Floating life = Fu Sheng [Widescreen]

Departing from her highly stylized previous films, Clara Law chose a more accessible approach for ‘Floating Life’, her first non-Hong Kong film. In the year prior to Hong Kong’s handover to China, the Chan family, Ma, Pa and their two teenage sons, migrate to Australia and join their second daughter, Bing. Their elder daughter, Yen, lives in Germany with her husband. The settlement in Australian suburbia proves to be rather smooth for the young boys but leaves the parents, particularly Ma Chan, in a state of utter confusion. To make matters worse, Bing insists on giving them a crash course on the perils of living in Australia, including spiders, a vicious dog and fire-prone housing. The film oscillates between a comedy on the foreigners-abroad-theme and a drama on loss and disorientation. Although it gathers all the elements of a standard Chinese diaspora movie, ‘Floating Life’ avoids taking a stand in the debate on assimilation vs. tradition. It is rather a cautionary tale advocating the benefits of finding a middle way. Reference: Shelly Kaicer ‘Floating Life’ Toronto International Film festival (1996). In English, Cantonese and German with English subtitles. Cast includes Annette Shun Wah, Annie Yip, Anthony Wong, Edwin Pang, Toby Wong, Toby Chan, Cecilia Fong and Sing Lee.