Teng I-Han’s “A Balloon’s Landing” (2024) is a story of two boys separated by distance and time eventually coming together by coincidence or fate. Such are the vagaries of time. Everything dislodges after a while. Some revelations open up a twist in relationships, the new light of discovery shaking up one’s beliefs about the other. Things seem to shift until they are disclosed as the same pattern of behavior.
A Balloon’s Landing (Wo zai zhe li deng ni, 2024) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
A Journey of Redemption and Secrets
“A Balloon’s Landing” opens with Hong Kong writer, Tian Yu (Terrance Lau), who shot to stardom with his novel Ink Blue. Trouble tails him when he lands in a soup of plagiarism accusations leveled by a Taiwanese author whose novel’s narrative echoes his bestseller. Several convergences bring controversy and bad blood against Tian Yu. He gets depressed and suicidal. Tian Yu wants to flee all the backlash. He has sleepless nights and feels like he’s become a pariah.
It’s then that he decides to set off for Taipei to reconnect with his pen pal from years ago. He embarks on a trip to find the Bay of Vanishing Whales, which is where the boy had forged a promise that they would meet there. But a lot of hurdles inevitably come in the way. On his very first night in Taipei, he is duped. A kind stranger, A Xiang (Fandy Fan) gives him shelter. He becomes the local guide, showing Tian Yu places, and telling him all he needs to know. A Xiang is also the source of comfort, enlivening his mood and being fabulously funny and light-hearted. He promises Tian he will take him to the Bay. But it is also evident he’s hiding something. What could it be? The answers will emerge later, though it doesn’t demand much of a savvy intelligence and intuition.
What Happened to Xiang?
In between there’s a chase scene. The two guys are pursued by a group that’s seeking Xiang. The car breaks down in the middle of the road. The two of them inch towards comfort in each other, and their bond deepens profoundly within a very brief span. The actual visit to the Bay is deferred by Xiang. He takes Tian instead to a fireworks festival. There’s the promise of the two sharing precious company but that never transpires.
The next morning, Tian returns to Hong Kong. He has been told the case is being settled and the film rights of his bestseller sold. There are people lining up to pitch the film adaptation of the book. That’s what gives him hope and strength, besides the comfort Xiang ushered back in his perspective towards life. His purpose finds a renewal, a spring in his stride. Everything seems to head back to perfection except that Xiang completely disappears from his life. He writes him letters. There is no response or acknowledgment.
A Balloon’s Landing (Wo zai zhe li deng ni, 2024) Movie Ending Explained:
Does Tian meet his pen pal?
The mystery of his disappearance shrouds the later sections of the film, albeit it’s all very rushed as a dump of critical information. The author whose book’s narrative mirrors Tian’s, who drew on his memory of his pen pal, drops the revelation of the boy he had been searching for. Of course, the pen pal was none other than Xiang. He immediately knew right off the bat on Tian’s arrival the nature of his trip but held back. Xiang had got sucked into the underworld, which he shielded Tian from discovering and getting hit by.
The woman had been a social worker, which is how she came across young Xiang, who then had a different name. Xiang shaped a new life for himself. When Tian asks her about his present whereabouts, he is told he had a car accident. But Tian remains hopeful. At the Leslie Cheung anniversary world tour, he believes he will meet him again or a shadow of him. The film ends on the train. Surprised but also relieved, he meets Xiang again. Or is it someone else he’s projecting his hope of Xiang on? A friendship is formed, a promise to life and adventure and joy. This is what Xiang imparts to Tian, in death. A shadow of him will be around, guiding Tian ahead.
A Balloon’s Landing (Wo zai zhe li deng ni, 2024) Movie Review:
“A Balloon’s Landing” is full of strange promises. You expect the film to be one thing, it reveals itself as quite something else. It’s torn between being subservient to varied kinds of drama. It teases a certain kind of anticipation and ultimately sidesteps all that fervor to resemble a different kind of narrative. You feel swindled the narrative led you with breadcrumbs or rather direct clues to queerbaiting. There are jostling hints of romance blossoming between the boys. The dynamic between Tian Yu and A Xiang bubbles with erotic tension and possibility. There are gathering indications of the sexual heat stirring.
There is a journey at the center of the narrative. But the attraction never achieves a genuine ring to it. It feels customary and bafflingly insipid. The characters have no freshness of connection. You wonder why Tian Yu is so deeply drawn to Xiang. Of course, the latter flaunts high charm. He helps Tian feel less lonely and disconnected from everyone around him. What else impels this profound connection? It keeps Tian afloat.
He gets the courage and the hope to push through yet another day. Tian gets a fresh lease on life. Xiang stays shut out from his own self. He doesn’t share what haunts him, instead, he escapes his grief by evasion, mischief, and fun with Tian. The film struggles to render the charge between the characters credible and engaging, flattening our engagement with them as it winds up to its later discovery.
The performances are also mostly one-note, unable to rise and emerge as complex, layered beings with clashing dilemmas and seething conflicts. The whole enterprise of the film is unsteady, unsure of what tone to switch to once revelations are spurred. The queerbaiting feels manipulative and exploitative once the curtains are pulled back on the foundation of the intimacy.
