful (2017), is apparently aiming for something more than mere titillation.

His screenplay bursts with allegory and symbolism, and alludes to philosophical questions about love, life, and identity; his protagonists hope to screw their way to happiness or possibly enlightenment.
Wu, the star of Abang Adik and Fly Me to the Moon, plays Single Pa, a writer who failed to capitalise on the success of his anonymously written debut novel. His family has fallen apart because of his prolific womanising, leaving him estranged from his teenage daughter, who now studies overseas.
Pa becomes involved with a trans woman, Lu (Liu Chu-ping), without knowing her background. She is still coming to terms with her new body following recent gender reassignment surgery, and searches for acceptance and validation through a series of meaningless one-night stands.

Meanwhile, Lu’s best friend Queenie (Alisia Liang Hsiang-hua) is engaged to the wealthy heir of a business empire, but is secretly involved in an anonymous BDSM relationship with a motorcycle delivery man (played by Hong Kong actor Will Or Wai-lam) that seems destined to end in tragedy.
The Chronicles of Libidoists explores sexual taboos while attempting to understand the mindset of a generation for whom casual hookups have become the norm.
Despite its best efforts, however, Yang’s film always feels naive and out of touch. The supposedly debauched sexual escapades of its protagonists prove frustratingly bland, not to mention clinically devoid of genuine eroticism.

Yang evokes – of all things – Hans Christian Andersen’s children’s classic The Little Mermaid to explore Lu’s identity crisis, specifically Lu’s memory of being saved from drowning by a young hunk when she still resembled a boy. She yearns to reveal her secret truth to Pa, but is understandably terrified that the man she is slowly falling for will reject her.
It is a curious parallel to draw, and one Yang seems reluctant to explore in enough depth for it to be fruitful. As with the other characters parading through his film in various states of undress, Lu remains an enigma, never exposing herself emotionally with the same gusto as she does physically.
While that is probably Yang’s point, it soon becomes exasperating to watch.
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The Chronicles of Libidoists movie review: Wu Kang-ren bares all in sexually explicit tale

Liu Chu-ping (left) and Wu Kang-ren in a still from The Chronicles of Libidoists.

Wu Kang-ren as failed novelist Single Pa in a still from The Chronicles of Libidoists (category III; Mandarin). Liu Chu-ping and Alisia Liang co-star. Yang Ya-che directs.

Liu Chu-ping (left) as Lu and Wu Kang-ren as Single Pa in a still from The Chronicles of Libidoists.

Liu Chu-ping in a still from The Chronicles of Libidoists.

Alisia Liang as Queenie in a still from The Chronicles of Libidoists.

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Gladys Li as Mei-chan in a still from Once in a Blue Moon.

Gladys Li as Mei-chan and Loletta Lee as her mother (left) in a still from Once in a Blue Moon (category IIB, Cantonese), directed by Andy Lo. Peter Chan co-stars.

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Four lonely souls in Taipei engage in extreme sex in a search for meaning to their lives. They bare their bodies but not their souls


Four lonely souls in Taipei engage in extreme sex in a search for meaning to their lives. They bare their bodies but not their souls.


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Review | The Chronicles of Libidoists movie review: Wu Kang-ren bares all in sexually explicit tale

Four lonely souls in Taipei engage in extreme sex in a search for meaning to their lives. They bare their bodies but not their souls