Life Track

In a thinly populated, hilly area a man called Zezhu lives in a small cottage. As he no longer has any arms, it's a miracle that he manages so well almost on his own. He has learnt to do all kinds of things with his feet, toes and mouth, varying from rolling cigarettes to carpentry and playing the guitar.
One day he meets a young woman, Xiangshu. She is deaf and dumb. Xiangshu has come to the countryside to flee the police, because she killed a man who tried to rape her. Zezhu takes her into his house. It's the start of an unusual relationship, to put it mildly. However difficult it seems for them to communicate, they become dependent on each other and the cottage gets cozier. Zezhu is however plagued by memories of his mother, who was also deaf. But of course the relationship comes down to questioning looks, staring and looking away.
As spectacular as the basis is, its handling is as pure, minimal and free of sensationalism in this Chinese-Korean production by the debutant Jin. At the festival in Pusan he won a New Currents Award with it. In long, occasionally repetitive scenes, the challenge for the viewer is clear: don't look away where many would be inclined to from some misplaced shame, but answer the gaze of these two tragic outcasts and don't deny it. (GT)