“A right time" – movie review

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There is a time for everything. This concept, implied in a Bible quote beginning with the verse "To everything there is a season", is the theme for the movie "A right time" (有時), one of a series named “Macau Stories”.

Though the concept may imply that life is decided by forces beyond our control, it does not set a sad tone for the movie. Quite on the contrary, what happens to the three main characters shows how people, and, in this case, Macau people, respond to inevitable situations with a come-what-may attitude and with the readiness to make the best move when the right time comes.

Ah Ming, for example, decides to clear up the mess in his home. This somehow symbolizes his realization that it is time to organize his hitherto disorderly lifestyle. An old woman, Ah Ming’s neighbour and also his mother’s friend before her death, understands that the time has come for her to prepare herself for life in a care home though she is still in good shape. A teenage girl, seemingly hanging around doing nothing serious, finally grows into a mature lady, thus suggesting that the right thing happens at the right time.

This story, simple but refreshing, weaves through the three characters and brings them together at certain moments of their lives. What causes their paths to cross is their shared interest in photography. Their interaction throughout the story appeals to the viewers with the fun of photo-taking. With the camera in hand, they spread cheer to people around them. Apparently, photography is of central importance in the movie, which starts with a few snapshots and ends with an exhibition displaying those taken by the teenage girl in replacement of the old woman’s lost ones. What is the link between photography and the main concept about the inevitability of life’s realities? Could it be the director’s intention to show that though there seems little we can do to decide about the time when something happens, we can, with the help of the camera, capture the moment while it still lasts?

And the three characters are fascinating on their own. Despite his nonchalant personality, Ah Ming is actually a very caring person. He pays regular visits to his mother’s tomb and looks inside through the gate every time he walks past the old woman’s home. The lovely smile on the old woman’s lined face makes one think that there is nothing scary about ageing. And I take great delight in the very careful description of the young girl’s fondness for her idol, the photographer, whom she addresses as “Ah Sir”. She would sit hidden in a quiet corner watching Ah Ming arranging the bouquet on the tomb and later go and trim the stalks with a prepared knife. She would even try to detect his presence at home by looking up at the lighted window.

It being one of the Macau stories, there is reference to some of the city’s changes since the Handover. This inspires us to reflect on the Bible quote from a broader perspective: there is a time for the end of an administration and a time for the beginning of another. 

There is also frequent appearance of a Macau landmark and its vicinity. I marvel at a touch of humour in the word choice for the label of a photo of this landmark displayed at the exhibition mentioned above. It is “Neither 3 Nor 4”, which is of a very interesting meaning if interpreted in Cantonese (不三不四). To find out which landmark this is referred to and why, you can come to watch this movie and the other four of the series.