Glass Tears (2001)Carol Lai's latest work after her 1998 short Father's Toy takes the troubled teens genre into compelling and colourful territory. Where other recent films have played up the kids' actions, director Lai does little of the sort with Glass Tears. Drawing on her experience teaching at a special institute, the director turns attention to family, parent figures and location while covering more familiar genre territory such as drugs in passing. An old man (Lo Lieh) searching for his granddaughter Cho on the Hong Kong streets spurs a plot that sees him team up with P (Zeny Kwok); a girl announcing herself as Cho's debt collector. But the search for Cho is merely a framework -- Glass Tears instead focuses on an intriguing set of characters related to the situation and spends plenty of time on their backgrounds. The portrayal of troubled kids reaching adulthood shows a sympathetic approach, especially helped by dedicating far more time to Cho's hopeless parents than to the girl herself. An upper-class home is presented in comparison, shirking more convenient images of underprivileged backgrounds, while the old man injects not only an age gap into the mix but also a lifestyle shift with his isolated Sharp Island home at Sai Kung. Casting is superb for a film relying on such distinct characters. Glass Tears' strongest impressions come from Carrie Ng and Tats Lau -- playing Cho's parents, the pair continually set the background for the girl's runaway streak and the resulting search. Even with few words spoken between them, their miserable pairing is jarring each time it comes up. In the leads, Zeny Kwok is attractive and relaxed in her first major role and Lo Lieh impresses with a steady performance alongside her. Though lurking in the periphery, Chui Tien-you offers some amusing wimpy posturing as small-time dealer Tofu. Production work is attention-grabbing despite the characters' slow-moving pace. Tidy scripting and editing keeps the film down to a snappy enough duration and the filmmakers fill the screen with colour at every opportunity in costuming, lighting, sets and scenery. The Hong Kong Island area stretching from Central District up to the Mid-Levels and along to Kennedy Town accommodates most of the urban action, taking in a few old-style coffee shops and barren rooftops along the way. Settings at Kiu Shui and Wah Fu make for gorgeous contrasts on the screen and suit the film's relaxed feel. Rounded out with a coherent soundtrack, Glass Tears has turned out as an attractive drama on the big screen and, now, on video too. DVD information: Glass Tears has been released on DVD by Mei Ah using a reasonably clean print retaining all the colour of the cinema presentation. Soundtrack options are Cantonese and Mandarin, while subtitles are provided in Chinese traditional and simplified, and English (the latter brings over the disappointing original translation). Extras comprise unsubtitled interviews with Carol Lai and Zeny Kwok and a brief behind-the-scenes feature. Video footage from the Cannes Film Festival is presented but the images are a frustratingly edited pastiche of scant interest. As is typical of Mei Ah releases, there is no theatrical trailer on the disc. Packaging uses a see-through design which makes reading text printed on it a chore and the running time is listed as about 20 minutes longer than the main feature. |
Credits: Directed by Carol Lai Miu-suet |
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