Anywhere the Wind Blows (2024) Short Film Review
There is nothing more personal than trauma.
Conflicts are universal, relationships flow at the same pace as others, and malice is, unfortunately, a primal feature that makes everyone capable of producing fear. However, the effect of these is handled differently by everyone. Therapists may try to devise a formula to handle emotional trauma, but the random reaction to all opposing forces is part of what makes us human—the beauty of individualism.
The short film Anywhere the Wind Blows is a jarring glimpse into the human condition, which is affected by emotional trauma and other monsters that remain undisclosed. The subject is a promising young man whose only sin was trying to look forward in life and drift apart from the anchor that forced him to swim in violence-infested waters of political and social conflict. His encounter with progress is the result of every immigrant’s decision to objectively look back and then decide to go forward. But the emotional cost of such a decision is the burden of a crossroads he will always see in his periphery.
Alex (a staggering performance by new performer Glen Wong), is a political activist who has moved from Hong Kong to the United States of America in search of a better life. He’s a shy man living under the veil of political persecution. He’s also queer, and the shadow of an oppressive government is still active in his emotional performance. However, now that he is living in the free world, he can express himself and accepts the possibility of rekindling with his former boyfriend.
They decide to have dinner. At first, they feel out-of-tune with the variability of languages, but quickly, Alex is visibly enamored with the idea of revisiting what he once had and what undeniably made him happy. As the night goes on and they leave the place together, Alex will have to face the emotional weight of looking towards the past and seeing if it matches his ideal present.
Anywhere the Wind Blows is a fierce emotional experience by writer/director Jay Liu, whose idea of catharsis is making a beautiful film that speaks louder than I would have imagined. Then again, Alex’s fragility is compelling. The empathy is immediate. Aided by Wong’s outstanding performance, the director disregards the rules of idealism, and instead goes for a darker version of the theme. He could have made a film about Alex’s progress into happiness, a journey with absolute direction and no shortcuts. But Anywhere the Wind Blows is much more raw than the optimistic version of a character arc.
Alex is forced to revisit his violent and traumatic past, one that his ex-boyfriend is part of. And yes, he makes a decision towards the end that bodes well for his self and not for what his relationship means. In a few minutes, with tears in his eyes, Alex’s trauma is the driving force behind his sudden growth and realization. Perhaps immigrants will say, “If only it were this easy.” But possibly there’s more to Alex’s expression than we can see. In the eyes of those who went through an ordeal like Alex’s, there lies the unspeakable truth of oppression that, weirdly, those who highlight tolerance as part of their struggle are sometimes unable to observe because of an agenda.
