STILL HUMAN— 4 STARS

Like the well-worn path of other films that have come before it, Still Human has a peak scene that bonds its two characters from different walks of life in a exchange of shared vulnerability and empathy. Newcomer Crisel Consunji’s Filipino caretaker Evelyn carries the tender heart to help and heal the person across from them who is filled with hate and hurt. That broken and cantankerous man, inside and out, is the wheelchair-bound Leung played by Infernal Affairs veteran Anthony Wong Chau-sang. In a touching and tearful outpouring, Evelyn declares “you can’t choose not to be in a wheelchair, but you can choose how to sit in it.”

Those lines are a screenwriter’s dream of created sentiment. As doubtlessly as it could sting a nose on its directness, the moment squeezes tear ducts easily too. In this case, the sincerity is earned by Still Human’s meaningful journey and the dedicated performances of the leads. Director Oliver Siu Kuen Chan’s debut feature is the epitome of the genuinely genteel washing crassness away. The spirit-affirming foreign entry debuts locally in Chicago for a run at the Gene Siskel Film Center starting on May 13th.

【Golden Scene 榮譽發行《淪落人》（Still Human）正式預告片（Official Trailer）】第3屆電影發展基金「首部劇情電影計劃」得獎作品第15屆香港亞洲電影節開幕電影第25屆香港電影評論學會推薦電影、最佳編劇、最佳男主角第38屆香港電影金像獎八項大獎提名香港新晉導演陳小娟首次執導長片陳果監製黃秋生、姬素﹒孔尚治領銜主演李璨琛、葉童、黃定謙傾力演出【故事大綱】這是一個關於兩個淪落人的故事。中年漢梁昌榮（黃秋生飾）因意外受傷癱瘓後妻離子散，他認為人生再沒有值得期望的東西，而自己亦不值得擁有任何東西。年輕的菲律賓女子 Evelyn（姬素﹒孔尚治飾）因為現實的原因，離鄉別井，來到香港當外傭，也放棄了成為攝影師的夢想。那一個夏天，這樣的兩個陌生人相遇相識，感情在他們的主僕關係中發芽，然而盛放的，卻是希望和愛。他們一起經歷的春夏秋冬，令他們學習到底要怎樣面對人生的四季。 Winner of the 3rd First Feature Film Initiative (The Film Development Fund) The 15th Hong Kong Asian Film Festival Opening Film The 25th Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards Film of Merit, Best Screenplay, Best Actor The 38th Hong Kong Film Awards 8 Nominations Directed by Oliver Chan Siu-Kuen Produced by Fruit Chan Starring Anthony Wong, Crisel Consunji Co-starring Sam Lee, Cecilia Yip, Himmy Wong 【Synopsis】 A paralyzed and hopeless divorcé, Cheong-wing (Anthony Wong) is in need of a caretaker.

Leung may occupy a busy Hong Kong apartment complex, but he couldn’t be more alone. A construction site accident years prior has him confined to a wheelchair and paralyzed from the chest down. The years since have not been kind. Leung is divorced and only communicates with his college-aged son through web chatting on chance occasions. He scoots through his solitude in mostly stern silence amid the busting urban sounds of his environment until something sets off his irascible, belligerent, and profane triggers.

The severity of Leung’s injuries and his work settlement call for an in-home caretaker. Needlessly to say, he’s gone through quite a few that have either quit or been fired, making viable candidates hard to find. In a place like Hong Kong, the young 20-something Evelyn is a looked-down-upon foreign worker. She holds a Bachelor’s degree but is burdened by familial disapproval and personal debts where this ugly work is all she can get at the moment. With diligence, constant courtesy, and her chin up, Evelyn obediently fulfills the role for fear of being fired. Clashes give way to apologies of temperance and shared circumstances.

LESSON #1: KEEP YOUR LIFE GOING EVEN IN LOW MOMENTS — Much that transpires in Still Human disarms our sensibilities. The arc is plenty predictable but very earnest. The closing of their language barriers and improved routines makes her ever-present encouragement louder and clearer. The presence of kindness softens Leung’s hardened stance that he is an unlucky burden and person of fault. Likewise, succeeding at this job helps Evelyn stand on her own through her dire needs.

LESSON #2: GETTING HELP WITH YOUR DREAMS — Having a big want will help Lesson #1. Our leads each carry a current life goal that begins as a lofty and unattainable wish at first. As one could expect, the obstacles are mental as much as they are physical in Leung’s case or financial in Evelyn’s. Their targets are rightly personal. Through their burgeoning kinship, the two become each other’s support system, secretly at first and then united later, for making those buoyant wishes become closer to reality and dreams worth celebrating instead of dreading.

Those lessons may be broad, but the nuance of Still Human maintains a trueness over straight syrup. Sharp framing plays with distance constantly. Little windows, corridors, and viewfinders play against the enormity of the metropolis around them always pinching things tightly. Little piano notes in the musical score warm the picture at the same time as the seasonal sun. The swells are fittingly small. The brightest rays of all belong to the actors themselves.

Crisel Consunji and Anthony Wong Chau-sang infuse discovered optimism into their respective characters’ adversities. Watching Crisel internalize Evelyn’s fears and process them into emotive performance, you would never know she was not an equal veteran to Wong Chau-sang. She anchors this film with vibrancy and light in a star-making performance. Navigating with confidence inside a guise of doubts, Anthony tempers his steeliness for honesty of his own to fit this minor melodrama. To see his granite features loosen for smiles and sobs, one cannot help be equally destroyed watching it happen. Also check out, free spins gambling.