On Mother’s Day, Chen Mo goes to a bakery to buy dessert for his wife, only to find his car blocked in by a double-parked car. As Chen Mo searches for the car’s owner in the nearby apartment buildings, he comes across a variety of strangers and their secrets: a broken family of an old couple and a little girl (and absent parents), a retired gang leader turned barber, a Taiwanese pimp and his mainland Chinese prostitute girlfriend, a tailor from Hong Kong on the run. In fact, Chen Mo and his wife are also stranger to each other, long wanting to have a child without success. In the span of an evening of chance encounters, communications and conflicts, the film paints a picture of the urban life in Taipei, reveals the city’s underworld and the inner worlds of himself and other characters. At the end of the adventure, he and his wife have a new hope, a child.

Chung Mong-Hong studied filmmaking in the Art Institute of Chicago and worked as a CF director for years. Parking is his first feature film and prove to be an excellent debut of his distinctive style. Shot at night, it is a rare blend of black comedy and film noir. Chung’s casting also shows his sensitivity to an actor’s star potential. The narrative of this film begins with a blocked car, and follows Chen Mo’s steps to venture into the various facets of life in a modern city. Both its story and style are grotesque, yet realistic; intense, but distant. His stylish photography makes for sharp and gloomy images. The various characters in the film are expressive in their depression. All these show Chung’s ability to tell different kinds of stories as well as his interest in experimenting with forms of story-telling. The parking space, along with apartment unit, becomes a symbol for the individual’s need for a place in the society and a desire for family. “Family” is Chung’s favorite leitmotif throughout his films, from Doctor (2006), Parking (2008), The Fourth Portrait (2010), to Soul (2013).

DVD source：Taiwan Cinema Toolkit, Ministry of Culture, R.O.C.