Singing (Nikki Hsin-Ying Hsieh) and Tsung (Bryan Shu-Hao Chang) are caught between worlds in ONE DAY
ONE DAY (YOU YI TIAN) (Hou Chi-Jan, 2010)
Clearview Cinemas Chelsea
260 West 23rd St. between Seventh & Eighth Aves.
Thursday, October 21, 7:50
www.oneday.com.tw
www.cmj2010.com
After being chosen for the Berlin and Hong Kong International Film Festivals, Hou Chi-Jan’s debut feature, ONE DAY, makes its U.S. premiere Thursday night as the centerpiece selection of the CMJ Music Marathon and Film Festival. On a military boat heading out to Kinmen, an island off Taipei, a young woman who works on the ship, Singing (Nikki Hsin-Ying Hsieh), sees a young soldier, Tsung (Bryan Shu-Hao Chang), looking at a compass, an item that has special meaning for her. Soon the two are huddled in a tiny space together, hiding from a hatchet-wielding crazy man on an otherwise suddenly empty ship. “We’re not in the real world,” Tsung tells Singing. ONE DAY is a fantastical love story that jumps between dreams and reality, often in confusing ways, but its innate charm overcomes its sci-fi problems. Beautifully shot by cinematographer Mahua Hsin-Hua Feng, the film’s dreamlike pace works well with the story as Singing and Tsung go from the past to the present to the future in constantly shifting states of mind, even if you might need your own compass to figure out just where the story is at any given moment. ONE DAY, from executive producer Hou Hsiao Hsien, is screening at CMJ on Thursday night at 7:50 and will be followed by a Q&A with the director.