I went to watch this new Mandarin movie simply because it was produced and written by my colleague at Landmark Education - Eileen Cheng. But thankfully, I did! Smell of Rain captures the emotional torment in a human being in a poetic manner but also echoes some of the conversations that we have had at some point in our life.

The main character Xiao Qi doesnt like the smell of rain because it reminds him of the day his mother left him. And he is afraid of getting into a new relationship because of the same reason. This film captures very poetically the torments he undergoes when he is faced with the choice of declaring his love for the girl or not. The power of the film is not in the dialogues but in the long silences that puncture the lives of the characters. Silence gets new meanings and dimensions while also acting as an accessory for humour.

What I best loved about the film were the dialogues (which I got to ‘see’ rather than ‘hear’ in the subtitiles). Especially, in the beginning where Xiao Qi talks about what smells he likes and how he likens the smell of rice to happiness, which is exactly what I do too! I somehow feel happy to know there are mothers and families that are having a good lunch and dinner when I smell rice.)

Of course, one crib I have is that it could have been sharply edited. But I guess, for first time movie makers, I can excuse them for that ;)