Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival 2009

SOUNDLESS WIND CHIME stands apart from the slew of typical gay-themed schlock being shown at festivals each year because director Kit Hung realizes several key things: First, unrequited love makes for much more interesting movie drama than reciprocal love. Second, good camerawork actually is important—and third, gay stereotypes are boring. The film concerns the chance meeting and resulting relationship that develops between Ricky, a young Chinese man working as a delivery boy in Hong Kong, and Pascal, a French-Swiss immigrant who makes ends meet by working as a street entertainer and pick-pocket. Though the film definitely has a low-budget video look, the glowing neon colors of bustling Hong Kong and the snowy gray landscapes of rural Switzerland are filmed with deliberate attention to detail and mood as Ricky's story leaps back and forth between the alienating present and the romanticized past. The cinematographer's experimentation with color, light and focus heightens the sensuality of the entire film and of the two handsome leads in particular. Director Kit Hung wisely steers clear of the grating and simple-minded stereotypes that normally populate gay-themed films, opting instead for somber understatement and realistic, ambiguous characters for his story of frustrated desire and cultural alienation. A few deliriously colorful musical numbers are occasionally thrown in to help liven things up. True, the film does create a bit of a puzzle as it moves from past to present and between two vastly different continents and cultures, but the pieces all eventually do fall into place and I've always preferred a film that requires the audience to keep their brains turned on.