Dua Ji

Bluesky

Funeral microcosms are, like, weddings, a perfect space for filmmakers looking to explore family and social dynamics under pressure. In the case of YuHan Tsai’s SXSW-premiering short, it also opens a fascinating window into Taiwanese grieving rites.

After the death of her mother A-Hsein, or “Big Sis” (KueiMei Yang, Eat Drink Man Woman), gathers her siblings together, all sisters with the exception of their youngest brother (ChiaKuei Chen), who has also brought his wife and young son. Although it is his sister who has evidently been there for their mother as she aged, it is he who benefits from the weight of tradition, which favours the male family line.

One sister suggests music for the funeral. “I think the one you sent lacks emotion,” he tells her, but when it is played – in a scene that exemplifies the calibre of ensemble acting involved – the entire family are taken to the brink of tears.

Tsai builds her film around A-Hsien’s emotions, self-suppressed through years of conditioning and further edged out by the traditions which centre the funeral rites on the men in the family, even when – as with the moving of the coffin – it makes little logical sense. Yang’s nuanced performance shows the cracks beginning to show before she begins to wordlessly rebel against the norm. A drama full of delicate emotion and attention to detail, Tsai has a handle on the way small talk about objects such as folded flowers can open the door to deeper emotional truths. Her restrained approach adds weight to the drama, especially in her framing of A-Hsein, which speaks to her mental state and feelings of isolation.

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