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Drifting Flowers Blu-ray
Piao lang qing chun Hoker Records | 2008 | 97 mins | Not rated | Jul 24, 2009
Drifting Flowers Blu-ray ReviewReviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov, December 16, 2009 Taiwanese director Zero Chou's "Piao lang qing chun" a.k.a "Drifting Flowers" (2008) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Hoker Records. Last year, the film was screened at the Berlin International Film Festival as well as the Tokyo International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. English-friendly. Region-Free.
The first of the three short stories in Taiwanese director Zero Chow's Drifting Flowers is the best one. It is about a blind girl, Jing (Serena Fang), who takes care of her eight-year-old sister, May (Pai Chih-ying), while singing at a not so prestigious night club. Jing falls for the club's free-spirited accordionist Diego (Chao Yi-lan), which immediately forces her younger sister to switch in a defensive mode. The second story is very loosely related to the first one. Lily (Lu Yi-ching, The Wayward Cloud) reunites with her "husband" Yen (Sam Wang) after both have become seriously ill - the latter has contracted HIV while the former suffers from Alzheimer's disease. It is a bitter-sweet reunion causing the two to recall some of the best moments of their lives. The third and final story takes us back to Diego's sexual awakening. She encounters a beautiful dancer, Lily (Herb Hsu), who encourages her to follow her heart. Before they part ways, the two girls confess to each other that nothing would make them happier than finding soul mates that would accept and love them as they are. Not as nuanced and certainly not as well acted as her award-winning Spider Lilies, Chow's Drifting Flowers is a film that would appeal to a very limited group of viewers. Admittedly, its three short stories are quite moving - the first one, in particular, in which a young girl must choose between her sister and her lover, is excellent - but also littered with cliches about lesbian relationships and lesbian identity. The film's leitmotiv is a fast-moving train, which all of the main protagonists observe (apparently, a representation of their never-ending search for identity). At the end of the film, they all get on the train, unaware that their life stories are actually very similar. For the most part, the casual tone of Drifting Flowers works well. For example, none of the dilemmas the main protagonists face are overdramatized; there is definitely no finger-pointing, or hatred, either. What isn't quite as convincing is the manner in which the main protagonists are seen communicating their feelings. They become attracted to each other incredibly fast, and then begin to share their most intimate desires as if they have known each other for years. In fact, the film creates an impression that because they are not heterosexual, they are somehow different - which, ironically, is the very myth the film attempts to dispel. Though not outstanding, the acting is unquestionably convincing. Chao Yi-lan's performance, in particular, is instantly endearing. Herb Hsu is also impressive in front of the camera, even though her contribution to the film is very limited. Shot in HD, Drifting Flowers has a simple, clean look. The film is most effective when director Chow's camera observes the main protagonists from afar. However, a few of the intimate scenes -such as the one where Lily and Diego first kiss - are also incredibly beautiful. Last year, Drifting Flowers was screened at the Berlin International Film Festival as well as the Tokyo International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. Video  Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Zero Chow's Drifting Flowers arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Taiwanese distributors Hoker Records. The screen shots we have provided with this review really do not reveal how good this transfer is; in motion, it is incredibly vibrant and crisp. The film's third story, in particular, looks lovely. Though not always consistent, black levels are convincing. Low noise is noticeable during a few scenes, but it is never overly distracting. Artifacting, edge-enhancement and macroblocking are not a serious issue of concern. I did not notice any stability issues to report in this review either. On a slightly different note, there are a couple of scenes in Drifting Flowers that looked rather awkwardly framed. (Note: Even though this disc is marketed as being Region-A "locked", it is in fact Region-Free. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location). Audio  There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: Mandarin Dolby Digital 5.1. For the record, Hoker Records have provided optional English and Traditional Chinese subtitles for the main feature. It is unfortunate that the Taiwanese distributors did not include a loseless audio track of some sort on this Blu-ray release; Drifting Flowers is a very atmospheric film that definitely deserves one. Still, there is some nice movement in the surround channels that adds quite a bit of flavor to the three stories in the film. However, the depth and fluidity loseless audio allows for is certainly missing. On a positive side, the dialog is crisp, clean and very easy to follow. While viewing the film, I also did not detect any disturbing pops, cracks, or hissings to report in this review. Supplements  Most unfortunately, there are absolutely no supplemental features to be found on this Blu-ray disc whatsoever. Final words Obviously, Drifting Flowers is a budget Blu-ray release that probably isn't for everyone, but certainly deserves to be talked about. As the format continues to grow, I hope that we would begin to see more and more of these "small" foreign and independent films that typically get ignored. More often than not, I find them to be a lot better than the "big" films. RECOMMENDED. Back to Drifting Flowers Blu-ray »
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