Chance encounters, people we run into by accident, can have an immense impact on our lives at times. Within the arts, not only film, the idea of a random encounter with a person we might not have noticed under different circumstances, but which now becomes quite important for ourselves, has given birth to a plethora of stories. In his short feature “Towards the Sun” Taiwanese director Wang Yi-Ling tells such a story, combining it with the issue of migrant workers in his home country, their sorrows and longings for a normal life without worrying about the next paycheck. He has managed to direct a minimal, yet effective and quite surprising road-movie/ drama with the Taiwanese countryside as its backdrop.
“Towards the Sun” is screening at Asian Pop-up Cinema
After his business went bankrupt and his home was foreclosed, fruit farmer Jia-Ming (Kao Meng-Chieh) decides to start anew somewhere else, packs his few belongings and embarks on a journey towards a goal he has yet to define for himself. He decides to pick up a hitchhiker, a young Vietnamese girl called A-Anh whose is on her way to the airport to catch the next flight back to her hometown. Since she has been divorced recently, her resident permit is about to expire the next day. As the two of them share their life story and become acquainted, they realize how troubled the life of the other person is, and even though he is also in need of help, Ji-Ming decides to help the girl.
As with many road movies, also Wang Yi-Ling's one reflects the emotional and social state of the two characters of the story. Being without a relationship and a place to call home, they have, as the title implies, started a journey “towards the sun”, a future of vague hopes, but to them less desperate than their current state. The encounter along with their journey sees them changing, as they see each other from the view of the other, the new person which also brings forth some nasty truths about their lives and to some extent, what has caused them to go so awry.
Even though his movie occasionally touches upon some rather bleak subject matter, “Towards the Sun” is also a very beautiful movie. Especially the scenes depicting the journey show the gorgeous countryside, as well as a few drops of the urban landscape, emphasizing how the road taken is indeed a transitory state to an unknown, but in the end, better destination.
“Towards the Sun” is a road movie about a fateful chance encounter, dealing with issues like home and being a social outcast. Given its cinematography and performances, this is quite an enjoyable short feature which manages to establish an emotional connection to its characters and their struggles.
