Grief abounds in Whisperings of the Moon — both on-screen and off, in fact. While the general movie-watching experience encourages, for the most part, compartmentalisation — that is, the world outside ceases to exist when the lights go out in the theatre — this film is made all the more special when considering the real-world events that surround it.
On one hand is the film’s story: Nisay (Sopheanith Thong) works as a theatre actress living in New York, who has temporarily returned home to Phnom Penh for her father’s funeral. This visit reunites her with Thida (Deka Nine), her former lover, who, during Nisay’s absence, has since gotten married and had a child. It’s a true love that has never stopped burning, and though each wants nothing more than to be with the other, societal pressures, obligations to others, and promises they’ve made to themselves stand in their way.
On the other is the news of director Lai Yuqing’s untimely death late last year. While Whisperings of the Moon prevails as her first and only feature, it nonetheless memorialises her as a promising filmmaker gone too soon.
Whisperings of the Moon is deceptively unassuming, eschewing overt style and scope in favour of a grounded approach to a story about two lovers. Understated performances and shaky-cam cinematography lend the film an air of cinéma vérité, quietly dropping us into Nisay’s theatre troupe rehearsals and her family’s funeral preparations as if we’re ghosts reliving her formative memories.
Thong proves to be an absolute discovery of an actor, deftly juggling Nisay’s youthful precociousness and ambition with the weight of first love (won and lost), grief, and family dysfunction. Her chemistry with Nine, too, is undeniable; there’s no resisting the pull of their orbit.
As the film unfolds, and as Nisay and Thida surrender to their attraction for each other, Lai allows an almost lyrical quality to her hitherto naturalist style to come through. Flirty touches feel more like soul-bearing confessions, and quick glances become ever-lasting memories. Nisay and Thida’s love is doomed from the start — the latter is married after all — but instead of a graveyard, Lai plants a garden instead. As if to say: love, even in the face of guaranteed heartbreak, is always worth pursuing.
We will never know what kind of filmmaker Lai could have become, but Whisperings of the Moon certainly proves she had already found a style and sensibility that was entirely her own.
