Hear Me

A simple romance about a delivery boy pursuing a young deaf girl, Taiwanese romance Hear Me is pleasant and well performed, and understandably was a hit in its native territory. The film shares some flaws with director Cheng Fen-fen’s previous two features (Keeping Watch and Finding Her), but is an improvement by the promising director. Both the young and the young-at-heart should easily warm to this enjoyable little movie.
Tian Kuo (Eddie Peng) is a sloppy but lovable delivery boy who works for his nagging parents (Lin Mei-shiu and Luo Be-an). For unknown reasons, Tian Kuo knows sign language, which helps him at the local pool where he sells lunchboxes to hard-of-hearing athletes training for competition. There, Tian Kuo spies Yang Yang (Ivy Chen), who’s always visiting the pool to cheer on elder sister Xiao Peng (Michelle Chen).
Xiao Peng is a talented swimmer and dreams of competing in the Deaflympics. Yang Yang helps to make her elder sister’s dream come true by working multiple jobs to make ends meet, leaving little time for a personal life. All the while, she’s positive and kind, filial and upbeat, and when she smiles her eyes widen to anime heroine-like levels. Yang Yang is obviously a super sweetheart, so it’s no wonder that Tian Kuo is smitten. But can he win her heart?
Hear Me’s dialogue takes place mostly via sign language. The silent communication makes the film’s conversations overlong, but it also allows the actors a wonderful expressiveness. Ivy Chen and Eddie Peng make a very watchable pair, their expressive eyes and exaggerated gestures making perfect sense for the film’s situations. Peng sometimes mugs too much, but is a charming and able enough performer to sell his character’s over-the-top behavior. Besides, Tian Kuo is decent and righteous, and his unconditional love for Yang Yang makes him easy to root for.
It helps that Yang Yang is also genuinely kind, loyal and giving - and to such a degree that it beggars belief. Such an unbelievably pure character usually screams screenwriter fantasy, but Cheng Fen-fen and the adorable Ivy Chen convince of Yang Yang’s innate decency and strong character. Yang Yang does have minor faults, but they seem to be human ones, and the push and pull between Yang Yang and Tian Kuo proves remarkably affecting. These are two very likable people and even when things become conventional, the gap between screen and audience has closed so much that the contrivances are easy to forgive.
Also engaging are Tian Kuo’s parents, who are portrayed as nagging but genuinely loving. Cheng’s focus on lower-class protagonists is noteworthy, as she portrays her characters’ positive work ethic and earnest values in an identifiable, warm manner. Technically, the film echoes that warmth; art direction and cinematography are decidedly realistic, and capture Taiwan’s urban charm exceptionally.
Cheng Fen-fen does push her messages a bit strongly, but they’re worthy messages, and the rest of the film makes accepting them easy. The romance itself compensates for any nagging doubts, with all of Cheng Fen-fen’s elements - story, characters, actors - complementing each other beautifully. Hear Me doesn’t have the super-glossy romance or epic story of last year’s beloved Taiwanese megahit Cape No. 7, but its charming rough edges, endearing characters and focus on simple values make it perhaps more of an accomplishment.