Frameline49: Silent Sparks

(愛作歹)

Sponsored by Warner Bros. Discovery

Pua (Akira Huang) is released from prison and sets out on a singular mission: to help support his mother. Circumstances force Pua to re-enter a world of small-time organized crime doing menial tasks for a gangster boss. But Pua also hopes to get close to his former cellmate Mi-ji (Shih Ming-shuai). Once he is able to meet him again, Mi-ji immediately proves distant and dismissive to this familiar underling. Slowly, as Mi-ji’s hard exterior begins to thaw and their romance is rekindled, the dangers of a life of crime begin to intensify.

With graceful, confident storytelling, Pua’s journey becomes one of intertwined economic and emotional needs. Effectively fusing romance into a slick neo-noir, Silent Sparks spins a tale of deep longing in an unexpected milieu, capturing a sumptuous beauty in the night streets where the possibility of risk and romance go hand-in-hand.

Feature preceded by Like What Would Sorrow Look (18 mins)