In addition to seeing each of the 22 films in the official competition I am tasked with making a decision on the documentary films as well, and so I will be watching an additional 13 films. That’s 35 films in 7 ½ days. You do the math.
My first competition film was a 9 a.m. screening of the Chinese film “Zuo You” (“In Love We Trust”). A bit slow and tedious at times but I have to say overall a well-constructed story dealing with a multitude of morality issues. It opens with a girl, Hehe, as she’s diagnosed with leukemia and in need of a marrow transplant to save her life. Her parents have divorced and remarried since her birth and the only medical way to help her is for a transplant from a sibling. She has none and the story revolves around the mother’s quest to have another baby (to save Hehe) with her ex-husband and the subsequent emotional consequences involving the new spouses.
Extended and blended families are becoming more of the norm in America and it’s interesting to see this issue represented so honestly in another culture, especially in China with its two child per family law.
