Film: Soundless Wind Chime
Release date: 28th February 2011
Certificate: 15
Running time: 110 mins
Director: Kit Hung
Starring: Yulai Lu, Bernhard Bulling, Marie Omlin, Gilles Tschudi, Ruth Schwegler
Genre: Drama
Studio: Peccadillo
Format: DVD
Country: Hong Kong/Switzerland/China
Having won acclaim for previous works around the world, director Kit Hung isn’t new to the award scene. His latest and debut feature film doesn’t disappoint his record, and is a proud Teddy Award nominee of the 59th Berlin International Film Festival. As a semi-autobiographical account of Hung’s life experiences, Soundless Wind Chime focuses on the themes of life, death, and memory; blurring the boundaries between each and examining the concept of oblivion.
When Pascal (Bernhard Bulling), a Swiss petty thief in Hong Kong, escapes from an abusive relationship, he runs straight in to the arms of Ricky (Lu Yulai), a lonely Chinese delivery boy. Things seem to be going well for the young couple and, after getting a place of their own, Pascal soon gets a job teaching. However, cracks in the relationship inevitably start to grow when Pascal increasingly seeks excitement in dingy underground clubs, flirting with other men while Ricky prefers a quieter life.
Then, during one of his deliveries, Ricky comes across an old lady with Parkinson’s disease who presumably reminds him of his own ill mother with cancer. A trip to see her in Beijing gives Ricky and Pascal’s relationship another shove in the wrong direction when Pascal misses the train and they are forced to spend even more time apart. When Ricky returns to find the flat a mess, and Pascal’s continual cheating unending, the relationship gets worse and worse until all they are left with are bouts of fighting followed by physical comfort, continually battling between one extreme and the other.
When Pascal tragically dies in a road accident, Ricky goes to Switzerland to find solace in what reminds him of Pascal. There he meets Ueli (Bernhard Bulling), a trinket shop owner plagued by his own grief after the death of his mother, and who bears an uncanny resemblance to Pascal. The two become an item, and when Ricky returns to Beijing to look after his own dying mother, Ueli follows him. Just as he arrives, and when Ricky is at work in the city, Ueli is in time to meet Ricky’s mother only briefly before she dies in his presence...
Soundless Wind Chime has a lot going for it, however, its many good points tend to reach excess and dip it into confusion. One thing that’s for certain is that Hung wants us to consider the theme of love versus loneliness, and studies the concept of whether it’s better to love out of necessity and fear of being alone, or suffer an unhappy relationship for the sake of comfort.
At points in the film, Hung employs the idea of the circus, and intentionally or not successfully reinforces the notion of superficial, immediate pleasures; something that Ricky and Pascal enjoy together. But once the novelty has worn off, not much is left and their relationship begins to break down. However, this interesting enquiry in to a multi-cultural gay couple’s life set in Hong Kong isn’t the only main focus in the film, which is perhaps a shame. It seems to be the most comprehensible part of the story, but is overshadowed by Hung’s attempts to aesthetically depict the surreal subconscious and portrayal of loss.
Saying that, possibly the strongest element of the film is the sympathy inspired in the viewer at the sense of loss and sadness. Hung manages to portray the concept of missing someone who isn’t there anymore – not just through words, but visually on screen. He does this with intimate hand-held camera shots and close-ups of the actors to make the viewer feel even more involved with the characters. Memory is then depicted with simple but effective contrasting scenes from the past and present. Hung blurs not only the visual but audio, too, and we often hear radio static and voice-overs to encourage the surreal impressions of the subconscious.
The story is interesting; it just gets too confusing for the viewer. It seems at points there is a gap between what the director intends and what the audience understands. The principle concern comes from the cryptic structure of the storyline and the tendency to overload the film with an art house style. It’s as if there’s too much attention paid to camera tricks and a jumpy narrative that the meaning of the film starts to inherit something of a blur itself.
It would be almost impossible not to admit that Soundless Wind Chime is an evocative film, even for those unfamiliar with bereavement. Hung’s crafty techniques instil a sense of loss and longing successfully enough, however the overall film manages to get bogged down with confusion. MI
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