Murmur of the Hearts

As children growing up on Green Island, a former prison island off the east coast of Taiwan, Mei (Isabella Leong) and Nan (Lawrence Ko) were enthralled by their mother's tales of mermaids who long to know the world beyond the sea. Now, well into adulthood and long-estranged, the siblings are adrift in lives characterized by a similar yearning for someplace else, something more. Mei is a Taipei-based painter struggling through a tempestuous relationship with Hsiang (Chang Hsiao Chuan), an aspiring boxer anxious to get on his coach's roster before a worsening visual impairment disqualifies him for life. Nan, meanwhile, leads an orderly existence as a Green Island tour guide. Even though he's desperately lonely, he resists pressure — from within and without — to visit Taipei to seek out his long-lost sister. (Toronto International Film Festival)