There’s a hole in the floor of an apartment in Taipei. It’s an absolute mess for the occupant and his downstairs neighbor. Though they’ve never really met, they discover each other through their awkward circumstance, with each episode inspiring irritation, which turns into hatred, which turns into… Well, you’ll have to see the movie.

Tsai Ming-liang wrote and directed THE HOLE as an experiment, bringing his vision of the year 2000 to the screen. Instead of going sci-fi or hard dystopian, it depicts a society where people live so close, and in such harsh conditions, that they can’t even yearn properly.

Give to these causes in need during ICE’s occupation of Minnesota:

• https://mn50501.org/donate
• Support Minnesotans defending their communities from ICE: https://www.standwithminnesota.com/
• @sanctuarysupplydepot: Mutual aid group in Mpls getting basic necessities to our houseless neighbors https://linktr.ee/sanctuarysupplydepot
• @mplsmutualaid: Clearinghouse of mutual aid for our neighbors: https://linktr.ee/mplsmutualaid
• ISAIAH, an interfaith group fighting for racial and economic justice in MN: https://secure.everyaction.com/G8TCnxFlE0qd9zlUEYjjeg2
• Show love to North Minneapolis families in crisis: https://www.gofundme.com/f/show-love-to-north-minneapolis-families-in-crisis

References:

• “A Sentimental Journey Through the Films of Tsai Ming Liang” by Cole Seidl for Perisphere, the Trylon blog: https://www.perisphere.org/2026/08/07/a-sentimental-journey-through-the-films-of-tsai-ming-liang/
• “An interview with Tsai Ming-liang, director of The Hole” by David Walsh for World Socialist Web Site (October 7, 1998): https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/1998/10/tsai-o07.html
• “‘Haunted’ Taipei residential building to be demolished and replaced｜Taiwan News” by Formosa News (民視英語新聞) (June 4, 2024): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfFoYOrAAo4
• Check the calendar, preview upcoming series, and buy tickets at https://www.trylon.org/
• Contribute to Perisphere, the Trylon blog, at https://www.perisphere.org/perisphere-blog-post-guidelines/

#OtherProgramming #35mm

Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodca.st, and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch!

Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: “Oh! Calypso” performed by Grace Chang from the THE HOLE soundtrack.

Timestamps

0:00 - Episode 396: THE HOLE (1998)

2:15 - Whadja Watch This Week?

14:44 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary

17:12 - A movie about the 2000s

24:45 - The dramatic, comedic, absurd mood

26:32 - Water, disease, disenfranchisement, and the slow decay of gravity

34:20 - The human need for solitude vs. the human desire for connection

41:16 - The surprising musical numbers

49:45 - The reuse of actors, characters, and settings in Tsai Ming-liang films

54:39 - Why he leg through hole?

57:23 - Xining Public Housing, the actual ‘haunted’ apartment building

1:04:46 - The consummative, but not necessarily victorious, ending

1:12:47 - The Junk Drawer

1:18:09 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1998