Institute History
Description
Hong Kongs films are known for their stylish, explosive violence and imaginative use of genre. What makes Autumn Moon so striking is its departure from the archetypal Hong Kong feature, both narratively and visually, and the creation of its own unique sensibility.
The story line is simply. Tokio, a thirtyish Japanese tourist played by Masatoshi Nagase, best known to American audiences from his role in Jim Jarmusch’s Mystery Train, is traveling through Asia, ostensibly looking for “good food.” He meets a you student, played by Wai, who brings him to her favorite Hong Kong restaurant, McDonald’s, and then home to eat her grandmother’s cooking. What unfolds is a story about the clash and appropriation of cultures, the differences between languages, and separateness, both social and personal.
Director Clara Law has created a deceptively straightforward film, both charming and moody, comic and touching, in which a young girl shares the tenuousness of first love with a new friend, and he, jaded and cynical, searches for a meaning in his life which transcends aimless wandering. Atmospheric and cool, the film captures Hong Kong’s distinctive beauty. Running throughout is the image of a society in precarious balance between the traditional and the modern, and ware of the the disruption that may result when Hong Kong returns to mainland China in four years. Winner of the Golden Leopard at Locarmo this year, Autumn Moon taps into all our journeys of self-discovery.
Regional Premiere
Sunday, January 24 7:000 pm
Egyptian Theatre
Monday, January 25 9:30 am
Prospector Square Theatre
Saturday, January 30 8:00 pm
Sundance Screening Room
$10.00