Why do I keep thinking about Vive L'Amour

They're not even remotely close.

I was also reminded of that movie, partially because I had seen it only a few days earlier but also because of the similarities you mentioned. However, Vive L'Amour seems to convey more loneliness/desolation/alienation; the characters in Unknown Pleasures are spinning their wheels and not getting anywhere, their goals constantly thwarted, but they somehow don't seem so defeated, empty, and hopeless. For example, while the relationship between Bin Bin and his girlfriend is certainly quite cold, elsewhere there is at least a genuine friendship as well as a heartfelt crush.

It's also nice that they go out to various places and interact with people: at the pool hall, the music venue, the small rave, that liquor company-sponsored talent show thing, etc. - good for the characters and also for the viewer as we get a little window on Chinese youth culture (and the bits of western culture they import) in a small-ish town. In contrast, the characters of Vive L'Amour are much more hollowed out and dead to the world as they sit alone in their barren apartments - certainly this crushing bleakness is part of the point (or maybe the sole point) of that film, but I found it less enjoyable to watch than Unknown Pleasures.

Because they are very similar in directorial style. Long, uninterupted shots, no music.

Both films are about alienation, but they are very different types of alienation. Vive L'amour is more of a lonely Antonioni-esque alienation whereas the alienation in Unknown Pleasures have more socio-economic context.

...person who posted more than five years ago!