DAUGHTER’S DAUGHTER – Review by Diane Carson
Daughter’s Daughter follows 64-year-old Jin facing three crises
For the average person, one crisis summons all the stress and resourceful strategies available for constructive coping. Tripling such an overwhelming challenge, Taiwanese writer/director Xi Huang tackles three formidable situations in Daughter’s Daughter. Impressively, he presents tragedy and trauma calmly, thoughtfully, and, as a result, elevates insight and empathy. Moreover, not relying on shocks or unexpected developments, Xi invites the viewer to contemplate one’s values and the moral choices they dictate.
The situation is established early in the film as 64-year-old Aixia Jin (Sylvia Chang) learns of her daughter Zuer Fan (Eugenie Liu) and Zuer’s partner’s deaths in an accident. Multiplying the tragedy, Jin now must determine the fate of Aixia’s IVF embryo, a pressing issue because of only eight months’ storage left. Due to Taiwan’s denial of same-sex couples’ IVF options (with ethical debates continuing today despite legalized same-sex marriages and adoption), Aixia traveled to New York for the procedure, requiring Taiwan-based Jin to go there to deal with Aixia’s matters. This adds the third exceedingly emotional encounter, for Jin must now confront Emma (Karena Lam), the daughter for whom the then 16-year-old Aixia decided adoption offered the best option. And Emma now first learns she has a half-sister. Moreover, Jin still cares for her elderly mother Shen Yan-hua (Alannah Ong).
Bringing these interwoven layers of personal decisions to life, Huang Xi juxtaposes scenes with Jin and Emma as well as an imagined, yet very real presence, of Aixia participating. The striking differences in the appearance of the three women, especially Emma’s extravagant makeup, keep the trio distinctly unique. However, the problematic political obstacles and complex personal choices are never simplified nor robbed of dense emotional force. Each woman wrestles with her life-altering decisions, knowing she must live with the consequences for better and worse, with regret and certainty.
In a director’s interview in press notes, Xi says, “I wanted to tell a story relating to this modern topic, from the perspective of a mother, or a woman, or of humanity itself – perhaps even venturing into the absurd nature of it.” Translating this to technical choices, Xi decided Jin’s Airbnb would display, in his words, “a more theatrical presentation in order to reflect Jin’s inner thought that she hopes this whole incident is a hoax.” Of course, it isn’t. But the dominance of reds, blues, and greens communicates a less realistic environment, one primarily expressing Jin’s mental and emotional state. This means that, occasionally, Emma appears as an illusion, an imaginative and psychologically powerful detail.
Daughter’s Daughter brings the past into the present, immerses the women in memorable experiences, and, in so doing, encourages reconsideration of what matters most in relationships of love and support. Daughter’s Daughter is in English and Mandarin with English subtitles and is currently at select cinemas.
