Awarded at the 57th Golden Horse Festival, Kwok Zune's short film depicts the collision of two worlds when a taxi driver picks up a young girl in the middle of the night during the Hong Kong Democracy protests. The fly-on-the-wall documentary like film centers around the night shift of a stubborn cab driver, who serves customers from different isles of society. The on-going demonstrations affect his work as well as the topics of conversations that take place.
Night is Young is screening at Osaka Asian Film Festival
In a very calm way, the viewer observes the slight change of heart the main protagonist undergoes. In the course of the short, his human nature is more and more revealed as he is introduced as a caring father and lookout for a missing protester. “Night is Young” shines a light on the various viewpoints that the current democracy movement evokes in the people of Hong Kong. Stereotypes and misconceptions are presented. A
lively cinematography follows the taxi driver played by Peter Choi. He does a great job performing as the typical big city, working-class character, who believes in the concept of freedom through hard work and wealth. The sudden encounter with the young protester seeds a grain of social consciousness in his mind, whose ultimate outcome is not fully shown by the director. The open end stays true to the ambiguous story that “Night is Young” offers to its audience. Both sides are part of the plot. Upper- and underclass. Wealth and poverty. The cab is a neutral room in which everyone is treated equally. So to speak, the cab may also be a kind of metaphor about a classless society.
One of the most interesting aspects of the film is the authentic setting. Probably filmed right in the middle of the clashes between police and rioters, “Night is Young” delivers a real authentic impression of the tense situation to the point to which one is concerned about the health of the camera crew and actors.
Scoring with a strong lead and a dangerously realistic camera work, Kwok Zune puts out a promising but not provoking comment on Hong Kong's current situation.
