逆光飞翔

逆光飞翔

“Touch of the Light” (“Ni guang fei xiang”) is a 2012 Taiwanese drama based on the life of a blind piano prodigy Huang Yu-Siang (played by himself). Leaving his home behind, he enters a Taipei university to learn music, where he befriends slightly eccentric but musically talented students to form a band “Super Music.” But it seems there is some sad memory that haunts him.

In the meanwhile, Huang meets Xiao Jie, an aspiring dancer working in a drink shop, whose life is not going well. She is almost giving up her dream, but Huang’s personality inspires her to pursue it once more.

With a half-documentary-like photography “Touch of the Light” avoids being overly sentimental, opting for more realism. There is a romantic aspect to the story, but emotions are always subdued. Chang Jung-Chi’s direction works to some extent, with some inspired use of camera capturing how Huang feels things around him.

But I was not impressed with the film, especially the overused shaky camera that gets annoying. Another problem is that the story of Xiao Jie is far less interesting than that of Huang Yu-Siang. After all the latter is inspired by the real events, and played out by the very person who experienced them.

Perhaps my complaint has something to do with the fact that the film originally started as a 2008 short documentary “The End of the Tunnel” about Huang Yu-Siang. Considering the potential of the subject matter, Chang Jung-Chi’s feature debut is promising but a bit disappointing.