Accurate
translations are important in summit conferences and business meetings, but the
ethics are a bit trickier on the personal level. A first time translator
interpreting for an elderly nursing home couple will grapple with questions of
how much and faithfully she should relay their words to each other. However,
there are even greater unresolved personal issues lingering between the man who
hired her and the Cambodian-Chinese woman utilizing her services in
Cambodian-born British filmmaker Hong Khaou’s Lilting (trailer
here), which
opens this Friday in New York.
Junn’s
time in the nursing home was supposed to be temporary, but her son Kai was
tragically killed in a traffic accident before he could arrange a new living
situation for her. Unfortunately, she could not have moved in with him, because
she never would have accepted his relationship with Richard. After Kai’s death,
Richard tries to look after Junn out of a sense of loyalty, but she begrudges
his presence, mistakenly blaming him for her current circumstances.
At
least the home brought her together with Alan, a British pensioner who cannot
speak any Chinese or Cambodian dialects. Nonetheless, they seem to enjoy each
others’ company. Wanting to help facilitate their romance, Richard recruits
Vann to translate. It works well for a while, perhaps even softening Junn’s attitude
towards her late son’s “roommate,” but the mourning mother might be too set in
her ways to allow any of her inter-personal relationships to deepen or evolve.
Cheng
Pei-pei never flashes her kung-fu moves in Lilting,
which is somewhat disappointing, but the Come Drink with Me star’s straight-forward acting chops are impressive enough. It
is a restrained but devastating portrayal of grief and resentment. Never
sugarcoated, Cheng’s performance shuns sentimentality and theatrics, quietly
going to some very deep and dark places.
While
many will also focus on James Bond franchise alumnus Ben Whishaw’s co-starring
turn, the film’s real discovery is Naomie Christie. Her acutely perceptive work
as Vann in many ways functions as the viewer’s entry point. She is even more of
an outsider to the proceedings than Richard, yet she too finds herself forming
judgments and allowing herself to become emotionally involved.
