Taglined „Behind every tattoo there is a secret“, Spider Lilies, Ci qing’s debut feature offering, is on the surface about two young women reawaking a dormant love for each other. Striking, Macau-born Isabella Leong plays half-Japanese Takeko, aka Bamboo, owner of a Taipei tattoo parlor that's visited by cutesy teenager Jade, a young, free style webcam performer who thinks a tattoo will enhance her sexy performance skills. Jade wants a spider-lily tattoo like the one on Takeko's wall (and arm) but the ink-slinger is mysteriously reticent. Visiting Jade's Web site, Takeko finds she's actually a cybersex webcam girl, whom she knew 10 years ago, when Jade was 9 years old and had a crush on her. Mixing innocence and sexuality, countryside flashbacks and a moving plot of Takeko struggling with the sundry guilt about her disturbed brother, the film deconstructs spiritual notions with regards to the art of tattoo, the relationship between sex and guilt and the human need for recognition and remembrance.
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