Incomplete families, drug addiction, autism, immigration, homosexuality. Issues that already at the first glance make you take a deep breath individually. Yet, they happen in real life. Still, having them under a roof of a single film, you might think twice to hit the play button. Because you are well aware film is not real life. What works for one does not inevitable works for the other, each asks for a different sensitivity. “For Izzy” finds just the right balance in tackling an amalgam of matters that are just too real. Without pathos, big gestures, it offers a heart-warming story. It captivates with its well-paced calm, low-key stylistic touches, and fine choice of actors.
For Izzy is available from Raintrail Pictures
Dede (Michelle Ang) is an addict whose life takes an unexpected turn, when her mother (Elizabeth Sung) decides to set her onto a drug-free path. Little did they know how much this decision would affect them. They wind up across the street from Peter (Jim Lau) and his adult autistic daughter Laura (Jennifer Soo). The friendship that slowly but surely forms between the two young women test the limits of patience of both (single) parents. Still, more is on the way.
Already during her monologue about her chronic pain, Dede is exposed as an addict. Her fiancée just broke up with her, she is desperate. From a frenzy pseudo-diary-vlog entry, “For Izzy” continues in a faux-documentary style. The story unfolds through talking heads, “narrative” parts, and animations. The addresses of the characters quite soon blend with the story. Their apparent role of narration-pushers recedes, as the very point – the “true” nature of the film shines through. Moreover, these passages ease the shifts in style of the episodes. That way, their mood accommodates to the character in charge of the story's vocalisation and the key action. From frantic blubber shot in tight close-up to Instagram-y walks of the two young women in airy wide-shots. Naive at times, “For Izzy” shows wit in providing reason for the formal choices as well as its storyline.
Chu as the scriptwriter and director refuses to milk his characters' social “disabilities”. The more he refuses, the more “For Izzy” relies on the four actors who handle it smoothly. The quartet is especially fun to watch as pseudo-“naturshchiks” talking directly to the camera. But overall, there seems to be mutual understanding on their roles as the the protagonist of a non-fiction. Accordingly, they don't aim to shine but to play along the settings of each scene. And they seem to be keeping the bigger picture in mind.
“For Izzy” opens about human issues, social issues. It doesn't go for depths, doesn't chase the roots (and points). The way it opts is a casual account of the events “before”. It is straightforward but gentle. Its structure of a reconstruction documentary with well paced, working dynamics among diaries, vlogs, talking heads, animations and scripted story is appealing. And despite the reason behind the choices might not be obvious from the start, they make sense. Simply, „For Izzy“ is a smart small film about things that might be discouraging or scary but somehow, they are no reason for avoiding happiness.
