Source: http://www.jamesweggreview.org/Articles.aspx?ID=1527
Simon Chung’s latest offering demonstrates a maturity for delving
into issues and extraordinary sense of matching pace with events that
will reward all who see it. Boy-boy-girl love triangles are nothing new
whether gay or straight (e.g.,
The Dreamers); opening a film
with a completely naked lost soul who will need considerable healing is
also not a new narrative device (e.g.,
Saved by the Belles) and revenge more heinous than the crime has stimulated filmmakers’ imaginations since the dawn of cinema (unforgettably in
Confessions).
Here, Chung has successfully combined all of those elements into a
marvellous concoction of just what can happen when “There is nothing
covered that will not be revealed” rears its deadly head.
Found without a stitch and clearly traumatized into wordless
silence, French foreigner Luke (Pierre-Matthieu Vital) is kept out of
the insane asylum by Jiang (Gao Qilun), an instantly smitten nursing
assistant whose brand of TLC may well be headed for very personal
international relations as the ever-attentive Chinese rescuer ferries
his unexpected companion back to his past.
Lan (Si Tu Yu Ting) Jiang’s date—one of the local police who helped
fish Luke out of the river—is none too amused when it appears the
exotic, mute stranger has captured her prospective partner’s attention.
(The screen positively radiates on several occasions when Gao’s smile
says more about the feelings between the two men than any line of
dialogue could.)
Filling out the principal characters are a pair of Luke’s university
chums who are both headed for careers in biology. Ning (Yu Yung Yung)
seems to have spurned the amorous advances of the exchange student but
can’t abide losing him to her current beau, Han (Jiang Jian). The
nervous young man—like so many others of any race or nationality—wants
to know just how his “gayness” was so readily sensed by his sudden
Caucasian lover. No reply is given or needed as Chung silently answers
another of his theme’s questions.
The drama is lovingly unfolded, employing many deliberately stagnant
shots (beautifully rendered by Chan Chi Lap) that let the characters
and audience reflect each step of the way, truly savouring or slinking
away from those moments of truth. Completely at one with that
thoughtful atmosphere is Sebastien Seidel’s original score where
percussionist Karina Yau is note perfect—particularly her marimba
artistry for the “road” sequences.
As the miserable climax takes shape, Chung’s ability to have his
images speak louder than words fires on all cylinders. Ning exacts her
pound of steamy flesh during a Christian church service where she is
the steadfast, stoic accompanist even as the object of her scorn sings
innocently in the choir. The shattering effect on all lives in the
house of forgiveness, tolerance and love of all creatures is a
cinematic knockout punch for the ages.
Hopefully, those on the cusp of understanding their own sexuality or
that of their partners, will see this film before the all too common
consequences ruin lives forever.
今天早上收到吳昊仙遊的消息，說來昊Sir可說是我生命中一個恩人，95年入浸會大學工作是他和卓伯棠面試我的，我在傳理學院服務了五年，是我至今為止最長的一份朝九晚五的工作。這工作優厚的薪金，讓我可在當年樓價未瘋狂時買第一所房子，更重要的是，它穩定的工作時間和電影電視系的器材，讓我開始獨立短片拍攝。我的第一二部短片都是用學院的16米厘攝影機拍的，下班後更在Steenbeck剪接機用膠紙一個鏡頭接一個鏡頭的連接起來，後來這兩部短片先後在外地獲得獎項，令我有信心繼續拍下去。
My new script takes my short film, "Stanley Beloved" as a starting point, and tries to image what will happen to its protagonists, Jamie and Kevin, ten years down the line. Coincidentally, while at the gym one day, I caught a glimpse of Oliver Williams, who played Jamie, on TVB. He plays a butler in some sitcom.
Super busy lately with writing the latest draft of my script. I finished the previous draft last September and hadn't really thought about it much since. After coming back from India last February, the urge to write gradually increased.
等了個多月，我的第一雙Sole Rebels終於由非洲運抵本港！
