Review | To My Nineteen-year-old Self movie review: Mabel Cheung documentary is an engaging, but deeply flawed, account of Hong Kong school life
- Mabel Cheung’s film follows six schoolgirls for 10 years that include the 2019 anti-government protests, during which they and the city face rapid change
- It’s not a fly-on-the-wall documentary – she inserts herself in the action – and its superficiality and unsubtle narration make it passable rather than great
3/5 stars
A commission by Cheung’s alma mater, Ying Wa Girls’ School, To My Nineteen-year-old Self is a captivating coming-of-age drama for which she trained her camera on a small group of students from the elite secondary school for a decade – filming started in 2011 – as they lived through the joys and sorrows of adolescence against the backdrop of a rapidly changing Hong Kong.
Any accolades the film garners should go first to the six girls on whose lives it focuses. Laying bare their personal thoughts and concerns in sometimes touchingly innocent moments, they offer a wide spectrum of experiences that is sure to resonate with viewers who grew up in the same education system.
From the confident girl who came to lead the student body to the wannabe policewoman who was named head prefect, and from the dreamer whose show business aspirations were dashed by her broken family to the black sheep who started dating and smoking far too early, the choice of subjects touches all bases.