在短片《天橋不見了》的結尾，從巴黎回來的湘琪與小康擦肩而過。小康不再賣手錶了，他剛去應徵色情電影演員。到了《天邊一朵雲》，小康已成A片男演員，湘琪則是不知情的女友、在故宮看守文物的解說員。楊貴媚是電視新聞主播，而陸奕靜則飾過氣的AV女優。 影片是蔡明亮由臺北前年夏天乾旱缺水時期所引發的靈感，將通過楊貴媚飾演的新聞主播角色，以黑色喜劇的風格，呈現臺北在苦旱中所呈現的人性面貌，以及各種荒謬亂象。影片承接了由《你那邊幾點》、《天橋不見了》以來的劇情脈絡，全片在錯綜複雜的情緒中不斷地出現衝突高潮。 蔡明亮的演員班底，李康生、陳湘琪、楊貴媚、陸弈靜等人，這次都將有驚人的角色發展，也都有讓人意想不到的“犧牲”。蔡明亮為了劇情需要還從日本找來一位正牌AV女優，毫不扭捏的赤裸上陣。 由於此片將以歌舞片形式拍攝，電影中將會呈現出許多歌舞片的場景，也會採用一些老歌。因此四人都在片中親自演出歌舞場面，演出白光與葛蘭等人的經典老歌。電影的片名，是1957年白光翻唱西洋鄉村音樂的中文老歌，也一直是蔡明亮私人的鍾愛。 可以預想，《天邊一朵雲》仍然會是有著鮮明的蔡明亮個人風格的電影。雖然歌舞的場面有可能調節?事的節奏，但是聯想到蔡明亮的前作《洞》（1998年），我們就不難預想到影片整體風格的沉悶。李康生在近兩個小時的電影中沒有說一句話，創下蔡明亮電影臺詞最少的新紀錄。這估計又要狠狠挑戰觀眾的承受能力了。 全片除了背景聲音外，李康生與陳湘琪間只有這麼一句對白——陳湘琪問李康生：“你還在賣手錶嗎？”短短的八個字，竟像是蔡明亮以及整個非主流電影群體，在臺灣乃至全世界的境遇寫照。 Tsai Ming-Liang’s latest film picks up on a number of elements from his 2001 work, WHAT TIME IS IT THERE? A young woman named Shiang-Chyi returns from France to discover that the promenade in front of the main railway station in Taipei has been torn down and she can no longer meet watch salesman Hsiao-Kang there. The whole city is beset by a extreme water shortage and Shiang-Chyi is obliged to either steal water from her workplace or drink watermelon juice. The need to save water seems to preoccupy the lonely Shiang-Chyi just as much as a suitcase she is having trouble opening. One day she runs into Hsiao-Kang by chance in the park and a tender romance with daily trysts at Shiang-Chyi’s apartment ensues. What Shiang-Chyi doesn’t know is that Hsiao-Kang is now working as an actor in porn films and that these videos are even made in a neighbouring apartment of the building where she lives. The film’s puzzling narrative is interspersed by lively and imaginative musical sequences that transport the viewer away from the mysterious things that take place in Shiang-Chyi’s apartment. Meanwhile, the young woman’s abode has become a refuge for a number of very strange characters indeed, including a puzzling lady with a suitcase; a man addicted to pornography; the dehydrated cast and crew of a porn film, and a Japanese woman who is suddenly discovered in the lift, unable to move. What’s going to happen when Shiang-Chyi comes across all these people?