Rotterdam 2009: Trainee Project

Philbert Ortiz Dy reviews
"Floating in Memory" by Peng Tao

Seasick

There comes a point in Peng Tao's second film Floating in Memory, where its main formal device just wears itself out. Though the movie ultimately has some strong things to say, it all gets overridden by a distractingly restless camera. Floating in Memory is a great example of a movie that could have done a lot more with less.

The Beijing Olympics set the stage for Peng Tao's dark tale. People watching television are told of China's great thrust towards the future, the country's Olympic effort representing its case for prosperity, economic and otherwise. Peng juxtaposes this manufactured prosperity with the story of Xiu (Pan Xingxing), a young provincial girl who's found her way into the city, working for peanuts at a shoe store, and spending her nights watching people dance at a local hall. She's got a sick brother back home, and she's working to buy medicine for him. She soon meets Qiang (Huo Shiyu), who at first appears to be a friendly face, but turns out to be a pimp hunting for new talent. What happens next is as inevitable as the tides, as these young people, finding no inherent value in their lives, easily reason into doing all the wrong things. The movie begins with no emotional choices, no fumbling with the morality of their actions. Xiu doesn't even seem all that desperate when she takes the plunge into prostitution. In a country with the world's largest population, where even the fastest growing industries can't keep up with providing jobs for the youth, desperation gives way to a weary acceptance of less-than-ideal livelihoods.

The story offers a glint of hope in the growing attraction between Xiu in Qiang, and though their situation is less than ideal, to them it still provides a welcome alternative to their loneliness. These kids are making it on their own, separated from their families by a false promise of prosperity, and any form of companionship begins to look like salvation. Alas, it's not to be, as Qiang messes up a job badly and goes on the run, returning to his hometown. To make things worse, the now-abandoned Xiu learns that she's pregnant.

Throughout all this, Peng's camera bobs up and down, presumably to add a feeling that everything is floating. It's novel at first, but it gets old pretty quick, serving more to distract than to enhance, in the end adding very little to the film other than a sense of lethargy. It tires the eyes and creates a false sense of slowness that doesn't jive with the film's sense of urgency.

While Qiang is back in his hometown, uneasy but ready to start a quiet life in the boondocks, Xiu is given one more difficult proposal: to give up her baby to her infertile boss for money. And again, her choice is inevitable, because Xiu and her ilk are less than people now. In the world's largest economy, she and the child in her belly are just more commodities to be bartered and sold, endlessly expendable and easily replaced. The Beijing Olympics put on a brave new face for China, but the change was purely cosmetic. Inside, organs are failing wholesale, and humanity is falling to the wayside. Floating in Memory makes a pretty strong case overall; it's just hard to see it through its devices.

Philbert Ortiz Dy. Graduated from the Ateneo de Manila University in 2005 with a degree in Management Information Systems, but has since then channeled his energy into writing. His short story "The Great Philippine Space Mission", won second place in the 1st Philippine Graphic/Fiction Awards sponsored by Neil Gaiman. He has written for some of the country's top broadsheets and magazines on subjects as diverse as fashion, music, art and politics. He is currently the resident film critic for Philippine website Clickthecity.com.

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