Dir: NELICIA LOW | Cast: LIU HSIU-FU, TSAO YU-NING, DING NING, LIN TSU-HENG
Nelicia Low melds competitive sport with a sinister sibling centred thriller in her feature debut Pierce screening in World Premiere at this year’s Karlovy Vary Film Festival.
In Taipei the film follows Zijie a young fencer longing to re-build bridges with his beloved older brother when Zihan mysteriously returns after seven years in juvenile prison for killing an opponent during a fencing match. Their mother Ai Ling has suffered social embarrassment from Han’s conviction and is also recovering from the loss of her husband to cancer. A professional singer in a nightclub she has found love with a widower Zhuang (Lin Tsu-Heng).
Meanwhile behind back her sons grow closer, training together as the elder help the younger to up his game with Zijie improving by leaps and bounds getting selected to compete at the upcoming National Championships. Although their mother is furious with Zihan for hood winking her, Zijie tries to see the best in his brother until Zihan’s hostile past is triggered after an argument, leaving Zijie to fnally question whether his beloved sibling might be a violent sociopath after all.
Pierce brings to mind the recent Berlinale title Brief History of a Family and the cut and thrust of the elegantly performed fencing interludes provides a dynamic contrast to the seething psychological thrill of the family interactions when Han pulls rank physically and emotionally over his younger brother with the added dimension of enigma provided by the covert expressions behind the masks primped by the often discordant score.
Low exerts a confident control over her cast and narrative to deliver a really gripping first feature in this impressive start to her big screen career. @MeredithTaylor
KARLOVY VARY FILM FESTIVAL | BEST DIRECTOR AWARD – NELICIA LOW