Hijo Mayor [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] (lit. “Elder Son”), which played in Locarno’s Filmmakers of the Present Competition and won the Best Emerging Director Award – City and Region of Locarno in the section, marks the debut feature by Buenos Aires-born filmmaker Cecilia Kang. The writer-director, who is of Korean descent, tells an at-first familiar story of estrangement felt by the children of immigrants, then puts her own narrative and formal twists on this type of narrative. However, by the end of the film’s two hours, we’re only left with parts of a whole, the film’s tale never giving us the full picture.

The three-part story first introduces teenager Lila (Argentinian DJ Anita B Queen) to us. She’s an Argentinian of Korean descent sporting a short, pink pixie cut – in her own youthful world, bouncing between parties and dinners with the Korean community. She carefully navigates the dynamics of always being treated as an outsider – the classic “Where are you really from?” question comes up quickly – while trying to decipher the complexities of her parents’ relationships with both their home countries and Argentina, their new home for many years. Kang fosters the on-screen presence of Lila as one we want to absorb for a longer time, delighting in the unique dynamics she has with her father.

However, just as we begin to settle in to Lila’s tale, we cut to the story of her father, Antonio (Kim Chang Sung) – or, rather, Tony (played at this younger age by Suh Sang Bin) – after immigrating from Korea to South America 18 years earlier, first to Paraguay (leaving behind his wife and young daughter), and then to Argentina. The handsome, hair-slicked-back Tony gracefully fends off the slurs thrown by his landlord, falling for a young woman and trying to make a quick buck in various failing business ventures.

The film’s third part is brief: Kang simply gives us a flavour of documentary by depicting her own mother and father in the present day, complete with the flipping-through of photo albums to demonstrate that what we’ve just witnessed is based on her own true story. In conjunction with the film’s other earlier parts, this coda feels like an afterthought that further curtails the emotional impact of the first two. It’s clear that Kang has teed up a unique family drama, but despite its moving and personal origins, the emotional impact doesn’t land in light of its jigsaw-like pieces.

Hijo Mayor is an Argentinian-French production staged by Tarea Fina and co-produced by In Vivo Films. Its international sales are managed by Meikincine Entertainment.