Hsiao-kang, a young salesman for commercial ossuary, notices a key to a vacant apartment, forgotten by a real estate agent, dangling in its locks and promptly pockets it while no one else is around.

One night he attempts to commit suicide by slitting his wrists while lying on the bed, but gets distracted by a noise coming from another corner of the apartment.

Tsai Ming-liang takes a bold move with plot lines that are stylistically designed to focus on only a trio of main characters, who unknowingly share an apartment in Taipei.

Tsai Ming-liang's austere composition of dialogues with a total of less than a hundred lines throughout the film, paired with a minimalist use of background music and soundtrack, reflects the emotional loneliness and spiritual emptiness experienced by the three urbanites of Taipei.

With its daring long takes piercing through the deep hearts of the depressed characters, Vive l'amour introduces the unique "Tsai Ming-liang style", which is later embraced by international audiences and critics, and attracts European and American audiences to enter the lonely world Tsai Ming-liang's cinematic language portrays on screen.

[3] On AllMovie, reviewer Jonathan Crow praised the film, writing that "[director Tsai Ming-liang] presents Taipei as a soulless, ultra-modern labyrinth where individuals cannot communicate other than in one-night stands or business transactions.

With very long takes, little narrative tension, and almost no dialogue, the style reinforces the cold, alienating world in which the characters live.

[6] In a recent review following Vive l'amour's 2K restoration, Film Inquiry critic Lee Jutton praised, "Very few filmmakers portrays the hunger for human connection with as much humor and pathos as Tsai Ming-liang."

She concluded her review with the note that, "Even when they are placed in the most absurd situations, Tsai Ming-liang's characters convey feelings so incredibly universal that it’s impossible to not relate to them.

"[8] On New Year's Eve in 2023—as inspired by a viral Facebook post—a flash mob gathered at Daan Forest Park at midnight to re-enact the closing scene of Vive l'amour.