As a movie enthusiast who has seen my fair share of films, I must say that Nelicia Low’s “Pierce” is a truly captivating and profound piece of work. The film’s roots in Low’s personal experiences as a former national fencer and sibling to an autistic brother add an authenticity and emotional depth that few films can match.
The first film by Singaporean director Nelicia Low, titled “Pierce,” is creating quite a stir on the festival circuit. It has won the Best Director award at Karlovy Vary and been selected for the Busan International Film Festival. This movie delves deeply into Low’s personal history, as she was once a national fencer herself and has an autistic sibling.
Pierce” chronicles the story of Zijie, a young fencer, who reunites with his long-lost older brother, Zihan, following Zihan’s release from seven years in juvenile prison for a fatal incident during a fencing competition. Trusting Zihan’s assertions of innocence, Zijie disregards his mother’s efforts to keep Zihan at arm’s length and extends a helping hand instead. As Zihan tutors Zijie for the national championships, their bond strengthens. Yet, a heated dispute stirs up Zihan’s dark past, causing Zijie to ponder if his brother might be a potentially dangerous psychopath.
The genesis of Low’s work on “Pierce” stemmed from a disturbing incident on the Taipei metro, where an act of violence left the community stunned. What resonated with Low wasn’t merely the crime itself, but its consequences. “As his parents pleaded for forgiveness in the streets of Taipei and petitioned the government to carry out capital punishment against their son, his younger brother paid him a visit at the police station, weeping, unable to accept that his elder sibling could have committed such an abominable act.
Reflecting on this event, it stirred within me a deep sense of self-examination concerning my own family bonds. My younger brother’s response triggered a thought about my bond with my older brother. I once held the image of him as a loving and caring older sibling in my mind, but as life progressed, I came to understand that our relationship, which I had romanticized, was more a product of my imagination than reality. He is autistic, something I only truly grasped over time.
In “Pierce,” Low’s own heartrending experience served as the foundation of its emotional depth. She explains that grappling with the uncertainty of whether her brother truly returned her love has been a deeply painful process for her, and this is mirrored in the lead character Zijie’s journey within the film.
The director’s experience in competitive fencing contributed an extra depth to the story. They stated, “I incorporated the theme of fencing into the narrative due to the character of Zihan, Zijie’s elder brother, who was intelligent beyond measure, mysterious, and manipulative.” Being a former national fencer for Singapore, they have a deep understanding of the sport. Fencing is much like playing chess with swords; it’s all about strategy and anticipating each other’s moves.
In the movie, the tactical aspect of fencing symbolizes the psychological dynamics between the brothers. This mirrors Zijie’s real-life situation as he struggles to decipher his brother’s genuine intentions, whether his brother is a sociopath, and if his brother genuinely cares for him, as Low points out.
Fundamentally, “Pierce” delves into deep inquiries concerning the essence of love and perception. The primary idea is succinctly expressed by Low as follows: “Pierce poses a crucial question – What transpires when you attribute your emotions to those you cherish, only to discover that it might have been nothing more than an illusion all along?
The acclaim at Karlovy Vary and its inclusion in Busan has given validation to Low. However, she derives her greatest pleasure from the responses of the audience. “The personal triumph for me has been the response from the viewers,” Low expresses. “Viewers approached me or messaged me on Instagram to share how my film touched them deeply and left them astonished, and many of them mentioned that they reached out to their siblings to tell them they loved them following ‘Pierce’.
From the very beginning, film producer Jeremy Chua was captivated by Low’s distinctive viewpoint at Protocol. He explains, “I’m always on the hunt for a director who has distinct life experiences and can translate those subtle instances into cinema.” When Nelicia initially presented us with this tale, she eloquently explained the demands of winning a fencing match. She employed vivid language to depict the predatory instinct – powerful yet swift outbursts of physical aggression combined with the strategic psychological maneuvers used to deceive your adversary.
Chua found Low’s plan for turning these components into a movie truly captivating. As he remembers, “She articulated how she intended to blend the high-intensity aspects of competitive sports with direction, camera work, and editing.” This immediately piqued my interest due to her unique perspective on addressing the contrasting themes of love and war, brutality and sensitivity, in a manner that was uniquely hers as a former national fencer.
Sam Chua Weishi, the producer, shares, “When I first sat down with Nelicia to discuss ‘Pierce,’ we talked about our shared goals: creating a film that would resonate deeply and make us question our perspective of the world. After witnessing her work in her short film ‘Freeze’ (2014), I was convinced that Nelicia has the ability to elicit powerful emotions from her actors and collaborators, resulting in a visually and audibly stunning experience.
The creation of “Pierce” additionally provided a chance for cross-border partnerships, as Weishi explains: “Collaboration on ‘Pierce’ opened up an intriguing prospect to delve into a novel tripartite co-production setup involving Singapore, Taiwan, and Poland.
After the accomplishment of “Pierce”, Low has moved on to develop her next venture. She confides that she’s currently producing a film titled ‘Duet’, which takes place in San Francisco during the early 2000s. Similar to ‘Pierce’, ‘Duet’ is deeply personal, with an emotional core based on autobiographical elements. This upcoming production is a blend of comedy and drama, told in both English and Cantonese. The story revolves around a renowned Cantonese opera actress in her late 40s whose career is at risk when a promising young actress challenges her long-standing stage partner, an older, captivating cross-dressing actress who plays male roles.
Currently, I’m immersed in a variety of cinematic endeavors. One of these projects is “Ma: The Cry of Silence,” directed by Maw Naing and competing in the New Currents section at Busan. Another project is “Tiger’s Pond” by Natesh Hegde, which is wrapping up post-production as we speak, and lastly, I have the privilege to work on “Filipinana,” a film by Rafael Manuel that was recognized with prizes in APM last year.
Weishi is partnering with up-and-coming filmmakers from Singapore for their first full-length projects, such as the coming-of-age drama “Midnight Blue Spring” directed by Giselle Lin, and the dramedy “Build-to-Order,” helmed by Huang Junxiang. (working title)
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2024-10-06 03:17