Movie : Starry Starry Night (星空), or: The imagination of a child and a director
Link : Starry Starry Night (星空), or: The imagination of a child and a director
Starry Starry Night (星空), or: The imagination of a child and a director
Starry Starry Night (星空) (2011)
Directed by Tom Lin
Directed by Tom Lin
***SPOILERS***
Starry Starry Night begs the question: are there some stories simply unfit for film? I would say: no. "A film is not what it’s about, but how it is about it," as Roger Ebert said. Even if the premise is…inherently dull. On the surface, there are many directions for director and screenwriter Tom Lin to take his tale. We’ve seen characters run away with their imaginations several times in film, from the whimsical storytelling in The Science of Sleep to the gritty harsh realities of Taxi Driver to the warped psychological mindset of Drive. And, for this coming-of-age tale, Mei’s (Xu Jiao) imagination represents her suppression of a growing adolescent’s biggest problems. Well…it should represent that. And for a while, it would seem Lin had a grip on such a concept. But as the movie dissolves, so does his metaphor, leaving a hodgepodge of a film that’s as erratic in its message as Lin is with his direction. In the end, I beg the question: is a story unfit for film...if the filmmakers don't even have a grasp on its biggest strengths and flaws?
It’s too bad, because there are some insanely genuine and heartfelt moments floating throughout Starry Starry Night. Many of them, however, are simply undercut by lazy writing. The relationship between Mei and Jay (Lin Hui-min) is pure happenstance, apparently resulting from Mei’s attraction to his Christmas melody recording and Jay’s acute observation of Mei’s sadness regarding her grandfather’s death. Maybe this is how shy children come together? But their conveniently comparable troubled pasts and their shared admiration for art are aspects that emerge from their random attraction, showing the finish line was much more appealing to Lin than the path getting there. And it shows—from Mei’s colorful fantasies to Lin’s capricious camera, the gripping final adventure shared between Mei and Jay seems thwarted by an over-stylized introduction and a tarry, beguiling ending.
It’s hard to decipher which crime is more punishable, but advantageously (for me), Lin’s inept direction directly plays into why Mei’s imaginative mind does little to develop her as a character. At first, it would seem Lin has a tight grip on the concept. As Mei sits in a train station, leaving her grandfather in exchange for a less desirable and artless life with her parents, time slows down and snowflakes fall from the ceiling. Soon the station is barren, leaving only her and the snow-covered vastness that once represented her grandfather’s cabin. A flake falls onto her eye, melting and forming a tear, which falls from her face and hits her train ticket as she snaps back to reality. It would seem that Mei allows her imagination to run free when she’s vulnerable—her fantasies coincide with strong moments of emotion she suppresses. She’s unable to confide in anyone besides her grandfather, an artist who fittingly sets Mei’s mind loose with wonder and allows her to express herself freely.
Then come the disconnections. When she encounters high-stress situations, she transforms. When Jay is being pummeled by school bullies, she jumps in to help, metamorphosing herself into a dragon via her shadow. A similar image is paired with Jay when he unloads a frenzied punch storm into the school’s radiator. Mei’s imagination also escapes during moments of extreme happiness. Finally able to confide in someone outside her grandpa, she marches down a bridge with Jay, with their animal papier-mâché’s trailing close behind. Both instances feature strong moments of emotion for Mei, thus both instances leave reality on the backburner. However, both of these moments’ wonder is weakened by the children’s incidental friendship, which never existed because of art, thus there is no true contrast between it and the connection shared between Mei and her grandfather. While there is a definable set of laws to Lin’s shaky mindset, the inconsistencies begin to seep through—just before they gush out.
Mei’s blue elephant was the first sign of danger. As she walks to find her grandfather at the hospital, there seems to be no sense of strong emotion. Mei is vulnerable, but vulnerability has not been perpetuated as Mei’s trigger. She walks listlessly along the streets, only soon to be accompanied by her giant blue elephant. There is a connection here, since her grandfather constructed the elephant himself, but at what point do we allow “magic and wonder” to overtake the importance for coherence? This episode is a lone anomaly mixed among the film’s imaginative moments, much like when Mei and Jay’s train takes off into the night sky. This occurrence is actually more troubling, considering the harsh realities of their home lives had been suppressing their fantastical state of mind. The train taking off represents Mei’s escape from those problems…but once again, there is no correlation between this episode and the last. It plays into the idea that, “hey, children have some pretty wild imaginations, let’s set it free!” And while it’s pleasing to witness, it’s a head-scratcher in theory. Do we want these illusions to represent Mei as a human being? Or are we just trying to paint a pretty picture?
These problems combined with the meandering ending (which is so pointless that it's not worth dissecting) unfortunately hinder the film’s strongest moments, of which Mei and Jay escape into the woods for two nights. With Mei’s parents divorcing and Jay’s abusive father searching for his whereabouts, such an escape represents this duo’s chance enforce Starry Starry Night’s coming-of-age themes. All these children have done is suppress, suppress, suppress—and now it’s time to face reality. As Mei changes from her wet clothes, Jay stares at her naked shadow, which is a stark contrast between Mei’s earlier transformation into a dragon. The parallel between the earlier childish image and the blunt, arresting image of a naked woman represents these children’s desire to remain young in the face of adult problems. Jay’s confession of his abusive past coincides with own abusive tendencies, giving a whole new light to Jay’s outrage over the school bully’s trashing of his artwork. And as Jay and Mei walk through the woods, the gripping image of several dead animals caught in human-made traps shakes Mei to the core. And in all of these cases, the abrupt reality directly contrasts these children’s imaginative minds: the dragon shadow, the papier-mâché collage and the animals they created together. All of them representing Mei and Jay’s wonderful, youthful friendship—all of them fleeting.
This sequence of events will forever remain great for its flagrance. It builds on ideas maintained throughout the film, and the contrast between these ideas and the film’s sudden shift in tone is as riveting as it is telling. But the ideas perpetuated throughout the film will forever remain fickly connected. When Lin’s ego gets in the way, the characters become pawns for Lin’s imagination—not their own. This is seen when Mei cannot complete the puzzle, thus sending her into an uncontrollable frenzy. A slow-motion shot gracefully creeps up behind Mei as she tosses her toys about the room. It’s enticing in its image, but utterly useless in its execution. Such a shot is immediately followed by Mei holding her unfinished blue elephant, where the sheer emotion of the situation pours out like a geyser. It works because of its starkness, but also because of the gifted young actress at hand. But most of all: it doesn’t own the director’s stamp of approval. Apparently, a scene can only achieve such an honor by adhering to Lin’s creative side. A similar dynamic between director and character is seen during a fight featuring Mei’s parents. The camera becomes erratic, circling the apartment, flashing useless and incoherent images to represent a state of confusion for Mei, who is locked away in her bedroom. Time after time, the form lends no helping hand to the content, thus never allowing the content (a child’s imagination) to run free. And with this thought, all the "magic and wonder" Starry Starry Night seems scattershot instead of consistently telling and beautiful. I’ll just say this: I was hoping to experience Mei’s youthful imagination—not Lin’s.
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