Chinese American director Carol Liu presents the lives of several members of an extremely poor, rural community in Ningxia, China, where most have never set foot in a hospital. The documentary shows how minor medical problems can tragically affect people's fates if left unattended.
We learn of a young aspiring artist with a bone infection; of her grandmother, a farmer who has lost her sight due to cataracts; and a 10-year old boy who dreams of becoming a truck driver, despite having been blinded by a neglected illness. These characters' dignified stand in the face of massive challenges is humbling and disarmingly moving.
The film also follows the story of a doctor and his family, who give up the advantages of working in a city and even sell their home in order to treat underprivileged rural patients in their non-profit eye clinic. Their sacrifice underlines essential values that are so easily overlooked in the sometimes numbing modern society that we live in.
I'm surprised by the lightness that Liu has managed to find in these very heavy topics and by how she's brought attention to social problems without being preachy. 'Restoring the Light' owes much of its delicate quality not only to its beautiful photography, music and editing, but also to the tenderness and natural glow of the people whose lives it explores.
