Direction: Chung Mong-hong
Country: Taiwan
A Sun is a crime-infused Taiwanese drama film directed by Chung Mong-hong (The Fourth Portrait; Soul), who co-wrote it with screenwriter and novelist Chang Yao-sheng. The excellent performances could have hurled the film into stardom by themselves if the overdramatic score by Lin Sheng-xiang didn’t attempt to increase the emotional toll in each and every key scene. Thus, in my view, the film would have worked better if the constantly bitter tones were cooked raw. Despite this quibble, the well-written plot didn’t left me indifferent.
We follow the tortuous path of A-Ho (Wu Chien-ho), whose troublesome teenage years in Taipei led him to a juvenile correction facility. While doing time, he learns that his 15-year old girlfriend is pregnant and that his brilliant and introspective older brother, A-Hao (Greg Hsu), has committed suicide. Their father (Chen Yi-wen), a peculiar driving instructor, deliberately refused to fight for A-Ho in court, on a case where the hand of a young man was chopped and thrown into a boiling soup by his son's friend Radish (Liu Kuan-ting). Misfortunes for this family are far from over, especially when the latter is released from prison.
This is a tale of tragedy, reconciliation and crime punctuated with effective comedic touches, becoming an exposé of parental fault, disintegration and collapse. This atmospheric conundrum among this family of four, shapes into whether sensitive or violent behaviors in a credible script wrapped in emotional complexity. Peace is ultimately found but at a high cost.
Mong-hong also takes charge of the cinematography, taking an impressive stance on the visuals, but he could have taken A Sun to another realm by simplifying a few aspects.
