Soundless Wind Chime

Wing Kit Hung's debut feature is a fascinating watch. It's a mysterious, poetic and moving story; the line between reality/memory and imagination is so intriguingly blurred that you're left confused and overwhelmed at the same time, till the very end. And it's supposed to be like that. The movie is about moving on, and the heart-wrenching and difficult journey we have to tread to achieve that.

It has a brilliant and captivating soundtrack. The acting is commendable. The scenes are shot and edited quite well. The movie seems an achingly real portrayal of love, loss and life. The climax, the scenes along with the music, is spellbinding.

It's a not a perfect movie; the movie is flawed in so many ways. The plot and the storytelling style is too ambitious for a first-time Director. The three stories set in Hong Kong, Switzerland and Beijing are not developed clearly, and the relationships lack depth and detail; and they seem to spiral out of control without any evident reason. Though many of the things in the central relationship of Ricky and Pascal are subtle and unclear, their scenes are shot with great visual poetry. The story is intensely personal, and the autobiographical overtones only make sense to the director and not properly conveyed to the audience. The relevance and meaning of the opening and ending scenes, with the old couple, still elude me.

Well, in spite of its drawbacks, I personally think it's a good film and a great attempt. The blurred lines and mystery just add to its beauty.