In the opening moments of Liam Ma’s short film, Song for No One, a soft warmth washes over the screen as a young man, Gene (Giullian Yao Gioiello) gets behind the microphone of his home recording set up. The sunrise-tinted lighting, wood finishing, and analogue equipment all contribute to a cozy environment, recalling the talk radio programmes that went to air at 2:00 AM during a bygone era.
Gene begins playing a heartfelt ballad, accompanied by his acoustic guitar, as our perspective shifts to a green forest where two women (Felice Choi and Stella Kim) work up a sweat on two stationary bikes hooked up to the power supply for a transistor radio. One of the two women asks the other in sign language, “How’s he doing today?”
The other replies, “He sounds like he’s finding his way.”
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“So how was I supposed to tell you…that I wasn’t ready for you to leave,” sings Gene.
Song for No One visually and sonically embodies the grief and hope associated with the loss of a loved one. The hope that thoughts and words spoken in their wake will be heard by them — somehow, some way. That perhaps, just maybe, those we love continue to feel our love even if their physical existence evades our reality.
By the end of the film, Gene’s mother clutches the radio to her chest as she frantically speeds up her pace on the bike. Rather than having us feel Gene’s pain through Gene, we feel it through his mother, who continues to do everything she can for her son, even in the afterlife.
Ma exhibits a gentle hand to a painful truth in life, quietly creating cinematic poetry. A simple and beautiful short, and a beautiful tribute to his own loss.
The 28th edition of the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival runs in-person and online November 13-24. For tickets, scheduling, and other details about this year’s programming, visit the festival’s website.
