桃姐
Drama
Hong Kong
Cantonese, English and Czech subtitles
Directing: Ann Hui
Starring: Andy Lau, Deanie Ip
Distributor: Distribution Workshop
The screening will be introduced by the director Ann Hui.
After suffering a stroke, housemaid Chun-To (Deanie Ip) is forced to retire and moves into a nursing home. Film producer Roger (Andy Lau) whose family employed Chun-To for many years is helping her go through this life-changing situation. Further medical complications allow them to come closer again. While Chun-to cared for Roger when he was a child, this nuanced drama shows us their roles being reversed as they age.
A Simple Life – based on actual life experience of a renowned producer, Roger Lee – is a story of care, trust, and relationships that transcend blood ties and redefine the concept of a family. There is an entire generation of adults living in Hong Kong who had been, to a large extent, raised by housemaids. Ann Hui opens this social issue with incredible sensibility without exaggerated gestures. The film is composed of a mosaic of conversations and silence, characters walking and sitting down, people holding hands or smiling gleefully – all the little things we take for granted. But Ann Hui’s subdued style highlights them to show that it is precisely these things that make emotional bonds with people around us stronger. A Simple Life showcases Ann Hui’s authorial style that is set to open difficult social issues and touches the hearts of her audience.
