The Listener (II) (2004) User Reviews

Short takes on beneficence, privacy and the ethics of daily living

[roland-104 · 8/10 · 1 November 2005]

Writer, violinist and filmmaker Michael Chang moved from Seattle to Galway City, Ireland, in 1999, to learn traditional Irish fiddling. This little gem of a film is his first, and it is based, he told us at a post-screening Q&A, on an idea for a short play he conceived several years ago while in school. A reticent, deaf and speechless young woman stops in a plaza to watch a blind street musician and notices when a gust of wind blows a couple of bills out of his collection hat. She retrieves the money but is too shy to approach him. Instead she waits until he has finished playing and follows him home, surreptitiously entering his flat, where he gradually intuits that someone is present. This wordless 11 minute short explores entwined yet opposing themes of generosity and invasion. A very powerful little film. My rating: 8/10 (B+). (Seen on 9/30/05 at the Idaho International Film Festival). If you'd like to read more of my reviews, send me a message for directions to my websites.