Everyone’s looking for something in writer-director Lam Can-zhao’s Where The Sun Shines Bright, a collection of short films about kids in a Chinese village that all are reflections of one young man’s uncertainty at the prospect of stepping into adulthood.
It’s simple stuff, plot-wise: A young girl travels from her village into town looking for her mother; a boy is bullied while his village is upended when a lion gets loose from the zoo; a boy wants his pre-puberty voice back so he can rejoin the choir he was a part of; a girl wants to make it big on social media as a Michael Jackson tribute dancer. Something, or someone, is grievously missing, and so all four children try to fill the void in each their own way. Can-zhao’s camera hovers silently nearby as it all unfolds.
There’s an innocence to all these kids’ wants, which range from the urgent and significant to the naive and quirky, and Can-zhao’s direction is light, letting each child’s story unfold on its own merits. Every story plays out at a serene pace, and save one or two scenes, his child actors remain stoic as they try to chase down their missing family members or source the one thing that they think they’re wanting.
“… Something, or someone, is grievously missing …”
Can-zhao’s quiet, observational style joins with the actors’ matter-of-fact delivery to produce a very laid-back watch that does have its moments of comedy, but also unengaging spells.
Quirky flourishes do light up Where The Sun Shines Bright, like when Can-zhao mimics a TikTok feed going bonkers for a live performance or when a scrawny but determined boy conjures up a tiger’s roar in the privacy of his bathroom. These touches make the movie endearing despite the dark twists that belie the sunny attitude of Can-zhao’s presentation.
Lam Can-zhao’s treatment makes Where The Sun Shines Bright a dark prose poem dramedy, with opening and closing monologues that deal with looking back and struggling to find your place. The four stories told over the rest of Where The Sun Shines Bright do all tap into that theme, but a satisfying bow is never tied on the narrative as a whole. Can-zhao simply offers up these pieces for interpretation and it falls on the viewer to identify a deeper connection beyond the pleasant character studies Where The Sun Shines Bright offers at first glance.
"…laid-back watch that does have its moments of comedy"
