LEFT-Handed Girl follows a single mother and her two daughters as they take up a new life in fast-paced Taipei after a couple of years in the countryside.
Melancholic mom Shu-Fen (Janel Tsai) has set up a noodle stand in a buzzing night market, along with the unsettled I-Ann (Shih-Yuan Ma), who is working at a betel nut stall after leaving high school, and has complicated her life even further by sleeping with her boss.
Much of their new life, filled with highs and lows aplenty, is witnessed through the eyes of captivating five-year-old I-Jing (Nina Ye), a sweet child that sees this fresh start with pure wonderment and joy, despite all the adult bickering and upheaval all around her.
I-Jing is a playful and artistic child. Early on we see her scolded by her superstitious grandfather, who hits out at her for drawing with her left-hand. The left-hand, she is told, is the devil’s hand at work, which is both upsetting and confusing, for this fresh-faced and impressionable little one.
While her mother struggles to keep her fledging business afloat, and I-Ann’s volatile mood swings undulate wildly, I-Jing steals from nearby market stalls and blames her new life of crime on her mischievous meat hook.
Family secrets, of which there are closet loads, together with age-old Taiwanese traditions, make life for this hardworking family, all the harder, and prevents them from living a fuller and happier existence.
Left-Handed Girl, the first solo feature from writer-director Shih-Ching Tsou, is a disarming and truly magical film. Set in the bustling night-time markets of Taipei, as seen through the bright-eyed worldview of I-Jing, they soon become something altogether more breathtaking and enchanting as she hops and skips her way through the lively stalls.
Moving, witty and dramatic throughout, this is an irresistibly beautiful little film, now streaming on Netflix, that is sure to win your heart.
(5/5)