The documentary as a film category has changed significantly during the latest years, with the inclusion of mockumentaries and a number of other experimental approaches usually combining it with art house elements and an intensely personal element. Taiwanese-Argentine filmmaker Juan Martin Hsu implements such an approach as he visits his mother, who has returned to Taiwan from Argentina, in order to find more details about his father’s murder in Argentina, and essentially his family’s and his own past.
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The film takes place during two trips,7 years apart, includes Martin’s brother, Marcelo, and implements a rather unusual approach made up of a number of different elements. The central one is the talks of his mother, usually while drinking and smoking, while narrating the story of her and her husband, whom he paints in the bleakest colors, even suggesting that the woman he abandoned her for was the one responsible for his death. Other talks, involving more members of the family, also highlight her past and her relationships with men, while as the story unfolds more and more and more, the concept of the White Terror in Taiwan becomes more prevalent. Somewhat amusing are the moments when the languages spoken in Taiwan and Argentina are commented upon or even combined, with the most memorable coming when Shu mother says, “You two wouldn’t be able to spend ‘la vida’ in Taiwan, just like your mum couldn’t spend ‘la vida’ in Argentina.”
A second aspect of the movie unfolds like a tour guide in various places in Taiwan, including shrines and various tourist locations, while a third one, which occasionally seems like a dramatization of the director’s mother story with his father (but could be anything else actually) concludes the unusual narrative. The last part in particular, is where the film shows its art-house aesthetics, with Hsu and Tebbe Schoningh’s cinematography implementing a number of long shots and unusual framing, in an aspect though, that does not fit the narrative that well, particularly since the documentary elements are much more impactful.
Music also plays a rather significant role, through a number of different styles of tracks including renditions of the titular one and of “Don’t Cry for me Argentina”, in a number of sequences that are the most entertaining in the whole film, with the ones where the mother sings the former song also being among the most memorable. .
Lastly, and in an element that encompasses all others, the trauma the director has faced due to his father’s death, and his need to find a connection with his Taiwanese roots is also highlighted throughout the movie, with a particular revelation adding much to its overall impact. The comment that derives from this is how the actions of parents shape the lives of their children, apart from their own, is the main one here, along with the importance of family as a concept, with Hsu implementing a rather personal approach in order to communicate it.
The resulting collage is interesting, particularly through the accomplished editing of Ana Remon and Jose Goyeneche, and the comments, both personal and more general, intriguing. At the same time, however, this approach, and particularly the scenes that move outside the focus on the mother, essentially detract from the impact the movie could have, through its captivating story. This fault does not ruin the docuemantary, which still emerges as an interesting spectacle, but the result would definitely be better if they could have been avoided.
