BFI London Film Festival: Murmur of the Hearts

BFI London Film Festival: 238 films. From 71 countries. 16 cinemas. 12 days. One Festival.

Have you ever felt lost? The misfits in this love story certainly are. Packing surprising grit into this often-ethereal magic-realist drama, Sylvia Chang tells a tale of people seeking an anchor in the world. In a memory of long ago, a mother steals away from her island home in the middle of the night, taking her young daughter Yu-mei with her but leaving behind son Yu-nan.

Now in their 20s, the estranged siblings must deal with the emotional fallout of this event and make a break for happiness. Yu-nan’s job as a tour guide results in a rotating series of temporary friends, while painter Yu-mei is an unpredictable force who cannot gauge her own depth of feeling towards her lover, a boxer with his own troubles. Blending dreams, memories, and wish fulfillment, the film’s form is led by the characters’ emotions in a complex, touching and ultimately resonant manner.

(Notes by Kate Taylor)

Murmur of the Hearts, dir. Sylvia Chang, Taiwan, Hong Kong 2015, 119min