Synesthete
越界
China, 2021, colour, 2.35:1, 80 mins.
Director: Liang Honghua 梁鸿华.
Rating: 3/10.
An interesting idea never comes to fruition in this messy, low-budget ghost movie with a low-name cast.
STORY
The present day. During a trip back to the Mainland, well-known photographer Chen Zhicheng (Chen Jiale), who made a name for himself after going to Hong Kong to study, is offered the chance for an exhibition in the Mainland and Hong Kong by businesswoman Liu (Tang Niya). Chen Zhicheng has been brought to her attention by a mutual friend, Tan Wen (Zhao Niya), who fancies Chen Zhicheng. During the meeting, in a cafe outside, Tan Wen suddenly dies from shock when a pane of glass in shattered in front of her by a football. Chen Zhicheng, distraught, says he can see someone running away but no one believes him. Back in Hong Kong Chen Zhicheng tells his assistant Qi Sitong (Chen Jiahuan), a fellow student from university, that he has an “inner demon” 心魔 that’s haunted him since the age of 18, when he first saw a woman in red. He blames himself for the deaths of his grandparents, his brother-in-law and his elder sister, all of whom have died since then. Qi Sitong’s BFF from university, Wu Yueying (Yu Qiao), returns from studying psychology abroad to set up her own clinic in Hong Kong. For the time being she stays with Qi Sitong and seems pleased that Qi Sitong, who’s always secretly loved Chen Zhicheng, is making progress with him on the romantic side, as he’s agreed to go out and watch that evening’s meteor shower with her. During their date, Chen Zhicheng confesses to Qi Sitong that, since he was a boy, he’s been able to hear and see things that others can’t – which accounts for his introverted nature. He now blames himself for the death of Tan Wen as well. Just as they’re about to kiss, Wu Yueying calls, offering to pick them up with her car, as it’s raining heavily. Later, after helping Wu Yueying set up her private clinic, Chen Zhicheng finds some old photos in a box of his grandparents’ things. He suddenly freaks out, as one photo shows a young woman in a traditional red bridal dress. Qi Sitong calms him down, and tells him how she was abandoned by her mother when she was five. Chen Zhicheng visits his mother (Xue Li), who is in a mental hospital, and shows her the picture – at which she cries out, “It’s her!” Chen Zhicheng becomes more crazed and suddenly tries to sack Qi Sitong for no apparent reason. When Qi Sitong is accidentally killed one day, Chen Zhicheng, now completely broken, consults a medium (Luo Lan) in order to contact Qi Sitong in the other world.
REVIEW
Somewhere in the mess that is Synesthete 越界 is a decent idea for a low-budget psycho-thriller/ghost movie, but it’s hardly visible amid the distracting Mandarin re-voicing (most of the leads are Hong Kongers), rote performances and chaotic script. The concept that “ghosts” are a personal invention to fill some psychological neediness is hardly original but it fits well with the need to make Mainland ghost stories have a rational explanation and is also framed here by various female characters all having designs on the half-crazed male lead. Made by prolific Hong Kong writer-producer-actor-director Liang Honghua 梁鸿华, a journeyman in the quickie levels of the industry since the 1980s (e.g. A Wicked Ghost 山村老尸, 1999, with Wu Zhenyu 吴镇宇 [Francis Ng]), it has clean, sharp widescreen photography by Jing Ruinan 景睿男 and some occasionally atmospheric music by Hong Kong’s Wu Xintu 吴欣图 and Huang Zhuolan 黄卓岚, but is otherwise a missed opportunity. On Mainland release, however, it clocked up RMB15 million, four or five times the average for such Mainland horror fare.
Hong Kong actor-singer Chen Jiale 陈家乐, 35, who was surprisingly good opposite the much more experienced Hui Yinghong 惠英红 [Kara Hui] in Happiness 幸运是我 (2016), is wooden throughout as a well-known photographer who says he’s had an “inner demon” 心魔 since childhood, as well as paranormal senses and visions of a “lady in red”, and feels responsible for the deaths of everyone who’s ever loved him. Of the three women who do fancy him, all move like the models they are, though 29-year-old Hong Konger Chen Jiahuan 陈嘉桓 (the jealous student in The Legend Is Born: Ip Man 叶问前传, 2010; devoted maid in The Woman Knight of Mirror Lake 竞雄女侠秋瑾, 2011) gets the longest screen time and most opportunities. But Liang’s corny dialogue is beyond improvement by this cast.
The plot, which is clumsily resolved, essentially ends about 70 minutes in, with the rest of the running time largely padding. Most of the action appears to take place in Hong Kong, though the script is sometimes vague on this matter. Synesthete is the medical term for someone with synesthesia, a neurological condition in which information meant to stimulate one of the senses (e.g. sound on one’s hearing) stimulates several other senses (e.g. sight) at the same time – the condition that our hero seems to suffer from. The film’s Chinese title literally means “crossing boundaries/borders” and also happens, rather inconveniently, to be the Chinese title of a Taiwan online BL drama series, HIStory2 (2018- ).
There seem to be plans to release the film in Hong Kong this year under the titles Ghost Wedding 冥婚.
CREDITS
Presented by Shenzhen Enjoy Pictures (CN).
Script: Liang Honghua, Ye Qiao. Photography: Jing Ruinan. Editing: Yang Yiren. Music: Wu Xintu, Huang Zhuolan. Art direction: Huang Yao. Costumes: Wei Wanqi. Sound: Cui Wei, Chen Qiyi, Lin Songhui, Zhong Hua. Visual effects: Wen Jiaolong.
Cast: Chen Jiale (Chen Zhicheng), Chen Jiahuan (Qi Sitong), Zhao Xintong (model in main title), Yu Qiao (Wu Yueying), Ding Wei (Xiaohong), Li Jiadan (Zhao Zhenni/Jenny), Zhao Niya (Tan Wen), Zhang Daming (old man), Luo Lan (medium), Xue Li (Chen Zhicheng’s mother), Huang Zefeng (Chen Zhicheng’s brother-in-law), Chen Huixin (Chen Zhicheng’s elder sister), Tang Niya (Liu, exhibitor), Liang Honghua (Uncle Hua).
Release: China, 29 Oct 2021.