The Sunny Side Of The Street Movie Review: Anthony Wong, Sahal Zaman Represent Refugees From Different Eras In Intriguing Hong Kong Drama
- Lau Kok-ru's feature directorial debut follows the son of a Hong Kong taxi driver (Anthony Wong) and a Hong Kong-born Pakistani refugee (Sahl Zaman).
- The film, while a bit contrived, is engaging and feels more like a vehicle designed to showcase Wong's acting talents than to solve problems in a meaningful way.
3/5 stars
The series of tragedies that befell South Asian refugee families provided an unusual background for the actor's experience in Light Side of the Road: Anthony Wong Chow. The film is an interesting, albeit fictional, feature debut by Hong Kong-based Malaysian writer-director Lau Kok-Roo.
Wang plays Yat, a taxi driver who immigrates to Hong Kong illegally by sailing from mainland China in the 1970s, losing his wife at sea in the process. Yat's estranged son Hong (Andy Chow Kwok In), now a police officer, is forced to spend his entire childhood in China without his parents.
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The second tale in Urdu comes into focus when Yat passes a van driven by Ahmad (Inderjit Singh), a Pakistani asylum seeker who has long struggled to make ends meet on his way to Hong's wedding reception. Born in Hong Kong, his wife (Kiranjit Gill) and Hasan (Sahl Zaman) are 10 years old.
More coincidences, some misplaced accusations from fellow cop Hong Wai (Fire Lee Ka-wing), and a fruitless chase later, and Ahmed is killed in a traffic accident directly caused by Yat.
Meanwhile, Hassan, a seasoned thief, begins to fall hard on the wrong side of the law. Suddenly remorseful, Yat decides to help by smuggling the boy out of Hong Kong. It feels like a strange change of heart and story designed to show what Wong's acting chops are.
© South China Morning Post Andy Chow (left) and Fire Lee present footage of Sunny Road .Laws is the second Hong Kong film in three years about a down-on-his-luck man who meets a runaway boy from South Asia. In both films, the main characters sacrifice more than they can imagine in order to provide for their new acquaintances.
Directed by a new filmmaker , Alla Jungul Cigarettes has the aesthetic of a gritty crime thriller, but Sunny Side of the Street brings a touch of reality to portray the plight of refugee communities and the discrimination they face.
Still, from his Yat drinking habit to his conflicted feelings with his son, Wang's role is one that won him Best Actor at the Golden Horse Awards in Taipei last November and a Best Actor nomination for the upcoming Hong Kong film. Rewards devoid of inappropriate behavior, inexplicable, fully formed character.
© South China Morning Post Indrajit Singh (left) and Sahal Zaman provided footage from the sunny side of the road.Sunny Side of the Street is a great opportunity to discuss important issues through a connection between two people from very different generations of refugees. It's a shame we're instead given a story of personal redemption that feels absurd at best and inexplicable at worst.
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