Queer East: On the Road 2025: Murmur of Youth

Writers: Lin Cheng-sheng and So-ching Ko

Director: Lin Cheng-sheng

Murmur of Youth directed by Lin Cheng-sheng, who also writes with So-ching Ko, is being presented as part of the Queer East Festival. This may not be entirely accurate, the film features same-sex scenes but its theme may be more the relationship between two girls from different social classes and the melancholy impact of generational change.

The name ‘Mei-li’ means ‘pretty’ and two young strangers form a bond initially because they have the same name but little else in common. Lin Mei-li (Tseng Tsing) comes from a nurturing if chaotic family whose humble lifestyle is disrupted by the declining mental and physical health of the family matriarch, grandmother, who holds conversations with her late husband. Lin’s father is very supportive but his strong belief in the importance of education is not shared by his daughter who is an indifferent to poor student. Heartbroken, when a boy upon whom she has a crush forms a relationship with another girl, Lin drops out of school and starts work selling tickets at the local cinema where she encounters Mei-li Chen (Rene Liu).

Mei-li Chen comes from a family which is prosperous but fractured. Her embittered father feels emasculated by his wife and his immature behaviour is disruptive. In their workplace the insular Lin is drawn to Chen’s mischievous personality and the pair become increasingly close discovering an unexpected physical and emotional attraction.

Director Lin Cheng-sheng takes a naturalistic yet exploratory approach to storytelling. The initial conversations between the protagonists are realistically intimate with Chen and Lin sharing their experiences of menstruation and opinions on boys. A conversation in which Lin’s father reveals the harsh, even brutal upbringing suffered by her grandmother is told in reverential yet harrowing detail.

Despite the title suggesting youthful dissatisfaction the film shows respect for family and traditions. When Lin’s increasingly confused grandmother becomes convinced her bullying gangster husband is still alive and holds conversations with his invisible presence her son steps forward and performs a homemade ‘exorcism’ to provide her with relief.

Director Lin Cheng-sheng is, however, in no hurry to tell the story. The protagonists / potential lovers do not even meet until half the running time of the film has passed. The initial relationship between the pair is charming as they pass time by mischievously leading on a naïve baker  or by making up stories about people who wander by their workplace .

Rene Liu and Tseng Tsing have a natural relaxed chemistry forming a giggly pair of conspirators. The sexual scenes unfold in a hesitant manner with the characters stumbling upon new feelings and experiences – the initial tryst taking place while Lin and Chen are fully clothed and in a public place as if they are suddenly overcome by, and unable to resist, passion.  Realistically the couple try to work through the implications of their actions coping with unexpected shyness and looking at possible ways forward and there is the possibility the experience means more to one of them than the other.

Murmur of Youth addresses the changes in attitudes towards sex over different generations. There is a stark contrast between the tentative but loving relationship between Lin and Chen and the horrific experiences of Lin’s grandmother.

The leisurely style adopted by director Lin Cheng-sheng may require some patience on the part of the viewer but makes for a gentle and moving examination of relationships and family life.

Mumur of Youth is screening at Queer East: On the Road 2025.