Renowned actress Shu Qi has officially stepped behind the camera with her directorial debut Girl, which premiered on September 4 at the Venice Film Festival. The project, over a decade in the making, is deeply personal, drawing inspiration from Shu Qi’s painful childhood with an alcoholic and abusive father.
Set in Taiwan in 1988, Girl follows Hsiao-lee, a young girl growing up in poverty while longing to escape her bleak life. She finds hope in her friendship with Li-li, but her dreams stir painful memories in her mother, Chuan, whose own ambitions were crushed by harsh realities.
Speaking to AFP, Shu Qi admitted: “This film is tied to my childhood experiences. Those wounds still echo in me to this day.” Growing up in a troubled home, she often faced physical abuse from her father, who came home drunk every night. Despite her difficult past, Shu Qi left for Hong Kong at 15 to pursue modeling, eventually rising to become one of the most celebrated Chinese actresses of her generation.
The actress revealed she began working on the screenplay in 2011 after encouragement from director Hou Hsiao-hsien, who also introduced her to Ernest Hemingway’s “iceberg theory” of storytelling. Girl reflects this philosophy by avoiding graphic depictions of violence. Instead, tension builds through subtle sound and imagery: barking dogs at night, the hum of a motorcycle, the jingling of keys, and footsteps approaching the door evoking the invisible terror haunting Hsiao-lee.
Variety praised Girl as a feminine, deeply emotional work with clear stylistic influence from Hou Hsiao-hsien, while Screen Daily highlighted its raw portrayal of family struggles and poverty. The International Cinephile Society (ICS) described the film as poetic and layered, though noting occasional pacing issues and genre-blending that disrupted its flow. After Venice, Girl is set to screen at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Born Lin Li-hui in 1976, Shu Qi has had a stellar career spanning over three decades. Despite her success, Shu Qi remains candid about her scars: “I’m happy now, but that doesn’t mean the past has disappeared. Those days left invisible wounds that resurface from time to time.”
With Girl, Shu Qi transforms her painful past into art, giving voice to the silenced fears of many and marking a bold new chapter in her artistic journey.
Sources: VNE
You must be logged in to post a comment.