LIFE FOR SALE

Liang is sure he wants to end his life. Less sure is how exactly he wants to do it. According to the Internet, eating 40 spoons of cinnamon, 400 pieces of chewing gum or 215 carrots at once will do the trick, but it’s hardly practical. But then he comes across a copy of Yukio Mishima’s 1968 novel ‘Life for Sale’ – a “Japanese pulpy classic”, according to The Guardian – whose suicidal protagonist sells his life to the highest bidder. Great idea! He puts his life for sale… and there are many takers! First, there’s Mr. Wang, a ruthless crime lord whose dog was abducted by a rival gang. He could use a guy who’s not afraid to die to get his beloved pup back. Then, a mysterious femme fatale wants to enroll him in a dubious suicidal experiment at a super-secret lab in exchange for being his girlfriend until his untimely death. Lastly, there’s his lovelorn neighbor Yu-jen, the single mum of a teenage boy with a failing heart and whaddayaknow the same blood type as Liang! His heart goes out to option C, but unfortunately options A and B don’t take no for an answer. And all he wanted was to kill himself in peace… At the heart of LIFE FOR SALE’s improbable, absurdly comical shenanigans lies a series of pretty serious questions about the meaning or meaninglessness of one’s life in a world where everything is a commodity that can be bought. But philosophizing can be a great deal of fun when wrapped in an absurdist gory romantic gangster action romp that can switch from OLD BOY-ish hyper-stylized violence to quirky romance à la Tsai Ming-liang in a heartbeat!