‘Left-Handed Girl’ Is A Wonderful Family Drama
Many films, especially in recent years, have found success depicting the drama of ordinary working-class people. What starts out as a fun step into a new world descends into chaos as financial struggles, deep secrets, and sheer bad luck all stack up. Films like Mary Bronstein’s If I Had Legs I’d Kick You have achieved great acclaim with strong central performances and anxiety-inducing filmmaking. Left-Handed Girl certainly feels similar in terms of structure, but takes a far more family-oriented approach, focusing on three key figures, their lives in Taiwan, and balancing the drama with warmth and color.
Directed by Shih-Ching Tsou and co-written alongside Sean Baker, who also serves as the film’s editor, Left-Handed Girl is a Taiwanese drama film. The story follows a family of three: mother Shu-Fen, played by Janel Tsai, and her two daughters, I-Ann and 5-year-old I-Jing, played by Ma Shih-Yuan and Nina Ye, respectively. The family has moved to Taipei, where Shu-Fen opens a noodle stand at a night market. The film follows the trio, each adapting to their new circumstances, encountering old friends, dealing with personal history, and learning to grow and mature.
The film excellently draws the viewer in with its opening 20 minutes. There is an effective use of color, handheld cameras, and sharp editing to give the film’s first act a sense of warmth and excitement. The audience is immersed in each main character’s perspective, specifically that of I-Jing. Shih-Ching Tsou does an excellent job of making the night market seem bright and exciting from the perspective of I-Jing. It’s vibrant, full of interesting characters with a promise of something better, but the early indications of struggle are made clear, too. The film efficiently lays the groundwork for the drama, demonstrating the growing rift between Shu-Fen and I-Ann, which is only compounded by the news that I-Ann’s estranged father is terminally ill. There is an air of mystery that hangs over the film because of this. The origins of the rift, the question of why I-Ann dropped out of college, and the reason why Shu-Fen feels so distant at times all hang over the film and come bursting out in the film’s climax. It’s excellently built up to and provides motivation for many of the characters’ personal journeys.
Additionally, the script gives ample time to even the side characters. Shu-Fen’s grandparents are certainly a highlight, having a subplot of their own about a black market scheme. A storyline like this would feel out of place for other films, but here it adds personality and reasoning to the characters, suggesting that this chaos runs throughout the family and that something must change for things to be better, mainly an acceptance of the truth, since the lies ultimately add up by the end.
The excellence in filmmaking runs throughout the film, although it does lose some of that luster in its second half, which is thankfully picked up again in the final act. The cinematography is excellent when it comes to immersing the audience in the drama, relying on long takes and simple, mid-shots to maintain a sense of strong realism. The bright lights and vibrant color start to become suffocating, showcasing how the world is closing in around the characters. The editing helps to keep a constant forward momentum. At no point does the film drag, even in moments of quiet contemplation. It feels tight and exciting, and it is wonderfully short, falling under two hours in runtime. Perhaps the only issue with the propulsive pace is that there are definitely instances where the film cuts between scenes so quickly that there is little time for the audience to process information. A scene with strong drama involving I-Ann and her old friends cuts immediately to I-Jing running about. It’s jarring, and the film does it a handful of times, sometimes at pivotal moments.
To continue with the positives, the performances are stellar across the board. The standout is certainly Ma Shih-Yuan as I-Ann. It certainly helps that she has the most developed plotline with the most emotion attached to it. A woman who lost her college years and had to grow up quickly, leaving her with few choices in life and burning her bridges with friends, all the while building resentment for her mother, who is trying desperately to hold it all together. Meanwhile, I-Ann develops a strong relationship with her sister and learns to become a more parental figure as the film progresses. Shih-Yuan does wonderful work in capturing all these complexities of her character, and she really shines in the climax, where I-Ann comes clean about everything with her mother.
Janel Tsai easily matches Shih-Yuan for performance, with Shu-Fen struggling to hold it all together throughout the film. The walls seem to close in around her, and she must take the brunt of the financial problems. Tsai’s performance captures Shu-Fen’s many struggles with subtlety and nuance. She must stay calm for the sake of the family and so that her daughters can live without adversity, but it does not help when both her daughters cause chaos around her. Yet, despite all that, Shu-Fen perseveres till the end.
Perhaps the only compromising issue with the film is its ending. The final climax is incredibly emotional, well-acted, and cathartic. It’s the point where all the drama comes to a head, and it is glorious to see unfold. However, the epilogue that follows feels incredibly contrived and sappy, forcing a happy ending where everything just wraps up without addressing the massive revelation that was just revealed. There is definitely a solid through-line about how revealing the truth instead of covering it up with more lies will ultimately lead to everyone’s happiness, but the film rushes through it too quickly to be meaningful. It is a disappointing end to the film that potentially robs it of all its emotional weight.
Overall, Left-Handed Girl is a good, well-crafted film. The acting is excellent, and the filmmaking on display is electric. Shih-Ching Tsou immerses the audience into the night market and the perspective of her compelling characters. The film is a fun, heartwarming, and emotional ride up until the very end, where it sadly fails to truly stick the landing. It’s a major blemish, but not enough to deprive the film of its emotional core.