LAAPFF 2020: Noodle Kid
LAAPFF 2020Directors Gary Shih and Ning Huo have possibly crafted one if not the most eye-opening and, quite frankly, haunting coming-of-age tales put to screen.
Set over the course of a few years, Noodle Kid follows the humble beginnings of its eleven-year-old titular subject Ma Xiang as he has to make a life-changing path to solidify his own and his family’s future by moving from the rural mountains into mainland China to work in a noodle shop.
While sounding quite simple on the surface, what Shih and Huo's film does to utter perfection is craft an immersive and profound character study. The slow but assured transition from humble innocence to city lifestyle and consumerism is something to expect, perhaps. However, it is the simplistic and smaller elements with after enough time destroy Xiang and, ultimately, the audience in the process. In what is more or less solitude in a poor area, days travel away from major cities, it would be expected that Xiang would let go of everything to experience such fascinating chaos. In actual fact, it is quite the opposite; his charismatic affection and smile are slowly invaded and eradicated to what is essentially being extorted for his own family’s financial needs. A factor he is too young and naive to grasp but, nevertheless, in the name of his imprisoned fathers honour, he continues without question.
His wages taken and working hours undoubtedly illegal, Xiang's innocence is used, abused and manipulated at all costs. Before long, he is stripped away from his religion, morals, and even the truth of his family’s dynamic. To watch such an effect in real-time is not only devastating but, in a morbid twist, is nothing short of being utterly fascinating. As Xiang begins to get older and his worldview clearly developed, his angst bursts through, but the transition has changed him for good and for bad.
The access to Xiang and his life is so dear and intimate; it is questionable on occasion if this is, in fact, a documentary. The line of genre and narrative is effortlessly blurred for a fascinatingly immersive experience. The photography on show from Ning Huo and Jiahao Zhang looks tremendous throughout. Never closing the line of inner space and restraining itself to be a witness, not an active participant, works wonders.
Nevertheless, even with such plaudits, Noodle Kid is soul-destroying to watch. This is an intimate portrait of a child losing his innocence in the realm of capitalism. Watching Xiang at such a tender age teach his younger brother to count and then under an hour later having his soul ripped out from him due to him being unable to live his dream of education will leave even the coldest of hearted shocked and destroyed.
