Piercing Water

In Lanyu, a volcanic island in Taiwan, it is said that an ancestor with the tail of a fish prayed to the gods to become a man, to resemble others in order to integrate. His wish granted, he lost his tail but was then turned to stone. In front of this “siren eye”, a large volcanic outcrop, two brothers wander. The elder drifts alone at night, to escape the insomnia that has dogged him since his return from the army. The younger, bright and cheerful, fishes, dives and devours every carefree moment with his friends. The sea is a refuge for both of them, with each seeking among the waves a haven of peace where they can find their place. Far from the lights and bustle of Taipei, Piercing Water is a superb coming-of-age story that reveals, with a rare sensuality, an island way of life and its precarious stability. Time seems to have stopped, but a sense of threat lingers. Is it the memory of a distant ancestor, or that of an uncertain future?

Anne Delseth