“Visionary”
Prelude, a 10-minute documentary, begins the story of Huang Yu-siang, then a student at the National Taichung Special Education School for the Visually Impaired. After starting to learn piano at three years of age, he begins working hard to realize his dream of becoming a professional musician, as his mother, Xu Yuegui, stands by him throughout.
The End of the Tunnel, meanwhile, is based on a true story, albeit with a few creative plot elements thrown in and a fictional leading lady. At its heart, though, it continues the young pianist’s true story, and received the Best Short Film award at the 2008 Taipei Film Festival.
After seeing The End of the Tunnel, internationally renowned Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai praised Chang as “a visionary director,” someone who can see what others don’t, and encouraged him to continue developing toward feature-film work. Hence Touch of the Light.
Touch of the Light, the climax of the “Seeing/Unseeing” trilogy, is Chang’s first feature-length drama. In comparison to Prelude and The End of the Tunnel, Touch of the Light has a more expansive story, covering the relationships between characters, whether friends, family, or teacher and student; while the ambiguously romantic relationship between the male and female leads, injected with humor, will leave the audience smiling.
In terms of plot, the main story is that of a blind pianist, but the director also weaves through the tale of the lead female, a dancer, to intertwine tales of both music and dance. The two stories switch from foreground to background, sometimes alone, sometimes intersecting.
The cast of Touch of the Light is also top-notch. After lighting up screens at the Asia Pacific Film Festival with her performance in Yang Yang, Sandrine Pinna played the leading lady in The End of the Tunnel and again in Touch, an aspiring dancer who befriends Huang. Veteran actor Lee Lieh, who has also moved into the role of producer, plays Yu-siang’s mother, while internationally recognized dancer Sheu Fang-yi makes her debut cinematic appearance, playing a dance teacher with consummate realism.
In the film, Yu-siang, the male protagonist, is an undergraduate music major who was born blind, but has exquisite piano skills; the female protagonist, meanwhile, dreams of becoming a dancer, but is stuck having to work all day to pay her way. At its heart, Touch of the Light is a story of making dreams come true, and how hard that can actually be.
Particularly worth mentioning is how Chang has used his own seven-year relationship with Huang as the foundation for the character of A-Qing, Huang’s light-hearted roommate. In the film, Yu-siang, A-Qing, and some friends come together to combine their skills in piano, rap, and beat-boxing, forming the band Super Music. A-Qing serves as a foil to Yu-siang, just as entertainer Natto does as employer to Xiao-Jie (played by leading lady Sandrine Pinna) at a bubble tea store. These more light-hearted characters serve as the main comic relief of the film, rays of light amidst the largely serious dramatic theme.
In Touch of the Light, Yu-siang, his roommate, and other friends join to form the band Super Music; even off-camera the group would practice together and goof around.