Glass Tears

2019

INTERNATIONAL INVITATION

Carol Lai | 2001 | Fiction | Color | 35mm | 94min (KN,E)

SYNOPSIS

She's 16, and she just found her best friend in life, he's 60. A retired policeman from Mainland China, Wu comes to the busy Hong Kong island to search for his missing granddaughter, Ah Cho. For the purpose of this search, Wu encounters P, a street-kid who claims she is Ah Cho's debtor. P initially rebuffs Wu just like any 16 year-old would rebel against the older generation. Unfortunately, there is simply no escape from the apparently omnipresent Wu…

DIRECTING INTENTION

My teaching experience at a special institute a few years ago has a tremendous impact on my notion of growing up. I was dealing with teenagers who had been categorized “problematic’ and they were basically neglected children from dysfunctional and/or broken families. In defense, some became very twisted using their outwardly “innocent” appearance as a tool to get what they wanted. However, there are others who tenaciously preserved their innocence by putting up fences and would not care about anything on the outside. Sometimes, I think they might be doing this for hiding their weakness. This has inspired me to write a story about a 16-year-old teenage girl dealing with growing up – a transient state of being at the same time a child and an adult. This resembles glass – it is cold and brittle; you seem to be able to see through it, yet you feel trapped and isolated. This concept(being isolated) also has its influence on my choice of colour scheme, cinematography and even the cast.

FESTIVAL & AWARDS

2001 54th Cannes Film Festival

DIRECTOR
Carol Lai

Carol Lai

 

1998 < Father’s Toys >

2001 < Glass Tears >

2003 < The Floating
Landscape >

2007 < The Third Eye >

2007 < Naraka 19 >

2012 < The Second
Woman >

STAFF

Director Carol Lai
Producer Joe Ma
Screenwriter Carol Lai, Lui Hok Cheung
Cinematographer Tony Cheung
Art Director Poon Yik Sum
Editor Danny Pang, Carol Lai
Cast Zeny Kwok, Lo Lit, Chui Tien-you, Carrie Ng, Tats Lau