The Silent Thrush is a fascinating mixture of exoticism and eroticism. It tells the story of Mu Yun (Li Yu-shan), a young woman who joins a Taiwanese opera company. Ka-hung, the company's star actress (who is Mu Yun's childhood idol) soon falls in love with Mu Yun. This provokes the intense jealousy of Ka-hung's longtime lover, Ai-cheng. Their melodrama of lesbian love is played out against the backdrop of the troupe's day-to-day problems.—Jenni Olson