Winner of Best Director at San Sebastian, along with a number of other awards in festivals around the world, “A Journey in Spring” is a distinctly art-house film that focuses on grief and the (inter) personal issues families and married couples face, even in their old age.
A Journey in Spring is screening at Five Flavours
Aging married couple Khim-Hok and Siu-Tuan leave a meager life in the wooded hills outside Taipei, where they fight, bicker and in general feel the misery of their life and age. An issue with the plumbing of the house and their disagreement over the way to fix it highlights their situation, with their interactions being dominated by irony, sarcasm, and an overall lack of patience and communication, which mostly seem to derive from the husband. However, when Siu-Tan dies unexpectedly, Khim-Hok finds himself at intense loss, keeping her body in an old freezer, remembering his past with her, and in general, living in denial. That is until their estranged son, Kian Beng, returns home, and Khim-Hok is forced to look at reality, which forces him to take a trip, both literal and spiritual, in order to deal with his grief.
Wang Ping-Wn and Peng Tzu-Hui direct a slow-burning movie, mirroring essentially the pace of their aged protagonists and the main theme of the movie, which seems to be facing regret after losing a loved one. Through this approach, they also make a number of comments regarding the particular family, which seems to echo, though, the way most families in Taiwan function. That Khim-Hok essentially mistreats his wife, who also seems eager to fight, is a testament to the fact, as much as how his perception of her changes after her death. Or perhaps one could say how he realizes his feelings for her essentially, with the fact that a kind of reunion takes place with his son eventually, adding even more to the concept.
His denial to deal with the practical aspect of her death, and the fact that he tries to look for solace and some financial change in his life by meeting with his son’s ex, showcases the widower’s overall mentality. It also shows how difficult it is to move on from something like this, particularly for couples who have been married for decades, and the everyday life they have gotten used to takes a rather significant hit. At the same time, and quite realistically, the two directors do not romanticize the whole ‘procedure’ by having a teary reunion between father and son, but showing that gaps such as theirs are quite difficult to bridge, even under these circumstances. The last meeting of the two in the movie is indicative, in the most entertaining scene in the whole film.
Also of note here is the cinematography by Yosuke Kato and Waikin Sou, who shot on Super 16mm, which results in a raw and retro approach that suits the protagonist to perfection. Again in art-house fashion, there are a lot of long shots with steady cameras, which result in some images of extreme beauty, with the two DPs highlighting the picturesque Taiwanese country. Peng Tzu-Hui’s editing results in a rather slow pace, as mentioned in the prologue, that stresses the fact that the whole movie is a kind of procession, a prolonged funeral ceremony if you prefer, in a style that reminds intently of Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s “Journey to the Shore” although under the prism of people of different age.
Jason King as Khim-Hok gives an excellent performance, with the transformations he undergoes throughout the movie being as impressive as the way he manages to remain the same throughout them. Yang Kuei-Mei as Siu Tuan is also good in the role of the wife of an impossible man, in a role that remains steady throughout the movie. Lan Wei-Hua as Kian Beng gives a competent performance as the angry and sorrowful son.
Even though directly addressed to arthouse fans, “A Journey in Spring” is a competent film that communicates the particular type of dealing with grief and its procedure through a distinctly Taiwanese setting that carries the movie from beginning to end, along with the acting and cinematography.
