Ann Hu’s Confetti is a film about a young mother’s quest to find proper education for her dyslexic daughter, Meimei (Harmonie He).
In a rural Chinese village, Chen Lan (Zhu Zhu) knows Meimei has difficulties learning but is intelligent. Chen Lan works as a cleaner at the school so that she can check up on Meimei throughout the day. Meimei cannot grasp basic concepts and is treated as stupid, with the principal talking about having Meimei removed from the school altogether. Everything changes when a teacher from the US, Thomas (George Tronsrue), recognizes that Meimei is dyslexic and is able to teach her some things using different methods.
Thomas recommends that Meimei goes to a school for children with learning difficulties because he can only help Meimei so much and after being turned down from the only school in China, Chan Lan is then determined to go to the US in order to help Meimei. Chan Lan’s husband, Chen, supports the plan to an extent, and mother and daughter both move to the US where Thomas has arranged for them to stay with Helen (Amy Irving).
Helen, suffering from grief from the loss of her son, instantly tries to get rid of Chan Lan and Meimei because she sees them as a bother, as they don’t speak English but her opinion changes when she sees Meimei being passed around to different teachers at the local public school. With the help of Helen, Chan Lan finds a school that can finally help Meimei. However, the school is challenging to get into and is very expensive. Through her persistence, Chan Lan gets Meimei into the school she needs. Throughout the film, you realize that Chan Lan is so determined because she’s dyslexic herself and cannot type.
This was really a heartfelt film and apparently based on Hu’s own life. You really can’t help but root for Chan Lan to be successful. Meimei is charismatic and so likeable. It also sheds light on how many children are considered stupid, when they either learn differently or have a disability.
I can’t really think of anything negative to say, which is rare. I saw this a while ago, and it’s still fresh in my mind as it was so impactful. I will definitely watch any further films from Hu in the future.
7.0
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I’m a Data Analyst, from the land of Matthew McConaughey. I’m an avid movie-goer and love seeing films in theaters. My most recent favorite films are Good Time, Only Lovers Left Alive, TENET, and England is Mine. When I’m not at the movies, I’m either reading or watching obscene amount of true crime and historical documentaries.
