Love them or hate them, online film events have become part of festival-goers' lives. At the time that would have been the week just after Festival de Cannes, the whole world can come together to “attend” We Are One: A Global Film Festival. The event programmed by 21 renowned film festivals lists a good number of Asian films. In its selection, International Film Festival & Awards Macao (IFFAM) offers the 2016 feature debut of Tracy Choi “Sisterhood”.
Sei (Gigi Leung/Fish Liew) lives in Taiwan and, with her husband, runs a small hotel. Despite she might be one of the most loved wives ever, she is not happy. And she drinks a lot. When she finds an ad about her estranged best friend Ling (Jennifer Yu) passing, she decides to return to Macau. Her trip into space becomes a trip into time too. Sei is to meet friends she left behind 15 years ago. And it is not only them who have changed.
Back in the late 1990s, Sei was just one of the Macau orphans. Once of age, she joined a massage parlor. At the time, she did not realize what a stroke of luck it was when she befriended Ling, Ying (Stephanie Che/Panther Chan), and Gigi (Teresa Mak/Eliz Lao). Their friendship made them stronger, helped them face workplace rivalry, mishaps, or lack of clients. When Sei lost her housing, Ling took her in. Once an apprentice and protegée, Sei took up the role of Ling's carer in the good and bad, party, pregnancy, and motherhood. Everything was fine until it wasn't. Ling's and Sei's ways took different directions on the New Year's Eve of 1999, just a few days after the handover of Macau.
The historical setting adds another level to Sei's story. The new Macau, rebuilt to accommodate the constant flow of tourists and generate profit in the lavish casinos, makes her feel a stranger in her hometown. Sei becomes the guide into Macau's past – with all the small shops, eateries, and bakeries, many of which are now gone. The changes in the city's landscape brought changes in its communities.
“Sisterhood” does not indulge in nostalgia, nor turns the old times into attractions. And that includes the red towel sessions. It focuses on the girls living the moment, being there one for another. Despite their days don't lack men, they do not rely on them, even prefer taking chances and becoming pivots of their own lives. In this, “Sisterhood” is an ode to girl power and independent women. Again, the film puts it subtly, lets the idea fill the air without being pushy.
While the actresses portraying the mid-30s Sei, Chung, and Ying don't get that much space, their young counterparts steal the film and make it a joy to watch, especially Fish Liew and Jennifer Yu who are brilliant in their individual performances but also balance one another. The gentle shifts in the mien, in the tension of the posture and the way they create Sei's past world further intensifies the impact on her adult self and finds more than apt expression in Gigi Leung's performance.
“Sisterhood” might seem a modest film but don't let it lull you. It offers a strong statement and an authentic and vivid portrait of Macau before and after. The look into the prosaic sides of the city, characters-driven script, focused storytelling, and the distinct performances interplay and build up a powerful small film about resilient women unafraid to face whatever the transformations may bring.
