Life is a Miracle (2001)

With Life is a Miracle, production house Media Evangelism Ltd return to Hong Kong cinema screens with another tale based on the personal hardships and triumphs of real-life characters. The screenplay revolves around Tracy (Nadia Chan) and Man-ho (Mark Kwok), a young couple married for two years and living in Vancouver. Soon after Tracy settles in as a social worker in a cancer ward, she herself is diagnosed with cancer in the spine. Tracy is unfortunately no stranger to illness - her doctor suggests it was triggered by previous colon cancer - and she's whisked off to treatment that may ruin her chances to bear children, if effective at all.

Tracy's relationship with Man-ho and the people within the hospital setting overtly brings out themes relating to hopelessness, regret and complacency, as well as Christian belief. Characters exhibit the themes in relating their pasts or outlooks on life, especially cancer patient Cat (Natalie Au) who's never accepted her father's wrongdoings. Even the corridor to the hospital's chemotherapy section symbolises despair until Tracy overcomes the dark image. The Christian messages that were so overwhelming in the production house's previous film Ultimate Intelligence are relatively underplayed until a final speech. Whereas the earlier shot-on-video production appeared to foremost preach to the converted, Life is a Miracle's ultimately upbeat theme and common concepts offer more interest beyond the evangelist moments. The film closes with a written dedication to the real-life Tracy, suggesting the project's personal significance to the filmmakers.

Production standards throughout Life is a Miracle are pleasing, helped by the use of 35 mm instead of digital video. Shot entirely in British Columbia during mid-2000, the look of the film is colourful and clean. The film is largely presented straightforward but displays some effective editing when the occasional forceful images come calling. Light-hearted moments dot the script, with the most ludicrously far-fetched occurring when Tracy and Man-ho serenade Vancouver. Cacine Wong's score is a nice body of music, even if a touch overblown at times, and it binds the images together with added drama. In the acting stakes, Nadia Chan and Mark Kwok begin the film with a lightly comic appeal and shift nicely into their more dramatic roles later in the piece. Peter Yeung Kwan in a side role as a doctor proves an enjoyable cast member too.

Credits:

Directed by Adrian Kwan
Starring Nadia Chan, Mark Kwok, Natalie Au and Peter Yeung Kwan