the review of a film about the convicts of meal delivery platforms

The synopsis

Lu, who arrived from China to New York with the dream of opening his restaurant, quickly sees his hopes crumble, leaving him mired in debt and invisible odd jobs. His wife and daughter, whom he has not seen for years, finally come to join him, with the desire to rebuild a life by his side. So, for a few days, Lu strives to offer them a moment of happiness and to rekindle the lights of a possible future.

Paris Match review (3/5)

In line with “The Story of Souleymane”, but with a more marked family dimension, “The Lights of New York” by Lloyd Lee Choi follows a convict from the meal delivery platforms, these anonymous people whom we meet without ever paying attention to in front of restaurants or in our building lobbies. Often, they are immigrants who come to wash up their dreams on the reefs of uncontrolled capitalism. No doubt influenced by “The Bicycle Thief” by Vittorio De Sica, a masterpiece of Italian neorealism, the filmmaker films the moral dilemma that the hero goes through.

Can you sacrifice your morality and therefore your humanity to make your child believe a fable? This is of course questioning the American dream, which is at stake here, in a New York that is anything but touristy, gray and aggressive. In the role of Lucky Lu, we find a very great actor, Chang Chen, unforgettable interpreter of the masterpieces of Edward Yang (“A Brighter Summey Day”, his first film), Wong Kar-wai (“Happy Together”) and Hou Hsiao-hsien (“The Assassin”). He is the melancholic gaze of this beautiful film, a bit classic in its storyline but so contemporary.

By Lloyd Lee Choi
With Chang Chen, Fala Chen, Perry Yung,