The Story of 90 Coins (Short)
It feels rare to find a short film that’s so simple that it just works. The setup, and title, of Michael Wong’s “The Story of 90 Coins” reminded me of “(500) Days of Summer,” but this isn’t a reinvention of the romantic comedy, but a story of two people, who have feelings for one another. The man (Dongjun Han) is head over heels in love with the woman (Zhuang Zhiqi), who doesn’t quite feel the same way. The man asks her to give him 90 days. On each day, he will give her a coin. If she feels the way he does after that time, they will get married. If not, they will take the coins to buy drinks, and never see each other again. The promise these two make to one another, however, is not immune to jealousy and desires of the heart, and that promise is forgotten. In many ways, the film Wong has made, from a script by Bai Xuedan, is also comparable to Linklater’s “Before” trilogy in how it explores time as a benchmark for a relationship, but since it’s a fully-contained story, the “(500) Days of Summer” comparison is still more apt. We see joy and heartbreak, passion and jealousy, laughter and tears, as these two have a complicated courtship that will end as unexpectedly as it began. Memory is a powerful thing, however, and the memories forged in those 90 days come rushing back in a way that is impossible to deny in a sweet, emotional short film about love and how it lifts us up in the most surprising ways.
The Story of 90 Coins from Michael Wong on Vimeo.
