Huang Chia-Chun is one of the most well-known documentary filmmakers of 21st century Taiwanese cinema. Since his debut film “They Are Flying” won the best documentary award in Taipei Film Festival 2008, he has built his reputation through his direction of critically acclaimed documentaries on a variety of subjects. “Rock Me To The Moon” is the most famous of his works.
Rock me to the Moon will screen at Asian Pop-Up Cinema
The documentary opens with a group of unusually older men singing a song with full gusto, at a sea-beach with an audience of comparatively younger people. The band members are then introduced with a touch of style: Papa Ouyang, the vocalist; Papa Li, the guitarist; Papa Pan, the saxophonist and harmonica player; Papa Cheng, the bass guitarist; Papa Wu, the keyboardist and Papa Tsai, the drummer. They all are, as the names suggest, fathers. More specifically, they are fathers of children fighting with one incurable disease or the other. The narrative then goes four years back, and the situations behind the formation of the band comes into light. As an escape for the fathers, the band is created with support from Spark, a member of Taiwanese rock band Quarterbacks. Named Sleepy Dads, the band now races against time to prepare themselves for a particular fest, especially with most members having zero experince playing instruments.
In case of children suffering from incurable diseases, it is extremely common for fathers to either divorce or to leave the child and the mother through other means. Thus, the number of fathers in a fraternity of parents of children with such conditions is minimal. The director tries to show these six fathers fighting hard out of love for their children, as heroes, as, instead of following the easier route of moving apart, they stay as close to their children as ever, perhaps even more so, since they know the lifespan of them cannot possible be long. Women are instrumental to the scene, as they serve as a dual support system to the child and the husband. They have their difficulties and their complaints which are voiced. Their importance is not denied, but this documentary is all about the relationship between the father and the child. Focus is kept on the fathers, and not on the mothers and the children. This somehow acts as an excellent move as it controls the outpour of emotions, leading to the presentation of a more subdued cathartic effect. “Men shall not weep,” is a proverb from the culture of the nation. These fathers, thus, find themselves in a long-term traumatic situation where they cannot express their emotions.
The rehearsals work as an escape for the fathers. Torn with decreasing hope over their beloved children's vitality and with tremendous physical and mental pressure over lack of sleep, they long for their weekly meetings. Music is a chance to free themselves from the heaviness of anxiety, although they cannot totally forget it, as seen from the selection of their songs. Coming from different walks of life, from a school teacher to a seller of clay artifacts, their differences in economic landscape quickly dissolves as they recognize one another as fathers with the same set of pain to squeeze through. They let go together, and as they fall in love with the band, they start having their own artistic opinions, at times expressive and opinionative.
Regarding the film title, Huang says: “Regarding the film title, I've tried to associate these dads with the moon because I always like the jazz classic âFly me to the Moon.â People say that when Apollo 11 landed on the moon in 1969, this song was played in the space cabin. It is generally taken as a romantic love song, but I find it well applied to the father-child relationships in my film. These fathers love their children so much that they want to take them everywhere, even to the moon! If space travel is possible, I believe these fathers will happily watch their children play among the stars.”
The music in the movie is beautiful. Quarterback's song “Rock Me To The Moon”, written solely for the use of “Sleepy Dads”, is a standout, although a lot of songs in the movie sung by the fathers are similarly interesting. In cinematography, the movie finds a solid grasp. Beautiful scenes, such as the band members walking one-by-one down a beautiful beach increase the aesthetic flow. The focus on cityscape mirrors the anxiety as seen in the parents, even though at times the night of the city looks superbly dreamy.
“Rock Me To The Moon” is an interesting and engrossing documentary, with an emphasis on emotions, but a restraint on the amount, leading to the creation of a movie where a dream tries to override a much larger cloud of pain.
