Film Review: The Right Moment (2022) by Fang Chen

“The Right Moment” is a very competent short that manages to eloquently present a series of social and political comments.

Fang Chen, from the Chaoshan region in Guangdong, China, holds a Master’s degree in Film Making from the China Film Art Research Center. She is dedicated to creating genre films with a personal touch, navigating the space between commercial and artistic cinema while continuously exploring and uncovering unique perspectives in female narratives. In 2022, her feature film script “Ms. Wang Cailing” was selected for the 13th “Supporting Outstanding Youth Film and Drama Program”. Her short film “The Right Moment” was officially selected by the 29nd Beijing University Student Film Festival, and the Macau International Film Festival, among others. Additionally, several of her short films have been showcased at various film festivals.

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The film begins with a letter circulating in a classroom while the teacher is talking, with the last girl giving it to a male student who doesn’t seem to want to get involved, making her rather anxious. It turns out it is a joint petition asking for signature from students in order to complain about a teacher, and everyone in the class have signed it. Two girls, obviously good friends, seem to be the ones that started the whole thing and are quite happy about the outcome, although they are worried they will be discovered, as the whole thing seems to be anonymous.

The girls then split up, with one, Sheng Lan, obviously lying about the place she lives in, mentioning a high-rise place, although she lives in a rundown house across the aforementioned area. Furthermore, it seem her mother does not want her to get involved with anything political. Eventually, however, the letter is discovered, forcing the two girls to choose between protecting or betraying each other. A flashback showing the two, Sheng Lan and Tang Yanyan, reading the letter, reveals what it was all about.

Fang Chen directs a 15-minute short that unfolds in two narrative axes. The first one one is sociopolitical, with the director commenting on the fact that, in the current era in China, reporting on each other has become a routine, thus highlighting a setting that can easily be described as suffocating. The second moves into coming-of-age territory, with the decision Sheng Lan makes essentially forcing her to mature and realize the concept of taking responsibility in life. On a lesser extent, the discrepancies that are found in students due to their parents’ financial situation, even for those attending the same schools, is also commented upon.

This last aspect is also well embedded in the cinematography, with DP Xiaojie Huang highlighting the difference of the two settings, the rich and the poor, in the most intricate fashion, in frames that include how one looks when witnessed from the other. Fang Chen’s own editing also works well, with a relative fast pace that allows the story to unfold nicely, without rushing.

Lin Jingtong and Huang Siyan give realistic performances as Sheng Lan and Yanyan, with the former having the meatier role, and being quite good in highlighting her discomfort about what is happening.

“The Right Moment” is a very competent short that manages to eloquently present a series of social and political comments.