The Other Half and the Other Half
我愛太空人
Hong Kong, 1988, 35mm, 90mins, color
A story set against the impeding return of the former British colony to the Beijing government, when immigration hype was in full force, The Other Half and the Other Half, tells the story of Sam and June, who share a house during the time their respective spouses are away completing immigration residency requirements.
Although their housesharing arrangement starts out as a strictly practical arrangement, "immigration" begins to undermine their relationship with absent partners, and when June's husband returns from Canada, she admits having slept with Sam.
This is Clara Law's first feature film, and in attempting a lighthearted treatment of the effect of immigration residency requirements on interpersonal relations, she fails to escape the conventions of Hong Kong-style situation comedy. Despite this weakness, Other Half is a serious attempt to deal with the problems created by immigration -- a theme that was previously untouched by commercial films despite its extensive relevance to modern day Chinese families.
Weak structure is compensated for by the strong script and the care taken over detail. Financial pressure and the damage it can do to relationships is explored effectively and the nuanced re-creation of Hong Kong yuppie life styles is a revelation in a film industry so tirelessly dedicated to popular entertainment.
Autumn Moon
秋月
Hong Kong/Japan, 1992, 35mm, 106mins, color
Built on a simple relationship between a Japanese tourist and a 15-year-old Hong Kong girl, Autumn Moon is one of Clara Law's most effective explorations of her signature themes -- the feelings of alienation felt by immigrants or those on the threshold of immigration.
Autumn Moon tells the story of Tokio, a Japanese who is in Hong Kong seeking fine cuisine and a purpose to his life. He finds the food disappointing, but he teams up with Pui-wai, a young girl whose family is in the process of migrating to Canada.
Tokio becomes soul mates with Pui-wai's 80-year-old grandmother, a great chef. He discovers the secret to Granny's cooking and learns that she has known all along that her family will not be taking her to Canada when they leave.
The imperfect communication between Tokio and Pui-wai emphasizes the tensions created by dislocation from a familiar environment and raises questions of identity, especially in the person of Pui-wai, who is worried about the unknown world of Canada that her parents seem intent on bringing her into.
Remembering her own childhood, split between a study of English and Chinese, Law said: "In those three years, I became neither one nor the other. I was stuck in the middle, not too Chinese, neither very English."
Set against the barren emotional landscape of Hong Kong, the friendship between Tokio and Pui-wai offers an alternative point of contact for lonely souls within an indifferent world.
Floating Life
浮生
Australia, 1996, 35mm, 95mins, color
A film about a family being torn apart by immigration. Floating tells the story of the Changs, who, in the process of immigrating from Hong Kong have become separated into a number of houses in Hong Kong, Australia and Germany.
Hui-bing, one of the first family members to leave Hong Kong, has established herself in Australia, but only at great emotional cost. Unbalanced by the need to fit in her new life, she finds the arrival of other family members an intolerable strain. The time lag produced by the slow machinery of immigration administration creates other tensions between family members.
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