Labels

Echoes of the Rainbow

做人，總要信
jou yan, jung yiu seun
In Life, We're Gotta Have Faith

Shui Yuet Sun Tau
Echoes of the Rainbow
A Mabel Cheung production of Alex Law film
(source: Tai Seng Entertainment DVD cover)

I first heard about the movie Echoes of the Rainbow while I was listening to the bits of news discussion in an episode of Kong-Cast - East Screen / West Screen. At the time, I listened just to listen and let that piece of news passed by without further follow up. Not until the DVD release of the movie, I immediately became interested upon reading on the film cast, news and synopsis.

Having seen Sandra Ng Kwan Yue 吳君如 (Ngô Quân Như) and Simon Yam Tat Wah 任達華 (Nhậm Đạt Hoa) in their previous works, I have no doubt in their leads in the movie. Although the fact that the film had gotten an international recognition at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival - Berlinale (February 11 to February 21, 2010) by wining the Crystal Bear award under the Children's Jury Generation Kplus section is a plus, the film's main theme is what had intrigued me greatly.

This film tells a story of an ordinary family living in Sham Shui Po, Hong Kong, from 1967 to 1977, with a struggling father from Guangzhou, an iron-willed mother supporting the family and their kids facing countless challenges from the changing world with an upbeat attitude...
-- From the Tai Seng Entertainment "Echoes of the Rainbow" DVD back cover.

The movie storytelling is close to the heart as I can relate to the father and mother figures in the Law's family as well as the stories of those lives and the cultural way of life being depicted.

My grandfather is a shoe maker himself. My elder uncle now owns a shoe store and that my Dad is working there as a shoe repairer. He is quiet, yet quick tempered. However, there is a soft, caring side of him like Mr. Law, the father character played by Simon Yam in the movie.

As for the mother character played by Sandra Ng, Mrs. Law, she reminds me of my strong spirited Mom, who is our family refuge to weather the storms of life as they come with faith and determination.

My favorite scene from the movie must be The Moon Festival 中秋 jung chau (Tết Trung Thu) since it brought back much of my childhood memories from making homemade lantern out of Ong Tho condensed milk can to enjoying sweet bean paste filling moon cakes.

My parents would bought high quality moon cakes from Saigon's famous Nhu Lan Bakery to gift them away; yet, we always opted for a lesser quality (and quantity) moon cakes to share among ourselves. They were usually mung bean or black bean paste filling moon cakes with no egg yolk in comparing to those with mixed fancy nuts and salted duck egg yolks filling. So much so that it became a habit as I now prefer the simplicity of bean paste filling moon cakes over the other expensive ones.

Speaking of simplicity, that's the movie all in itself. But, it has a lot of heart and it will surely touch yours.

Sandra Ng and Simon Yam's acting are commanding. Though it is understood that the basis of Mr. Law's character does limit Simon in showing outward displays of his character's inner emotion expressively, I still do wish him for a bit more scenes and/or screen time where he could have chances to better connect his character emotionally and fully with the audience, a performance I believe Mr. Yam is capable of delivering as he already proved it himself in both Mother's Red Shoes 母親的紅鞋 mu chan dik hung haai and Father's Wedding Ring 父親的婚戒 fu chan dik fan gaai scenes.

Those scenes are among the strong performances not only from Mr. Yam, but also from Miss Ng, especially in Father's Wedding Ring - the moment when Mrs. Law reached out to hold Mr. Law's hand, without taking a look at it or making eye contact at each other, checking as she must have known that he had pawned his wedding ring to come up with the money in time of need. The scene is without a spoken word; yet, the expressive performance speaks achingly and lovingly.

Playing Mr. and Mrs. Law's eldest son, Desmond, is Aarif Lee Chi Ting 李治廷 in his movie debut. His acting is better than average for a newcomer. And that it is enjoyable to see a fresh face on the scene; though, he might likely be remembered more for his singing of the movie theme song until his next strong, memorable breakthrough role.

Together, playing Desmond's younger eight years old brother, the mischievous and equally cute "Big Ears", is the young and talented Buzz Chung Siu Tou 鍾紹圖.

It's "Big Ears" who led the movie storytelling and he is the one who stole the viewer's heart. His simple and innocent view of the world reminds the older adults of carefree joy filled thought that sometimes gets lost in this fast paced and busy life.

Original Motion Picture Sountrack Music and Score
composed by Henry Lai
(source: JAVA Music Productions CD cover)

The movie's original soundtrack music and score composed by Henry Lai are like gentle breezes bringing along a sense of nostalgia. The sound is reminiscing of the happy time and peaceful place one would yearn for a revisit.

With lyrics penned by the movie director himself Alex Law Kai Yeui 羅啟銳 and music composed by veteran singer/composer Lowell Lo Gun Ting 盧冠廷, Aarif Lee's singing of the movie main theme My Secret Rainbow in English and 歲月輕狂 sui yue qing kuang in Chinese Mandarin is original as it can be.

Credits and/or Citations:
The above movie impression and references are sourced directly from the initial viewing of the movie DVD release and the audio sampling of the movie CD soundtrack.

The written material also made use of the online MDBG Chinese-English dictionary for Yale Cantonese/Pinyin romanization of Chinese characters.

Notes:
Read professional movie review written by Kozo at LoveHKFilm.com

Where to buy
Note: This is for information only. My Abido is not responsible for the content of external websites!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts