Dir: Huang Xi | Taiwan Drama 122′
The fate of an embryo is at the heart of this complex female-centric second feature from Huang Xi (Missing Johnny) a confident new voice in Taiwanese cinema. Starring well actor Sylvia Chang, Daughter’s Daughter is a bold and nuanced character study that shows how older women have as much agency as the younger generation in deciding the future of their family to be.
Jin Aixia, Mrs Fan, (Chang), a wealthy divorcee, enjoys a relaxed existence living in a beautiful apartment where she dabbles on the Stockmarket, socialises in her sports club, looks after her glamorous but rather confused mother, and has two daughters of her own who never met until they were grown up. Emma (Karena Lam), lived in New York, and Fan Zuer (Eugenie Liu), in Taipei. An attempt at IVF with her partner Jiayi, finally brings them to the US. But after a successful outcome the couple are sadly killed in an accident—leaving Aixia as the legal guardian of their potential offspring.
Now in New York, and in deep shock, Jin Aixia must decide the fate of this embryo. Overwhelmed with grief, she is faced with a choice: should she donate, terminate, or find a surrogate for the viable embryo. Having been a natural mother herself Jin Aixia has absolutely no idea how to proceed in the world of IVF or how to cope with the changes to her family; it’s a process totally foreign to her, along with how to deal with street beggars in the US capital. Confused and disorientated her mind seesaws backwards and forwards as she grapples with the present and a new experience, in a foreign city.
Financed by Taiwanese New Wave master Hou Hsiao-hsien this is a sleek and elegant contemporary feature that explores the difficult issues involved without stinting on visual appeal and with a sensitive and thoughtful central performance from Sylvia Chang. @MeredithTaylor
TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL 2024