Zihan Geng was born in Beijing in 1996 and graduated from the Central Academy of Drama. Her short film “A Ray of Sunshine” was selected in competition at the 13th First International Film Festival and nominated for Best Short Story. Her short film “Green Screen” was selected by the 25th LA Shorts International Film Festival. Her current debut feature film, “A Song Sung Blue”, was selected as one of the Top Five of the 5th CFDG Young Directors Support Program, and later premiered in Cannes, in the Directors' Fortnight Program.
A Song Sung Blue screened at Cannes
Fifteen year-old Xian is having the worst summer of her life. It is not just the issue of being on the verge of adulthood, but also that her mother has an affair with a fellow doctor, and is about to follow him to a job in Africa. If that was not enough, for as long as she is away, Xian has to stay with her estranged father, who runs a small photo studio the girl immediately perceives as kitsch and preterit. He is also in a somewhat precarious state financially and he is going out with his assistant, which definitely does not help his relationship with his daughter. However, when the assistant's daughter, Mingmei, a gorgeous 18-year old girl who is also a rather free-spirit, comes into the picture, Xian's life is thrown upside down and soon becomes infatuated with the girl. And despite the fact that Mingmei realizes her feelings, she decides to stand by the young girl, take her to her inner circle, and essentially treat her as a sister. Her life however is complicated and things in such ages are never simple.
Probably the most intriguing and impressive aspect of the movie is the way Zihan Geng implements coloring here with the help of Yov Moor's job in the department, as Xian's moodiness, and essentially the majority of the movie is painted in blue with the only red (literally) exceptions coming when Mingmeir appears on screen. The way Geng essentially dictates the mood of every scene in that fashion is a wonder to look at, in an aspect that also benefits the most by Jiayue Hao's rather bright and essentially dreamy cinematography and Xilu Du's art direction, who takes care of having objects of the particular colors in the respective frame, thus assisting in the particular approach. Matthie Laclau and Tsai Yann-shan's editing also implements the overall subtle and tender approach through a relatively slow pace that intensifies the particular aesthetics.
Check also this interview
It is also here, however, that the major issue of the narrative also appears. On the one hand, Geng and her co-writer Yining Liu have included a number of episodes to fill the 92 minutes of the movie's duration, with Mingmei's friends and lovers and the upcoming marriage providing ample context. On the other hand, none of the side stories nor the main one are particularly impactful, since the overall subtleness also takes over the narrative, to the point that none of the open questions and notions ever get a specific reply.
That this aspect extends to the main theme of the relationship of the two girls and the whole question of if what Xian feels are the first notions of homosexuality or simply a teenage infatuation born from loneliness and the disconnection from her parents, faults the whole movie significantly, essentially deeming it somewhat tedious after a point. It seems as if Geng is afraid to give straight answers, but also does not have the ability to imply them in a way that would make her audience discover them out if they think a bit more about the film, and neither to create a nostalgia for those unreciprocated summer loves of youth almost everyone has probably felt at some point.
The acting also suffers a bit from the aforementioned issue, but in general, it is on a rather high level. Zhou Meijun as Xian portrays her frustration, fascination, immaturity and a number of other feelings and psychological statues with measured but also eloquent realism while Huang Ziqi portrays a rather popular diva that can also be rather caring as Mingmei, with gusto.
Despite its issues in the writing and the overall presentation of the story, “A Song Sung Blue” is a rather beautiful shot film that highlights Zihan Geng's eye for layered composition and her ability to create a chemistry among her actors, and an overall quite hopeful debut from a director who is bound to have strong presence in festivals in the future.
