Constantly
working around disembodied mannequin heads could slightly warp someone’s
perspective (ever seen William Lustig’s Maniac
or the remake?). Working as a journalist could potentially corrupt one’s
ethical values even further. Viewers can judge for themselves when a
sensational criminal investigation and the resulting media frenzy engulf three
former high school classmates who chose very different career paths in Lou
Yi-an’s White Lies, Black Lies (trailer here), which screens as
part of this year’s San Diego Asian Film Festival.
Su
Junjie and his wife used to supply wigs and model heads to beauty parlors,
until she either slit her own throat out of jealous spite or he murdered her.
Su duly calls the police and accompanies her to the hospital, but he up and
bails during her surgery. This seems rather suspicious to the police,
especially when they learn he has since fled town with his former high school
sweetheart, the also very married Chou Xiaochen.
This
is not their first intimate brush with death, as Jade, a junior reporter for a
popular weekly tabloid knows only too well. She was once Chou’s BFF, but they
grew apart after the untimely death of Chou’s abusive father. At the time,
there were questions regarding Su and Chou’s proactive involvement, which now seem
highly pertinent in light of recent events.
WLBL has a strange vibe
that blends the intrigue of a real life 1960s murder mystery with the intimate,
in-the-moment recklessness of Godard’s Breathless.
The past is never dead and buried for Lou. In fact, he often lets flashbacks
bleed into the current timeline. This is definitely noir on the moody side. The
sun never seems to shine and love always leads to more problems.
Annie
Chen is absolutely terrific as Jade, wrestling with her own guilt from the
past, even as she exploits her old relationship with Chou. She depicts a
genuine ethical developmental arc, but it is an unusuallly subtle one, completely
lacking any lazy moralizing. Likewise, Tiffany Hsu Wei-ning portrays Chou with
great sensitivity and vulnerability, even as she reveals a torrent of shocking
secrets late in the third act. Wang Po-chieh is definitely a slow-burner as Su,
perhaps to a fault. However, he still generates plenty of heat with Hsu.
