Review: ‘The Red House’

Winner of the Unofficial New Zealand Film Award for Best Self-Funded Feature, The Red House is a peculiar mix of documentary and fiction that works seamlessly. When I watched it during the 2012 film festival, I assumed it is a documentary. It was not until I spoke to the film’s writer/director/producer, Alyx Duncan, that I became aware it is not.

The film centers around a couple in their 60s. Lee is an aging activist who spends his time poring over local planning documents and weeding out the dodgy clauses. Jia is a refugee from post-Tiananmen China. When they met, over twenty years ago, they spoke not a word of each other’s languages. Now Jia speaks a fractured English, and Lee is attempting to learn her Mandarin.

When duty to her aging parents calls Jia back to China, Lee follows. The city Jia left behind has changed many times over since she left and it’s a world away from the tranquil red house in the bush where she and Lee now live. Duncan captures the contrast between the two places brilliantly and shows how Lee and Jia’s love is strong enough to withstand the juxtaposition of their two worlds.

It’s hard to categorise this wonderfully reflective film. Essentially a love story, Duncan elicits beautiful, nuanced performances from her two leads. That they are her parents, essentially playing themselves, is all the more remarkable. The wordless connection between the couple is something remarkable to see and the film perfectly evokes the way love needs no words to be expressed.

Simple, powerful and honest, this is a love story for those who are past the throes of first love.

7/10

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