Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: BLOOM [San Luis Obispo Film Festival 2021 - Virtual]

The essence of "Bloom" is wrapped in the idea of self but one where even self awareness is not enough to save the past of the future. The main character Mu Ke watches and discusses his life in a metaphysical way with his younger self explaining, without preciseness, the mistakes he made.. The fim, set in China, simply establishes the magical realism structure without really giving a construct or real consequence for it. That said, the progression of the young man's life, watching his parents fight and learning a yearning for more wraps into his journey, whether finding first love, dancing or going away to school. The texture that defines his life is love and how he seemingly lost it. If the approach was done in a slightly more psychological way, it might have more resonance. There are some good moments but the cultural difference, along with too many lingering shots and classical music cues used in an obvious way, make it undeniably melodramatic. While a certain degree of romance is good, this film is trying too hard, especially when you can almost see the young versions of the characters being undeniably in a way coaxed (or coached if you will) in their performance. The eventual realization and the way it plays is a little too overwrought for its own good. The filmmaker seems to play it like this is something not quite seen before but without a bit of levity (and the ability to laugh at itself a little bit), the narrative simply becomes downtrodden. The time jump is an understandable plot ploy but doesn't really deconstruct the idea any further. "Bloom" wants to show the discovery of a man in his search for love but it slogs along a little too much for its own good. C

By Tim Wassberg