A man finds his life taking a few unexpected turns after taking a spill off a motorbike in this engaging comedy-drama. After a serious motorcycle accident, Tung-ching (Lee Jiunn-jye) receives a scar on his hand that effectively erases his lifeline. Taking this as a sign from the fates, Tung-ching believes the accident indicates the path his life once followed no longer applies, and he soon discovers his life is being swayed by unusual circumstances. When his father falls ill, Tung-ching is put in charge of the family business, a pawn shop, and he finds himself coming in contact with a stream of new and unusual people -- something that impresses Tung-ching, but not his jaded girlfriend Eiko (Fan Hsiao-fan). Hoping to bring Eiko into the business, Tung-ching decides to draw on her interest in palm reading by using handprints as identification for their customers, but as she spends more time studying other people's hands (as well as looking at prints of Tung-ching's palm from before the accident), the more she drifts apart from him. Tung-ching, meanwhile, begins to fall for one of his customers, a pretty but enigmatic woman (Era Wang) known only as I Know. Ming Dai Ahui Zhu was the first feature film from writer and director Hsiao Ya-chuan, who got his start as an assistant to renowned filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide