Mad World

Tung (Shawn Yue) has just been dismissed from the mental hospital where he's spent the last few years suffering from a severe form of bipolar disorder. He is not cured; his illness is one that can at best be managed. Once a successful financial analyst, Tung lost his job due to a nervous breakdown, and no one is willing to hire him back. Tung's father (Eric Tsang) is less than happy to have him back home in his tiny single-room apartment. A truck driver who must often travel to China, he's overcome with worry whenever he has to go away, leaving Tung and his medication regime unsupervised. During these periods of solitude, Tung is either at the mercy of nosy, narrow-minded neighbors or, worse, left alone with the ghosts of his past. That past is the source of rifts and resentment between father and son, and its invisible presence may suffocate them both in this claustrophobic shared space. Soon, though, the hostile world outside the apartment presents a whole other set of difficulties. (Hawaii International Film Festival)