A slow paced, often silent, web-of-life narrative drama cum documentary inspired in part by the real circumstances and autobiography of a 61 year old blind, deaf woman, Theresa Chan, who plays herself in the film. The movie begins in a simple, spare but thoroughly engaging way: as the opening credits roll, we watch the scene behind, in which an old man and woman are slowly, methodically, closing up their shop for the night, probably in the exact manner they have practiced for decades. A slow jazz piano solo accompanies the scenes.
We revisit this couple in frequent brief glimpses (that is the way we view each little story in this film about communication, love and loss) and realize in time that the wife has died. The old couple's adult son, a social worker, aids Ms. Chan, translating her memoirs, bringing her hot meals that his widower father prepares. The son arranges for his father to deliver the meal to Ms. Chan himself one evening, and they seem to hit it off, as the son, no doubt, had hoped.
Another story concerns a fat, lonely security guard with a boundless appetite. Treated shabbily by his family, he finds solace in downing huge meals. But he suffers from another kind of hunger, a longing for a chic young woman, Jackie, whom he idolizes from afar. Yet another story concerns a lesbian sexual adventure arranged indeed conducted in large part between Jackie and another young woman through cell phone and Internet chat room contacts. But the other girl soon falls for a young man and abruptly dumps Jackie.
Ms. Chan is an exceptional person. She lost hearing in childhood, and developed blindness not long thereafter. Following a long period of despair, she studied at a prominent school for the blind in Singapore, then mastered English in order to attend the Perkins School in Boston. She lives quite independently, works as a writer and also teaches pottery classes at the same school for blind kids that she had attended years earlier. It is interesting to watch how the social worker communicates with her using a tactile signing system applied to her outstretched hand. An unusual and quite charming film. (In Cantonese, English, Hokkien & Mandarin) My grades: 7/10 (B) (Seen at the Idaho International Film Festival, 10/01/06)
We revisit this couple in frequent brief glimpses (that is the way we view each little story in this film about communication, love and loss) and realize in time that the wife has died. The old couple's adult son, a social worker, aids Ms. Chan, translating her memoirs, bringing her hot meals that his widower father prepares. The son arranges for his father to deliver the meal to Ms. Chan himself one evening, and they seem to hit it off, as the son, no doubt, had hoped.
Another story concerns a fat, lonely security guard with a boundless appetite. Treated shabbily by his family, he finds solace in downing huge meals. But he suffers from another kind of hunger, a longing for a chic young woman, Jackie, whom he idolizes from afar. Yet another story concerns a lesbian sexual adventure arranged indeed conducted in large part between Jackie and another young woman through cell phone and Internet chat room contacts. But the other girl soon falls for a young man and abruptly dumps Jackie.
Ms. Chan is an exceptional person. She lost hearing in childhood, and developed blindness not long thereafter. Following a long period of despair, she studied at a prominent school for the blind in Singapore, then mastered English in order to attend the Perkins School in Boston. She lives quite independently, works as a writer and also teaches pottery classes at the same school for blind kids that she had attended years earlier. It is interesting to watch how the social worker communicates with her using a tactile signing system applied to her outstretched hand. An unusual and quite charming film. (In Cantonese, English, Hokkien & Mandarin) My grades: 7/10 (B) (Seen at the Idaho International Film Festival, 10/01/06)