Longtime Sean Baker collaborator Shih-Ching Tsou makes her solo directing debut with the sweet and stirring “Left-Handed Girl.”
Baker co-wrote the script with Tsou and edited the film; Tsou was a producer and played supporting roles in Baker’s “Tangerine,” “The Florida Project,” and “Red Rocket.” Fresh off his domination of the Academy Awards with “Anora,” Baker reunites with an old friend and returns to many of the ideas and techniques that defined his early indie work.
You can feel their shared love of storytelling in every moment of this intimate and energetic film. Shot on an iPhone as “Tangerine” was, “Left-Handed Girl” was made with a lot of ingenuity, verve, and heart. It puts you right in the middle of the action in Taipei’s bustling night market, bursting with hot pinks and bright greens. And it features a thrilling performance from young Nina Ye, who’s already a veteran child star at only age 9. She has poise and presence beyond her years, as well as some surprising dramatic ability.
We see the world from the perspective of Ye’s character, I-Jing, as she moves from the country with her mother and older sister in hopes of a fresh start. Sometimes this is quite literal, as in the film’s opening sequence, in which I-Jing looks through a kaleidoscope as her tiny family is driving into this imposing city. Low camera angles allow us to experience the crowded sights and constant sounds of the labyrinthine market as she does: with wonder, some trouble, and endless possibility.
As has been the case in so much of Baker’s work, “Left-Handed Girl” focuses on folks on the fringes: ordinary people trying to carve out a life for themselves within economic and societal constraints. The perky and precocious I-Jing is reminiscent of Brooklynn Prince’s Moonee in “The Florida Project,” another little girl who had to look after herself too soon.
I-Jing goes to school—the first-day jitters are palpable on her adorable face—but her real lessons come from the night market, where her mom, Shu-Fen (Janel Tsai), has rented out a noodle shop stall. Older sister I-Ann (Shih-Yuan Ma) reluctantly helps out but would rather make more money (and avoid her mother’s nagging) by working elsewhere. And money is a consistent concern, so much so that the observant and ambitious I-Jing finds some creative ways to make a few dollars to help the family. Baker uses spry jump cuts to follow the little girl on her neon-splashed adventures, shot nimbly by cinematographers Ko-Chin Chen and Tzu-Hao Kao, with the percussive score creating an infectious rhythm.
It becomes increasingly clear, though, that even within this modern-day metropolis, Shu-Fen and her daughters will never get far because they have the misfortune of being female. Her divorce remains a burden, and her mother will never dote on her or her sisters the way she does on the family’s only son. The outrage from Tsou over such antiquated gender roles is understated but unmistakable.
Speaking of archaic ideas, I-Jing begins to worry that she has the devil inside of her because she’s left-handed. This comes from a man, of course: her traditional and superstitious grandfather, who criticizes the way she eats her noodles. Her approach to fighting this natural tendency can be both humorous and horrifying.
We also get involved in big sister I-Ann’s life and what’s become of it compared to her childhood friends who went to college. She has a rebellious cool about her, but when she dresses up to join them at a tacky hotel suite party, we see her shame and vulnerability. Ma delivers all these emotions in a way that feels organic and real.
But eventually, “Left-Handed Girl” introduces too many subplots, all of which reach an explosive climax at the same time at a family birthday banquet. The melodrama of this scene feels jarring compared to the film’s naturalism. But the ultimate themes of forgiveness, reconciliation, and redemption shine through, and the joyous sight of Ye skipping through the corridors of the market is impossible to resist.
