The premise for the film is simple: It focuses on A-Rui (Lu Hsiao-fen) who has been running a barbershop for forty years. One day, A-Rui receives a phone call from the family of a regular client who moved to the countryside following retirement. They ask A-Rui if she would be willing to travel to where the elderly, now bedridden man lives and cut his hair. The film records A-Rui’s journey and the interactions she has with people and the world around her.
‘Day Off’ from Director Fu Tien-yu is the kind of feature that makes you fall in love with films. It is very much a ‘human story’, one of those films that was never intended to be a massive ‘mainstream’ box office success, and is all the better for it. Day Off focuses on family, with a mother at the centre, and is a wonderfully woven tale of kindness, understanding, community and friendship. There’s so much to love in those four words alone.
On another level, Day Off explores generational divides and delivers a really important message about not losing sight of what is important, a sense of community and connection, in the fast-paced world we live in, where lasting connections are fleeting.
In a post-screening Q&A, Director Fu revealed that the idea for this film first came to her 10 years ago when she was making a documentary. The script itself, however, is one that she described as having evolved over a period of 40 years, and based on her own family – Her mum ran a barber shop for 40 years and was the setting in which Director Fu grew up, making the film personal. Fu recounted stories from her childhood, where she was pretending to read but listening to the stories shared.
The acting is superb. Largely the film relies on actress Lu Hsaio-fen, who plays A-Rui. It took the Director a one year journey to find the right fit for the role. Director Fu felt that there would be no one better than Lu, who returned to acting for this film after not having acted for 20+ years just to play this part. Talking of this, Fu shared with the audience that Lu accepting the role was something magical.
Day Off is a standalone film, in the sense that the focus it places on an emotionally strong narrative has no obvious influences one might say the Director drew from. It is a universal story that everyone can enjoy. Even though set in Taiwan, it’s not a story that’s unique to anywhere, making it relatable to everyone, full of subtle facial expressions that deliver complicated feelings that are hard to describe and communicate through language alone.
The cat that features in the film may as well be an actor in his/her own right.
Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Trailer: