Synopsis
“Closing Dynasty” is an intimate short film that showcases the struggles of a young girl facing the challenges of urban life. Indomitably resourceful, she survives the unforgiving currents of the city with quiet strength. The film, written and directed by Lloyd Lee Choi, is about a seven-year-old girl skipping school and wandering the streets of New York, where she works as a hustler. The short has a run-time of about seventeen minutes.
Milinka Winata, as Queenie, delivers a stellar debut performance. The film begins as she enters the city, busy and focused as if executing a plan. She accosts people in the subway, on the streets, and in the parks, telling them she is either fundraising for a basketball team or collecting donations. Although a bit strange and troublesome, her methods are far from futile. In fact, she is doing her best to help her family.
The viewer is brought deeper into the story as the story unfolds, and so is brought into Queenie’s perspective, both literally and through emotions. The film often lingers on her eyeline, showing the skyscrapers, the adults without faces, and the overwhelming city to her. There is a blend of quiet sadness, tension, and calm in the wonder of her journey. The city, for her, is a playground as well as a battleground.
Queenie endures everything from rejection and apathy to fleeting moments of kindness, yet she continues to push forward. The film conveys her emotional core through her determination coupled with the gradual unveiling of her circumstances. By the time she goes back to her parents, it’s evident that her work—hustling strangers—has been motivated by love and sheer desperation. It seems her family is undergoing some financial turmoil, so she is instinctively trying to help by any means necessary, even if it’s out of her childhood grasp.
Her family is waiting for her at the end of the film, and while she is exhausted, she is still resolved. The lack of dialogue allows the viewers to understand that since the family is initially waiting for her, they were not aware of the struggle and turmoil she had to go through. The children struggle with the loss of childhood.
Cast and Crew
Milinka Winata as Queenie
Milinka’s debut role is marked with excellence as she amplifies the character of Queenie to life and the audiences seamlessly placed themselves in her shoes thanks to her relatable persona.
Her character’s emotions ranges from determination and fear to playfulness and even vulnerability, all this while saying very little. Winata’s portrayal was so impactful that she was able to carry the film.
Supporting Characters
The supporting roles consist of actors who play the mother and father of Queenie along with some strangers she meets on her journey. Although the bulk of the supporting characters are minor, their relationships with Queenie showcase the spectrum of human interaction, from frigid apathy to fleeting kindness.
Lloyd Lee Choi – Writer and Director
Lloyd Lee Choi is a filmmaker with both commercial and narrative experience, and he approaches this story with a personal and socially responsible lens. His films are gentle in tone, prioritizing focus over exposition. The narrative feels effortless, and the film, while balancing a range of feelings, remains grounded and achieves a powerful, un-sentimental emotional resonance.
Christopher Lew – Cinematographer
Closing Dynasty’s visual narrative is remarkable. The city’s vibrance and Queenie’s intimate journey are captured in the cinematography. The view Queenie has of the world, grand and overwhelming, is shown through her intricate modern and natural close-up framing, and full of possibilities and dangers.
Ashley Ingbretson – Editor
The film’s editing is cohesive and has a clear intention. Each scene seamlessly transitions to a new metropolitan area, showcasing Queenie’s progression and building emotional tension. The film’s short length is efficient without the feeling of being hurried or overstuffed.
Charles Humenry – Film Scoring
The score complements the film’s tone perfectly. Queenie’s feelings are elegantly framed by the subtle piano and ambient textures, which do not attempt to control the audience’s response. Music adds value to the film’s silence and natural sounds, which are important in several scenes.
Key Ideas
Responsibility and Childhood
Closing Dynasty revolves the concept of childhood halted. Queenie personifies countless children who, due to the lack of funds, are compelled to accept adult roles. The film does not judge her. Rather, it attempts to explain her struggles in working so hard as an expression of love and a means to survive.
Economic Disparity
The film makes a deliberate but quiet comment on inequality. The young girl makes her way through richer and more developed parts of the city. However, access to the city’s wealth and opportunities is indifferent to her. She fuels an enormous demand but her level of supply is pathetic. The stark contrasts of reality bluntly highlights the resourcefulness of individuals living in poverty and how it supplies the most ingenious means of coping.
Urban Realism
The film is set in New York City, a setting which is both gritty and iconic. The film neither vilifies nor glamorizes the city. Rather, it portrays the city as a multi-dimensional setting which is populated by a multitude of people, teeming with opportunities and challenges. The film does not require explanation or dialogue-laden scenes in order to provide a social context to the audience.
Visual Style
Closing Dynasty emphasizes the importance of visual storytelling in filmmaking. In this case the emotional impact of the film comes largely from the visual elements. The camera focuses and lingers on Queenie’s face. This helps the audience understand her thoughts. Empathy arises from the film’s light and space elements as well—shadowy subway stations and bright storefronts, as well as empty sidewalks, all reflect Queenie’s changing emotions.
By choosing to show rather than tell, the filmmakers remove the barriers that distance the audience from the film’s world. Every detail contributes and deepens the film’s message, including litter on the streets and the design of Queenie’s coat.
Critical Reception
Closing Dynasty has won accolades from film festivals and critics alike for its compelling stories, remarkable performances, and careful directing. Notably, the film won the Crystal Bear for Best Short Film in the Generation Kplus section at the Berlin International Film Festival. This is a significant achievement for a short narrative work.
Reviewers point out the film’s emotional layers and social commentary, emphasizing Milinka Winata’s standout performance. Critics have labeled the film “authentically heartbreaking,” “a striking moving depiction of resilience,” and “subtly devastating.” Many viewers have noted the film’s remarkable ability to affect deeply, even while being short, a mark of brilliant filmmaking.
Conclusion
Closing Dynasty elegantly conveys a moving and intimate glimpse of a young girl who, burdened with family hardship, astonishingly bears the weight with delicate strength and grace. Adversity is countered by the unyielding spirit of childhood, beautifully captured in this film by brilliant direction, heartfelt performances, and strong visuals.
More than a short film, Closing Dynasty is a testimony of contemporary economic hardship, the dynamics of immigrant families, and the unassuming bravery of the young. It stands strong in the face of the argument that powerful spectacles are needed to tell stories; what you need to tell stories is heart, truth, and perspective.
As her journey unfolds, Queenie’s story transforms into a representation of countless youths drifting through the sociopolitical landscape that largely ignores their existence. Despite this, her story and unwavering will to persist embodies a striking testimony to grace that evokes deep thoughts well beyond the film’s runtime.
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