previously published on Asian Movie Pulse
This year, the Lightbox section of Toronto International Film Festival is hosting the world premiere of the sophomore feature film directed by Xi Huang, “Daughter’s Daughter”. The director’s debut “Missing Johnny” (2017) had a healthy and fruitful festival tour, but mainly on the Asian continent and at festivals specialized in Asian cinema. The new effort is more likely to travel further and longer, while the name of the legendary Taiwanese New Wave filmmaker Hou Hsiao-Hsien as the executive producer on ending credits suggests that Xi might be the new, internationally recognized voice of the Taiwanese cinema.
The protagonist of the film is Jin Ai-xia (the one and only Sylvia Chang), a woman who spent a part of her life in New York and the other part in Taipei. From the two “episodes”, she has two daughters, Emma (Karena Lam) who lives in New York and Zuer (Eugenie Liu) who lives in Taipei. The two had never met, until one night in the winter of 2018, when they both came to visit her mom who ended up in a hospital with a leg injury. The reason for them to meet was to share responsibilities regarding the care of their grandmother (Allanah Ong) who suffered a stroke on top of showing early signs of dementia.
Six years later, Zuer and her girlfriend Zhou Jia-ji (Tracy Chou) are in New York for the attempt of in-vitro fertilization that could grant them a child. Unfortunately, they both die in a traffic accident, so Ai-xia becomes a legal guardian of the embryo, with a “choice” of four options. She could keep it frozen, donate it to another couple, find a surrogate mother or terminate it. The thing is, Ai-xia was never a good mother to either of her daughters and she has never been a mother material. She now has to decide about the fate of her late daughter’s daughter (hence the title), while also having some explanations to provide to her surviving, older daughter.
It is certain that the stakes are high for Xi who tries to tell an emotionally charged story in a compelling and heart-felt way. In order to keep the grip over the viewer’s attention, he splits it into two different time frames that he seamlessly goes between for the 126 minutes of the runtime, revealing the protagonist’s backstory slowly and carefully. The viewers learn as much about her, the pressure she is under and the emotions that influence her decision as they need to know, so the effect of those perfectly timed revelations is maximized. On top of being a writer who is in complete control of the story, he is also a master director who not just pays close attention to the details of the background, but also knows how to frame his actresses and actors, usually in longer, continuous takes, to make them shine.
Speaking of which, Sylvia Chang has her masterclass here, but the others, such as the Allanah Ong, the established Karena Lam and the promising Eugenie Liu, are brave enough to let themselves get into the interplay and a bit of a sparing with her. With an array of interesting supporting performances, for instance the one of Winston Chao who is very relaxed in the role of Ai-xia’s former lover and life-long New York friend Johnny, it is safe to say that “Daughter’s Daughter” is a very well acted piece of cinema.
Things look well on the craft level as well. The crisp-digital cinematography by Yao Hung-i captures the details laid out in Hwarng Wern-ying’s production design, such as the vibe of the New York Chinatown, the editing by Liao Ching-sung helps the complicated story come out clear and easy to follow, while the sparsely used gentle synth music is always in sync with the emotions portrayed.
“Daughter’s Daughter” is definitely a deftly made film that lives up to the ambition to make the deep emotions feel real on the screen. But the definitive added value here is Sylvia Chang who imbues her very complicated character with life in every scene.