Ci qing (Mandala) (Spider Lilies)

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50%

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User Ratings: 2,985

Super Reviewer

Ci qing (Mandala) (Spider Lilies) Photos

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Movie Info

Director Zero Chou's entry into the 2007 San Francisco LGBT Film Festival tells the tale of a teenage webcam tease who decides that a tattoo will make her more appealing, and the memories that meeting the alluring artist arouses. Jade (Taiwanese singer Rainie Yang) is a cute, young webcam performer who thinks that getting a tattoo will enhance her sexy performance skills. Upon venturing out to the tattoo parlor owned by half-Japanese ink-slinger Takeko (Isabella Leong), Jade recalls a crush she harbored ten years ago. Subsequently entering into a surreal cyberspace seduction that emerges through computer images, flashbacks, and lavish costumes highlighted by lime-green wigs, Takeko finds the lines between reality and fantasy blurring as Jade's teasing slowly chips away at her fragile facade. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Rating:

NR
Genre:

Art House & International, Drama
Directed By:

Zero Chou
In Theaters:

Jan 1, 2007 wide
On Disc/Streaming:

May 6, 2008
Runtime:

94 minutes
Studio:

Cathay-Keris Films

Cast

Rainie Yang
as Jade

Isabella Leong
as Takeko

Shen Jian-Hung

Kris Shie

Shin Yuen-Chen

Shih Yuen-Liang

Critic Reviews for Ci qing (Mandala) (Spider Lilies)

All Critics (1)

Although it is explicitly about the tentative romance between two young women, Spider Lilies touches upon the polarities that underlie all human relationships: honesty and dishonesty, trust and distrust, concession and repression.

Sep 26, 2017 | Full Review…

Pamela Jahn
Electric Sheep

View All Critic Reviews (1)

Audience Reviews for Ci qing (Mandala) (Spider Lilies)

Apr 01, 2009

A Taiwanese lesbian drama film. Pretty original and simple as well. More about a platonic love that finds a lot of obstacles to happen, so those looking for girl on girl action, will most likely be disappointed. Not that great, but I liked it a lot.

Rubia Super Reviewer
Dec 06, 2008

[font=Century Gothic]In "Spider Lilies," Jade's(Rainie Yang) webcam is struggling and hopes that getting a tattoo will attract traffic to her website.(Her grandmother occasionally interrupting is certainly not helping.) When she goes to a tattoo parlor, she meets Takeko(Isabelle Leong) who she had a crush on when she was a kid. But their friendship was shattered by a calamitous earthquake. Of greater concern to Jade nowadays is the police investigating her website...[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]With the subject of erotic webcams and tattoos, "Spider Lilies" had the chance to be seriously sexy while at the same time correcting such movies as "Tattoo" starring Bruce Dern and Maud Adams and "The Pillow Book" that present tattoos as kind of an aberration.(For the record, I think people get tattoos either because they think it will look cool or they are so drunk they are unable to think straight.) But the movie is just severely dull with a wandering attention before becoming thoroughly pretentious. [/font]

Walter M Super Reviewer
Oct 01, 2007

Visually beautiful, almost lyrical film, very touching and originally told love story. Very well received by the audience at the Gay & Lesbian film festival here in Hamburg.

Ina S Super Reviewer