The 2019 Women Make Waves film festival takes place from 10/4 to 10/14 at SPOT Huashan Cinema in Taipei. This review is based on a complimentary media screener.
The News Lens
Date: 2019/10/02
By: CJ Sheu
Photo Credit: Vai / Women Make Waves Film Festival
Vai is technically similar to the previous film by producers Kerry Warkia and Kiel McNaughton, Waru (2017). Both are thematically unified anthology films with long takes and predominantly Pasifika elements (actors, locations, etc.), but whereas Waru revolves around a single key incident, Vai develops linearly to paint a resonant portrait of a life well-lived. Each 10-minute segment is a one- or two-take vignette that covers a surprising amount of plot development and thematic complexity.
The protagonist is always named a variation of Vai, which means water in all the indigenous languages spoken in the film. As the source of Pasifika lifeblood and traditions, water is present in every segment, and its prominence or absence serves to symbolize the ups and downs of Vai’s life. That life, and the conceit of the film, are revealed gradually. When the film cuts from one segment to another (editing by Dione Chard), it opens on a new location and lead actress. But as each protagonist’s backstory is alluded to, we start to realize that this matriarch is the same woman who defended her home from purse seining, who dreaded her family’s first big move, who later studied abroad.
Although specific details change with each segment as if to echo the kaleidoscopic casting and locations, the overall trajectory of her life is clear and powerful. There’s also a hint of magical realism, often but not always linked to tradition and ritual. Throughout, cinematographer Drew Sturge has masterful control of the camera, going underwater or onto vehicles often in one continuous shot.
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