Goodbye Mister Wong

The story takes place at the edge of, on the surface and sometimes bellow the waters of a great lake in Laos. France helps her mother in keeping the family business afloat. Mr Wong, a Chinese billionaire, plans to turn the lake into a major tourist resort. He also plans to marry France, with whom he is in love. But France loves Xana, who works for Mr Wong. Goodbye Mr Wong is a melodrama without drama, because the story bets on the intelligence and kindness of all its characters. It is admirable how Kiyé Simon Luang still believes in such archetypes, and favours the mystery of beings to their so-called complexity. Admirable as well is his lack of interest for any trend or mannerism in contemporary fiction. He only keeps the best of French cinema: Marc Barbé and Nathalie Richard, exceptional actors as well, find in this far-off climate and under the expert eye of the filmmaker a playing field up to their frailties. The eye, but the ear as well. “Listen to the sounds of the lake”: the final piece of advice of the village chief reveals the secret of a mise-en-scene in love with the place it portrays. Its exquisite languidness is like that of the barges and boats that carry quiet passions in the hazy whiteness of landscapes. This sovereign slowness is also the resistance of the lake and its inhabitants to the violence of capitalistic predation. If this world is to disappear, let Kiyé Simon Luang be thanked for sharing its beauty.