In a Shanghai brothel circa 1890, an intimate dinner gambling party is going on, obviously a continuation of the night before and a preview of the next night. Here men with money spend time away from arranged marriages and (presumably) a world outside, with women who have been bred and raised to love them. Of course, it’s not that simple; in fact, it’s not simple at all. Hou Hsiao-hsien’s normally still camera languorously, almost imperceptibly moves, as we observe relationships played out in eyeline matches and subtle gestures—relationships that will unfold in their strange, internecine complexity over the next two hours.