The Exiles (2022) - Violet Columbus & Ben Klein

Oddly scattered in some respects, attempting to profile the infectiously brash, chain-smoking Christine Choy, a documentarian and professor, while also simultaneously giving the proper weight to three other subjects - exiles from the Tiananmen Square Massacre, all part of the student movement some thirty years ago. Not particularly incisive or revelatory in its general investigation pertaining to the complexities of political economy but I found Christine Choy instrumental in keeping this film balanced yet pointed in its exploration of the incident from a humanist and personal level. Choy provides the more existential lens in her opinionated yet quietly profound quips about the tragedy, at one point quite astutely reminding the viewers of the reality that we as individuals are often sculped by external experiences that ultimately define our perceptions, our reality, and our identity. I think the film could have been significantly better and more effective if it spent more time profiling the three other subjects, refining, and building on some of its more existential notions of living which Choy seems to inhabit in a way that doesn't ultimately give in to the specificity of a moment.