Reviewed by Michael Quartly-Kelly
The sumptuous and vibrant Hong Kong of 1969, with its kinetic bustle and colourful characters, really comes alive in writer-director Alex Law’s charming domestic drama.
Told from the perspective of a rambunctious young grade-schooler known as Big Ears, who is first encountered placing a fishbowl on his head and professing to be Hong Kong’s first Astronaut, we are taken on an intimate journey through the lives of his family.
Veteran HK film star Simon Yam is assiduous and endearing as the hardworking patriarch of the household, opposite Sandra Ng as his fast-talking, quick-witted wife. Together they struggle to run a small cobblers shop whilst providing the love, shelter and attention required of Big Ears and his older brother Desmond. The boys, played by newcomers Aarif Lee (Desmond) and Buzz Chung (Big Ears), are fabulous and genuine in their roles, believably conveying that strange fraternal mixture of antagonistic affection.
It is the young protagonist’s relationship with his heroic brother, a track-star champion and straight-A high-school student, which lies at the heart of the film. Desmond, like the political climate of his beloved neighbourhood, is caught in tumultuous transition. The onset of adulthood, the confusion of first love and his own ever changing priorities are all set to the languid strains of Gordon Lightfoot and the Monkees from an old transistor radio like a siren-call to change, from the encroaching influence of the West.
Law’s screenplay is pleasant and his direction never fails to draw you along. In there somewhere amongst the extended families and alley-way dinner settings, the dismal conditions and familial fortitude, he has conjured a heavy sense of nostalgia for a time and place far removed. An engaging, funny and whimsical film that deserves to be seen on the big screen.
Four stars.
This film is playing at the 2010 Hong Kong Film Festival.
Echoes of the Rainbow
:: Director: Alex Law
:: Starring: Simon Yam, Sandra Ng Kwan Yue, Buzz Chung, Aarif Lee, Evelyn Choi
:: Running Time: 117 mins
:: Rating: TBC
:: Trailer: Watch here
