![BELIEVER Review: Lee Hae Young’s 2018 HK-Inspired Reimagining Is Preaches A Violent, Well-Crafted Gospel [Reprint/Revisal]](https://i2.wp.com/filmcombatsyndicate.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/BELIEVER-3.jpg?resize=75%2C75&ssl=1)
After the fabulous LOWLIFE LOVE there was expectation around Eiji Uchida’s following project, MIDNIGHT SWAN. The result couldn´t be more satisfactory, presenting a moving drama that reaffirms him as a director to be reckoned with.
The story revolves around Ichika, a teenage girl from Hiroshima with problems with her mother, who is taken in Tokyo by Nagisa, a distant relative, who is a transgender woman who makes a living dancing in seedy clubs in Shinjuku. At first their relationship is strained, but Nagisa’s maternal instincts are awakened when Ichika discovers her passion for dancing, creating a motherly bond between them so strong that makes them inseparable.
With this emotional drama, Uchida wanted to explore the obstacles and difficulties of the transgender community, in a story that is not exempt from sleazeness. However,during the key scenes of the film, Uchida is able to move the audience into tears through a labyrinth of emotions that are reflected on the screen wth rawness, in a tale about the frustration of not living the desired life, but also the illusion of discovering a passion and how love can be a form of salvation, even when hope has already been lost…
