QUICK AND DIRTY: LIVE FROM TALLINN

T[/drocpcap]he lives of children living in a children’s home converge in director Yin-chuan Tsai’s evocative and shocking drama.

That Burning House focuses on the Home Of Happiness, a Taiwanese children’s home that takes care of orphans, abandoned children, and those separated from their parents for legal reasons. Three connected stories look to explore the issues faced by those looking to care for the home’s residents. We follow a young counsellor struggling to change the bureaucracy around him; a former resident who finds himself victim of a dangerous scam; and a young child clinging to hope in the face of horrifying abuse.

This three-dimensional view is an impressive approach, choosing to look across a landscape rather than the path of an individual. The audience is invited to see developments from multiple perspectives, showing how societal ignorance can lead these children into believing they are destined for failure, and thus leaning into an uncertain future.

Unfortunately, the journey is hampered by a shocking beginning that the narrative never quite manages to justify. In the first 15 minutes there are two depictions of sexual assault on a child, on which the camera lingers unnecessarily, making for a traumatic viewing experience.

As well as being incredibly upsetting to watch, it shows a failure in cinematic skill on the part of the director for not being able to allude to such an unthinkably traumatic event in a more subtle way. It sets disturbing emotional stakes for the film, as you wonder just what can be done to offer some kind of justice to the character, or the audience who witnessed his suffering.

In fairness, the film’s message about abuse and systemic failure creating a vicious cycle is thoughtful and well-argued, as one would expect given that the story is inspired by Tsai’s own experiences as a social worker. The complex dynamics of overworked counsellors pleading for funding from indifferent government officials or sponsors, as well as the agonising decision whether to give up on a resident who has done unforgivable things, all paint the picture of a fight that seems impossible to win.

The despondent nature of the movie sometimes weighs it down, as you cling to those small rays of hope from the characters trying to make a chance. It also rightly celebrates those who never give up, the few guardian voices that keep a generation tethered to some semblance of safety.

This Taiwanese production is tough to recommend, given its determination to hammer home its messages with images that at times feel gratuitous (bullying, violence against animals, and self-harm also feature the plot lines). While these trials are no doubt close to the harsh realities faced by those who slip through the cracks, cinema offers a way to tell that story more elegantly than this.

That Burning House just premiered in the 29th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.