In love we trust - 32nd HKIFF

A painful yet real life story about a divorced couple who want to save their child from leukaemia, after exhausting various channels of help, their only hope is to get together once again (amid their own family), to “produce” a sister/brother who can donate their blood for the ill child. This is a serious study about the suffering, the dilemma of such choice, between comprises and argument, and more importantly, the impact on one’s other partners. There is probably no more suitable title than Zuo You, (left, right), referring the fact that no matter what decision is made, it would be the difficult one. The story takes place in Beijing but the director intends to make this as a universal problem which can be happen in any parts of the world, hence much of the scene happened between residential buildings and empty city park, unlike the historical/cultural rich Beijing which is being seen more often. That added a bit of draughtiness/coldness to the story. The 4 main characters, the divorced couple and their relative current partners are all competent in their role, even though the partner of female protagonist, a Mr. Nice husband, is probably the only character which seems to be too good to have because of his “generosity”. Nevertheless, the way to portrait his bitterness toward the whole situation can be sum up by “going out to buy a pack of cigarette” was quite beautifully and subtly done.