that are more concerned about real-life human experience than the cuteness of puppies. Predominantly shot on handheld camera, supplemented by the use of stylistic slow motion and benefited from the ethereal score by Ellen Joyce Loo and Wilson Tsang, the film poetically weaves together a collection of interview footages with dog lovers holding a diverse range of attitudes to life. Some of them try to discover the meaning of love through their relationship with animals, others neglect their families because they see the equally precious value in the lives of their fluffy friends.
A point of note is that viewers are bound to be upset by the images of animal cruelty victims in the film, if not also by its chronicle of some of the animals’ impending deaths and the footages of their funerals. Chen immerges her audience into the recollection of her interview subjects (including the director herself) – telling of their deepest feelings for their families, partners, and animal friends with unflickering sincerity, while the camera closes in on their barren faces. The impact of the film stems from the fact that we are watching real people recalling their real lives: they might have unwittingly made regrettable life decisions, they might have done things in the name of love but which might leave them with more doubts deep down in their hearts.
At the end, the film delivers the message that it is essential to love – and “to love more” – not by telling us the way to do it, but by showing a few individuals among us who take that message by heart, notwithstanding their occasionally flawed judgment and the inept ways they handled their unconditional love. While it may be difficult for this genuinely touching film to shake its niche label, This Darling Life does have something for everyone with a beating heart. |