Still Human
Director: Oliver Chan
Year: 2018
Rating: 8.0
If you are a first timer in Hong Kong, while walking about on a Sunday afternoon
you may notice large groups of women sitting together on the floor in various
outside locales. These are the Maids of Hong Kong who have come to Hong Kong
primarily from the Philippines and Indonesia (you can tell the difference
from their attire) to work in order to better their lives and those they
left behind. There are nearly 400,000 of them employed in Hong Kong but other
than on Sundays they are nearly invisible to most people. They put in enormously
long hours for not a lot of pay but their room and food is free so enabling
them to send money back to their family. From time to time stories appear
in the press about one of them being very badly treated by their employer
which perhaps unfairly colors how many view this situation.
These domestic helpers live lives always on tenterhooks because if they lose
their job they have to go back home – so they are often willing to put up
with a lot of abuse. On the other hand many of these workers have employers
who treat them fine – at times like family – and many of these maids work
for the same employer for years. For all of them Sunday is their day off
– their day to be themselves - and it becomes a communal day of sharing food,
gossip, talk of home and talk of dreams.
Their stories are rarely if ever told in Hong Kong films so this film is
very unique as it relates the story of one such worker and her employer.
Interestingly, the first time female director Oliver Chan stays far away
from the dark side of this life other than a few references from some of
the women. Instead they all have dreams big or small and have Carmen, a one-time
maid who married well and now lives in the mid-levels as a beacon to get
through the hard times. A part of me felt this film was perhaps too positive,
too feel good until I was told that it was partly based on a true story regarding
the female character. It is a very assured film from this director who also
wrote and edited it and somehow got Anthony Wong to do it for free! Wong
has become a strong proponent of local Hong Kong film and he has never been
better than he is here.
This is a very small film (though with a big heart)– not just in its themes
but literally in its location shooting with much of it taking place in a
small cramped government Hong Kong apartment – with only a few characters.
It is intimate, personal, takes its time, is very local and is perhaps the
future of a Hong Kong film industry that can’t really compete with the Mainland
when it comes to big budget action/wuxia films. The Mainland is going big
– often using Hong Kong actors and directors – so perhaps Hong Kong has to
go more local and more personal – in a way a return to the small personal
Cantonese films of the 1960’s. Small though that this film may be it was
a huge success at the Hong Kong box office and won a number of awards at
the Hong Kong Film Awards and also won Best Film at the Udine Far East Film
Festival.
The title Still Human applies to both of the main characters in the film.
To the helper from the Philippines who is looked down on or ignored by so
much of Hong Kong society, but also to her employer who is paralyzed and
in a wheelchair. They are both in their own ways on the fringes of society
looking for purpose, meaning and dignity. No matter what others think they
are in fact still human.
Cheong-wing (Anthony Wong) was paralyzed in an accident and his life fell
apart. Though he seems to have come to terms with this on the surface, in
one powerful scene he displays the anger, the sadness, the pain that runs
through his life. He asks that eternal question – why me – I lived a good
life, I worked hard, I treated people well – why me – to which of course
there is no answer – life is random. He has gone through a number of domestic
helpers who he either fires or they quit due to his demanding ways and quick
temper as well as the simple difficulty of taking care of a man in his condition.
Lifting him, cleaning his body, cooking – having to do almost everything
that he needs doing. Evelyn (first time actress Crisel Consunji) shows up
unable to speak Chinese but with a desperate need for this job – initially
it is rough going as they grapple with language and misunderstandings – but
over time – the film is broken into seasons – they come to respect one another
which eventually becomes affection – love of a sort.
When Cheong-wing discovers that her dream is to be a photographer – which
he initially lambasts – how can a maid have dreams – he helps her on her
way. And in so doing, he re-discovers his own humanity. It is a moving sensitive
film but never overdoes it – is never emotionally manipulative beyond giving
us a life affirming story. Giving solid acting support is Sam Lee as Cheong-wing’s
good friend and veteran actress Cecilia Yip as his sister.
