Rebels of the Neon God (1992) ½
cast: Chen Chao-jung, Jen Chang-bin, Lee Kang-sheng, Lu Hsiao-ling, Miao Tien, and Wang Yu-wen
director: Tsai Ming-liang

In "Rebels of a Neon God" after a minor traffic altercation a lonely soon-to-be high school dropout juxtaposes his life to a seemingly carefree street youth. The later spends his nights in Taipei breaking into telephone booths with his roommate and basking in the digital glow of the game rooms with pockets full of change until the early morning hours. When finished they return to an apartment with drainage problems and sleep through the day while the student struggles to form an identity both at school and at home.

The only companionship the two street hoodlums seem to favor is a teenage call girl who works part time at a bowling alley, while the student is simply another face in the crowd, and all but a stranger to the parents who raised him.

Director Tsai Ming-liang would toy with some of these same concepts in future productions such as "Vive L'Amour," but he leaves quite an impression with this early piece on voyeurism and teenage angst.