After being in prison for 10 years for associating with a local real estate conman, Han Jiangyu (Lee Kang-Sheng) is now attempting to reach out to his contacts. After his arrest, he attempted to relive his arrest in the film, which is set ten years into the future. His first move towards his past life is a haircut and the reason is that the local beautiful hairdresser Su Hong (Li Meng) is his former love. They don’t say much but there is still so much unsaid words and tension between them. Understandably, they are not open; especially Su who is a single mother of a little girl Yao, and is trying to keep her family and make ends meet. Jiangyu is approached by his former boss’s son who is wealthy and rather arrogant and tries to get in contact with this land development company.
Two ex-lovers rekindle their lost flame when they secretly meet at a deserted boat on the beach. Jiangyu is puzzled by Su Hongs’ unexpected proposal. During a washing up session after dinner, she comes up with an odd suggestion that she has to marry a local in order to buy an apartment in the new skyscrapers that are being built. Su Hong proposes this conception out of concern for her daughter, because now she wants to provide her with a good environment as she will be starting middle school. However, strong emotions for Jiangyu are interfering. Things start going wrong when Su Hong, among numerous other people, learns that the land developers of the housing projects had disappeared taking the deposits with them. Jiangyu’s connection with the developers is of no help; on the contrary, he sees this as a problem.
The cinematography of the film is based in the southernmost Province of Hainan, China which is also home to director Wang a place he has been residing in for over a decade. Beach resorts, modern architecture opening up in the island’s tropical landscape is now a trademark aspect of Hainan, yet parts of “Absence” make Hainan appear to be stagnant in time, specifically around the Su Hong area. During the initial shots in the movie after Jiangyu’s long exile where she reunites with her foreign lover, Wang’s camera work moves along with the character’s only insightful speech, taking a laid-back approach heavily inspired by years of slow cinema.
This were the first couple of scenes in which one would observe dramatic island humidity, thick enough to question in disbelief whether the two protagonists were even acquainted with each other in the first place. Wang’s work showcased the struggles of a woman commencing anew with her past inside her heart.
Absence is said to be made up of the mentioned characteristics and is combined with an island scenery, mostly reflecting the emotional landscape of the protagonists’ relationship.
Ohio, the three chapters of the film seem to create different moods. The first act is primarily filled with warmth and passion although it portrays yearning and lazy feelings that are made better through creative camera work. The second part of the film amplifies the inclination of the author to social criticism. The rivalry over the expansive realms of the Chinese realty market, a well chronicled history of drops, pick pockets and dishonest brokers, began with the sad story of Su Hong and so many others who were able to save for a down payment, only to come up short on their home-buying aspirations.
This part of the film “Absence” on the other hand is filled with an undertone of hopelessness and absolute pessimism about the future. People feel they are trapped in some great dark powers that poverty or some deep connections with street thugs wield. However, out of nowhere there is a shift in dynamics and we enter into the third act of the story, which is both scene quiet and sharp mood wise. Wang completely refuses to use the standard tell a story techniques and instead focuses on the feeling and how the picture is framed. Su Hong is lost in the ruins of a gigantic unfinished construction project; the enchanting beauty of the crumbling structures and the geometric forms of the bare concrete walls reflected in the spotted ponds on the absent floor follows her around.
As she encounters Jiangyu, there is a mutual agreement for them to remain composed while they prepare a lot together with little Yao in a room. It appears they are like weeds since the family envelops and adjusts around the brutal style of the tower block. Following the disaster, the space is taken back by mother nature, and life commences to make an entrance round, disobedient, and erratic. Of dirty puddles tadpoles float, while a duckling wanders around aimlessly.
This final segment of the movie depicts amazing composure and mastery concerning the geometry of space. This section has a taste that is reminiscent of quite the visionary artist, though it isn’t quite a dream, but rather perfect post-apocalyptic setup. It gives one the feeling of surrealism (not entirely) and for a reason, it boasts magic features after all. Given Wang’s background as a sculptor, his sense of confidence with visuals is rather understandable.
Working with Tsai Ming Liang, Lee Kang-Sheng is very confident in the restrained acting mode that he has well practiced and Li Meng is terrific in the role where she has to combine power, innocence and purity. As stated before, the ‘visual’ of “Absence”, is a combination of attention to picture framing and composition, as well as the camera’s angle and focus to detail which alleviates the irritation for a gradual absence of the plot as the film proceeds. To sum up, Wu Lang has appropriated the atmospheres we have seen in the works of Zhangke Jia, Min Liang Tsai and even Wong Kar-wai and given them a rather personal twist in a debut that is quite bold and self-assured in the terrain of independent cinema.
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