Soundless Wind Chimes

Chinese director Kit Hung's debut film "Soundless Wind Chime" features Yulai Yu as Ricky and Bernhard Bulling as Pascal whose romantic relationship ends with Pascal's death because of a traffic accident. Ricky travels to Pascal's native Switzerland to reconnect and understand his lover and his past. While in Switzerland, he meets Ueli (also played by Bernhard Bulling), who resembles his dead lover but whose personality is different."Soundless Wind Chime" is poetic and has some beautiful dreamlike sequences; however, it is a very esoteric film and requires the viewer's perseverance. It seems oddly disjointed at times, as scenes are incorporated ala Twin Peaks style, but without giving any real context to explain it. As an example, Ricky works as a restaurant delivery boy and brings a dinner order to a frail elderly woman who was an entertainer in her younger years - in a bizarre sequence; we see this woman in a sequin dress complete with two backup singers reenacting what I think may have been a commercial. It was oddly amusing but nonetheless strange...perhaps it was over my head. There are also scenes that are tender in the portrayal of the beginning of affection between Ricky and Pascal, as well as the sad decline or deterioration of love, as when Pascal does not come home one night and ignores Ricky when he finds him at the local dance club. None of these insights is provided in a logcal linear manner and there is very little dialogue by way of explaination, so the viewer draws their own conclusions or fills in the gaps - right or wrong.I think "Soundless Wind Chime" is a movie that you have to be in the right mood to watch. It is often slow and mystifying, but visually it has an artistic quality...sometimes a moving Monet impression and other times an eccentric experimental Dali. The lead actors Yulai Yu and Bernhard Bulling are attractive and convey the emotions needed to remain engaged for the most part. Yulai is a delicately beautiful man who communicates Ricky's sensitivity and caring nature. Bernhard in dual roles is interesting because he manages to portray these completely different personalities. For a first film, Kit Hung may have had an artistic vision that did not quite translate well onto the screen and was overly long. I think that if you are in a contemplative mood and your patience has not reached its limits then give it a go otherwise it will not work for you.

My preference would be for 4.5. As for liabilities, as others note, the film brims with episodes that don't make obvious sense within any traditional plotting - the dance scene with the old lady fretted me rather less than the matter of picking up the five-year old backpack at the conclusion, the otherwise extraneous Angry Sister in Switzerland, the old Swiss couple at the beginning and the end, what Euli was doing - and when - in China - although the mirroring of Ricky in Lausanne (Geneva? Zurich?!) and Ueli in HongKong was charming. Maybe some of this arose from editing, although the pace and structure of the film was otherwise gauzy/opaque. Nothing was direct or straightforward. The camera work plays with this same effect, but it's also beautifully shot. It's slow, but not negatively so, the pace is integral to the whole movie.. I really like the idea of the cross cultural stuff too - everything about the flick (and its production, too) draws on European and Asian ideas and aesthetics. The homo stuff is the same but it is different in the two cultures. Same with family here too. And maybe, for all the queer motives, the movie is really about living and dying, loving and losing: applying these themes to specific issues of a Swiss dude in China loving a Chinese fellow. Both the protagonists, incidentally, are beautiful and seem to embody the freshness and innocence - and more - of the roles they play. Overall? - it offers as much as it demands. Don't expect easy resolution. Be patient. It's worth the time. I'm already hitting it for a second run. (haha! sorry this ran on so long! It underlines the passion the film provokes!) I think, for repeated viewings. I've rewatched the beginning, however, and it's already hanging together better.

Like many art house and foreign films, most seem to gloriously succeed, or fail. This one kept missing the mark. Loaded with potential, and a decent (albeit odd) story line, I watched from start to finish, hoping the film would finally come through with shining colors - it did not.The film is told in flashbacks. When done well, this can be a tremendous asset and make the film standout. In this case however, the viewer is left trying to piece together a puzzle (with too many pieces missing). Right up until the very end, I waited (hoped and prayed) it would come together). Having watched the last 20 or so minutes a second time the next day, my friend and I were able to connect a few of the dots, but at the end, we were very disappointed. The acting and direction are good, but the flow is slow, and often choppy. By far, not the worst I have seen, and certainly no where near the best.Soundless Wind Chime has elements that are caring and compassionate, but filled too often with elements that seem loosely if at all connected to the overall story.

A wonderful emotional film which depicts the true meaning of "unconditional love"! Although, we as humans take love for granted; this film shows us why it is so important to be patient and understanding, but most of all, have strength for the one we love. We must be able to understand our love's past and, therefore, live with the emotional consequences; that is the meaning of "unconditional love"! That is what soundless wind chime helps us come to realize! LOVE WITHOUT CONDITIONS...

This had a review in Amazon that raved about this movie. Well, I have seen it three times now and it is really hard to follow and slow to boot. I would not recommend it's purchase. If you want to rent it because others did love this Indie, be my guest.

GREAT MOVIE

At times this story line was hard to follow because you don't realize which one of them is telling he story. Without giving away the ending. It is an unusual love/hate relationship gay story.

‘Soundless Wind Chime’ is a 2008 joint Swiss-Hong Kong production, directed by Kit Hung. It tells the story of the life of a short relationship between Pascal (a Swiss young man in Hong Kong, played by Bernard Bulling) and Ricky (a local Chinese boy, played by cute Lu Yulai). The relationship has its ups and downs; although short in time before tragedy strikes, its effect on Ricky is so intense that he travels to Switzerland.‘Soundless Wind Chime’ is therefore a film of loss and longing, but it is far from maudlin. Do not let the strange opening put you off; it is well worth sticking with the movie as its narrative unfolds in separate strands of time and space. Indeed, the film has got to be seen at least twice in order to fully appreciate its detail and its emotional core. For those who are susceptible to a deeper meaning to life, there is a richness to be experienced from this film.The juxtaposition of two totally different worlds – lonely windswept Alpine Switzerland, and hot bustling Hong Kong – is confidently handled and well-edited. The mixing of the two strands helps build intrigue and curiosity as one tries to tie together the chronology of events.Shot digitally the film occasionally is a bit grainy, but this might be intended. Nevertheless, the whole film is professionally shot and well-acted. It has a dreamy quality and yet is fully real. The two lead actors certainly have a naturalness about them. One might crib about too many languorous moments, but these all add to the mystique of this atmospheric film.My copy comes with a commentary by the director in conversation with Bernhard Bulling. Kit Hung describes the film as being concerned as much with rebirth as with loss. Other extras include nine short deleted scenes and a short documentary about the making of the imaginative soundtrack by Sepiasonic.

This is a film about disguised lives. Ricky (Wong Kar Wai) at one time says in a phone call home from Hong Kong that he is teaching someone how to trade, implying that he is supposed to have a job on the stock exchange or similar; actually he is a delivery boy for a fast food Chinese restaurant. Pascal, a shaven headed westerner (Bernhard Bulling), is the assistant of another westerner, a juggler whose role is to distract the public whilst Pascal picks pockets. Ricky is one such victim but his chase after Pascal is frustrated by a ticket collector. Pascal's relationship with his partner is that of underling in an abusive relationship, out of which he walks after submitting to one violent rape too many.So there is the scenario of two lives coming into contact. It is preceded by the seminal image of the film, Pascal lying on the ground face-up staring upwards. Is he day-dreaming, and why is there what looks like milk seeping from under him?Ricky distraught is given fresh funds (and guidance on replacing his stolen ID pass) by his surly landlady, a hooker operating from the room below Ricky's. Ricky comes across a weeping Pascal and comforts him with a sandwich; as you do. Before long they have started an affair, living together in Ricky's cramped digs. Ricky irons Pascal's shirts; it is unclear what Psacal really offers in return.So the story progresses. Intercut with the Hong Kong scenes are others clearly set in Europe. Such is the bewildering nature of the film, it is at first hard to tell if these are flash-forwards or flash-backs. And who is Ueli, the handsome German who so resembles Pascal (not least as they are both played by the same actor, I found out)? And why is his sister so angry with him and everything?The tale does have a narrative flow though the director makes life hard for the viewer. Some reviews have suggested he doesn't quite pull it off. If you focus hard - this is not a film to watch when tipsy or tired, and the subtitles are in smaller print than I would prefer - you do get the threads sorted out, and it all comes coherent at the end.I give it 5 stars as it makes the viewer think and is full of good observation. One device the director uses is to use long takes in Europe and shorter takes in Hong Kong, thus stressing the contrast between the calmness of Switzerland and the frenetic pace of Hong Kong. There is one beautiful sequences where an elderly woman, apparently disabled with Alzheimer's or similar, reincarnated into her much younger self (as in a photo on her wall) sings a song with a sneeze refrain and the word Gezundheit! The director's subtlety is that we can only hazard whether this is a recollection in her mind or an imagination by Ricky on seeing her photo.The director fully uses his 100 minutes running time. In the Director's and Bulling's insightful commentary we get good value.

Ambitious and enigmatic, Soundless Windchime appears at first to buckle under the weight of its own profundity, however, the intelligent direction and assured acting saves it, I think, from abject frustration despite its irredeemable obscurity. Just!There is a wholly human quality to this film that excuses its beguiling nature, exploring as it does what a simple act of kindness may accomplish. I found its lack of clarity to only slightly trouble my sense of frustration; never reaching the point where I wanted to give up watching, and that is completely down to the themes the film explores (kindness, friendship; loss, love; death), and the acting, which is natural and accomplished.The opening imagery is deviceful and evocative; intriguing instantly and hinting at the surrealism to come.Its uniqueness outweighs its inherent obliqueness but doesn't quite mitigate the wish for coherence. It piques ones interest immediately, however that initial impetus is lost to ambiguity.Perhaps that's the point, and ironically the film resounds as one attempts to battle with its obscurity.I agree it's an ambitious film, certainly in its core genre, and I was mesmerised by its seeming profundity, which thankfully never felt contrived.I don't think I'll ever fully understand its intricacies, and there's a big part of me that would love the gaps filled in and the chronology defined. On the other hand, it is fun to speculate on those parts of the story the film wilfully conceals.Ricky and Pascal inhabit this eclectic montage assuredly despite their overt timidity, and their blossoming relationship really is great to watch; affecting with its authentic, genuine nature.The films surreal quality confers a tangible sense of melancholy which never detracts from the overall enjoyment. Yes it's sad, but not in a cheap way. There are moments of levity made priceless by their scarcity, and its expression of a very human need is seductive enough that its weighty intrigue does not feel cumbersome.The lack of narrative didn't bother me as much as I thought it would as the film communicates in many other ways: the musical dissonance is integral and is used to convey mood perspicaciously, distorted or out-of-focus use of frame effectively communicates a wealth of emotions as does the prolonged looks between the characters.I'd love to list the parts of the story that baffled me but fear, perhaps ironically, that too much would be given away.This film cannot help itself - it will certainly resonate with the viewer if open to and accepting of its obscurity, which will confound even as it intrigues with its surrealism. Be warned though: multiple veiwings are inevitable...

I enjoyed this movie a great deal for its innocence and sincerity.Pascal the homeless foreigner in a culturally hostile country (Hong Kong) finds love in the most unusual places. A victim of his criminal past, affords him the grace and humanity denied him by his companion, and without any judgment welcomes him into his life and home.At times the movie was difficult to follow as it was constantly moving between the present and the past, and whilst an effort was made to make this movement between times accessible to the audience, it could have done with better editing. Often I found myself taking a moment to establish where the story was going, and wether the scene was the in the past or present. In addition to which, I found some of the scenes to be poetically overstated. Long fade outs, with mountainous scenery and solitary figures does much for setting a melancholy, but can at times be overdone.Nonetheless the story was innocent and sincere. Never once did I feel that it was fanciful or unbelievable, and I sympathized with both characters. One was trying to find his way, whereas the other was trying to find a way for him. Endearing in his love and affection for Pascal often without understanding or appreciation, finds Ricky torn between what he feels for Pascal and what he desires for them both.The movie is beautiful in many ways, with much thought being given to the story and its scripting. The characters are broken in many ways, but somehow find peace in and with each other.Worth watching if you feel like some innocent expression and sincere loving.

Nobody knows what The Satyricon is about because we only have fragments from different stages in the story. This is what Soundless Wind Chime is like. This is pretty to watch and the actors are attractive but trying to work out what it is about is the road to the lunatic asylum. Just enjoy the view then get on with your life.