PARK CITY, UTAH Jan. 25 (UPI) -- Zi, which premiered Saturday at the Sundance Film Festival, is a gentle, spiritually nourishing film. It suits the trademark sensitivity of writer/director Kogonada.
Zi (Michelle Mao) leaves a Hong Kong neurological institute and thinks she sees herself across the street. She wanders Hong Kong looking for her doppelgänger.
Along the way Elle (Haley Lu Richardson) sees Zi struggling and offers to help. They spend the day and night in Hong Kong together, eventually joined by Elle's ex-fiancé Min (Jin Ha).
The overall theme of Zi is simply the kindness of strangers. It is inspiring to be reminded that one can make a difference in anyone's life just by caring, and that we are all worthy of receiving that care, too.
Small moments represent the beautiful connections between people. Elle likes to record the sounds of Hong Kong, so just seeing her smile recording Zi clicking a pair of chopsticks has a magnitude of joy inversely proportional to the minimal demands of the chopsticks.
