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VAFF 2009 | Children of Invention
By gloria wongChildren of Invention
USA, 2009, 86min
DIR Tze Chun
In Tzu Chun's debut Children of Invention, single mother Elaine Cheng is having a rough time. Her savings have been sucked into a 'vitamin' pyramid scheme, and, after defaulting on her mortguage, she and her kids are getting kicked out of their house. A kind realtor friend lets the homeless family squat in a nearby condo development while it's being finished. It's clean and they have electricity and water, so things could be worse. He also encourages Elaine to get her realtor's license - a well-intentioned but somewhat misguided bit of advice given the climate of the real estate market. Unfortunately, Elaine needs money now. In between showing houses and answering phones at the real estate office, Elaine combs through newspaper classified ads for money-making 'network marketing opportunities'. Though the audience sees the family's impending disaster coming from a mile back, Elaine is too desperately in need - and, as an immigrant, unable to work legally in the U.S. - to change course.
One of the 'opportunities' turns bad and Elaine is arrested, leaving the children on their own. Detained by the police for days and afraid her children would be taken away from her, Elaine doesn't tell them about her kids and tries to wait them out, despite their intimidation tactics.
Thankfully, the film is not 100% depressing. The children, Raymond and Tina, are resilient - and adorable - though their mother's stresses are quickly becoming their own. Budding inventor Raymond gets his little sister to collect bits and scraps around town and they spend their nights building wonders like the pen tie and the spinning spaghetti fork. Even the children's tense odyssey following Elaine's disappearance contains a few neccessary moments of dreamy delicacy.
Children of Invention has many remarkable qualities - especially for a debut feature. It provides a street-level look at the realities of today's economy without feeling opportunistic, and it boasts many wonderful performances - especially from Michael Chen as Raymond. Michael/Raymond is in that moment between the childhood realization that adults lie about important things and the arrival of the adolescent hormone haze. A twelve-year-old sees the world with perfect clarity. In a way, it's unfortunate that so much of the narrative is focused on Elaine's shady business dealings; the script is much more acute when its focus is on the family.
Preceded by Andrea Wan's animated short Revolve
Schema Magazine's coverage of VAFF 2009 is sponsored in part by the Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival
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November 6, 2009 at 2:36 PM
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