Was she spurned? Was she rejected? Ultimately, as in with most attempts to communicate with the dead, Splendid Float remains resolutely ambiguous on these questions. Rose sees the ghost of Sunny in various times - whether it is a real ghost or she is projecting is deliberately not said - but what he means is never quite clear. That Rose is unable to say that a relationship even ever existed only makes it harder - this is a film about marginalisation rather than oppression, and the lack of even having a way of expressing her love and her loss is clearly painful to see. Rose is the nonexistent widow, as much a ghost in the present world as Sunny is in the other, and her wailings to the sea for Sunny to come back are only met with bewilderment by Sunny's relatives.
The film also plays up the innate sadness that underpins many Chinese cabaret songs. The melancholic tune that repeats throughout the film speaks of dancing hiding one's essential misery, which holds obvious parallels to the transvestites' attempts to maintain a dual life and the sadness that that can cause. Leavening the weight of the theme are sprinkles of bawdy ribaldry, as well as Taiwanese-language humour.
In the end, the other drag queens provide a solid support network for Rose, with a closeness that shows the true nature of their friendship, but there's no denying the impact of the loss of a great love at so tender an age. This is a film of contradictions: the darkest moment is where one finds happiness; dressing up in drag allows one to find one's true self; through frivolity true friendship emerges. And so, right till the end, the same tune repeats, and the drag queens dance to the music; joy and sadness all mixed in together in a bittersweet performance.
This review taken from Delta Sierra Arts.
Article comments
1 - marta
Your REALLY should warn people that you are giving the plot away by writing a SPOILER ALERT