Echoes of the Rainbow – Sui yuet san tau (2010)

Directed by: Alex Law | 117 minutes | drama, comedy, romance | Actors: Simon Yam, Sandra Ng Kwan Yue, Buzz Chung, Aarif Rahman, Paul Chun, Evelyn Choi, Ping Ha

Director Alex Law, himself raised in Hong Kong in the 1960s and 1970s, returns to his youth in the third feature film he has directed, and the first in the new century. Very literally, because the film is partly autobiographical and has become a very personal story, but at times larded with an almost poetic beauty.

Young Alex Law, or Big Ears, lives in a humble working-class environment with his hardworking parents and big brother Desmond: the ideal son-in-law and a shining example for young Alex. The film starts lightly. A witty voiceover explains the simple plot and introduces the viewer to the main characters and events. There doesn’t seem to be a speck in the air in this Hong Kong, life is simple; uncomplicated. Alex’s parents have their own shoemaker, and the tasks are clearly divided: father works with his hands and mother does the talking. That mother has a good chat is made clear in a witty way, also in the fictions she presents to her sons.

For the connoisseurs, an ode to the old-fashioned, togetherness of Hong Kong will be a pleasant sight. Whether all the neighbors really ate outside together, in a street where everyone knows each other and helps each other, it remains to be seen, but it certainly is a beautiful idyll.

And whether there really was a big brother in Law’s life doesn’t really matter, but it would make clear why the director makes a real demigod of the elder Desmond. He can do anything: is the smartest in the class, the sportiest in the school and the most popular among the girls. He is also kind to the neighbors, to his little brother and a true gentleman to his girlfriend-to-be. But then he was diagnosed with leukemia. From that moment on, the film, just like the life of the family, completely changes.

Suddenly the other side of life at that time also becomes clear. The negative presence of the single Briton in the story, the poverty of the ‘ordinary’ man, and the harsh hospital policy that was pursued are all no small feat. Fresh Blood or Frozen for an Urgent Blood Transfusion: Um, What’s the Difference? 80 dollars. When the hand of father with wedding ring is shown in close-up in one shot, it is clear what he is going to sacrifice a scene later when he knocks on a pawnbroker’s door to get the necessary money. The light-heartedness is gone, understandable of course after such a plot twist, but the viewing pleasure is largely gone after that.

Main protagonist Buzz Chung plays the stars of heaven as mischievous but sensitive ‘Big Ears’, while the other characters are mainly present as archetypes. The music promises a lot at the beginning of the film, but weakens, along with Desmond and the film itself. Unfortunately, none of these last two recover after the remarkably strong start. Chinese cinema in particular has a tradition of light-hearted and moving films in which a personal drama is central. ‘Echoes of the Rainbow’ would have fitted in nicely if the director could have forged his personal echoes into a more subtle whole.