Sight (2023): A Review (Review #2125)

SIGHT (2023)

"Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord". So begins The Battle Hymn of the Republic. That could also encapsulate Sight, a deeply moving and effective film. Sight is based on a true story. If there are any deviations from fact, it would not lessen Sight's emotional impact.

Sight flips from Nashville in 2007 and 1960-70's China. Dr. Ming Wang (Terry Chen) is a pioneer in eye surgery. He is able to give sight to those with deeply damaged eyes. Dr. Wang and his Wang Vision Institute partner Dr. Misha Bartnovsky (Greg Kinnear) have had great success with their surgeries. Dr. Wang now has the biggest challenge of his career. Sister Marie (Fionnula Flanagan) is Catholic nun who has brought an Indian girl named Kajal (Mia SwamiNathan) for treatment. In a shocking act, Kajal's mother blinded her so that she could be a legitimate beggar.

Dr. Wang is reluctant to take the case, knowing the immense damage done to Kajal's eyes. However, he takes the chance. However, Dr. Wang is a haunted man. He continues to struggle with the aftereffects of the Cultural Revolution which he and his family barely survived. Young Ming (Ben Wang) wants to follow in the footsteps of his father and mother (Donald Heng and Leanne Wang) into medicine. He also fancies pretty Lili (Sara Yi), the proverbial girl next door. However, these are dangerous times for educated people. The Cultural Revolution is in full force. Red Guard thugs push everyone around and demand that Ming and Lili join them.

The dangers eventually put them all at risk. It is through sheer good luck and the Cultural Revolution petering out that the Wangs manage to survive. Ming's brilliant mind allows him to return to his education and even go to America to continue them. He is also eventually able to bring his family to America, including his lazy brother Yu (Garland Chang).

What he is not able to do is restore Kajal's sight. Ming is bitter and reproachful. No one can get him out of his funk. Misha cannot. His family cannot. Not even pretty bartender Anle (Danni Wang), whom Ming is too shy to approach at first. He feels great guilt about his medical failure. He feels greater guilt over Lili's fate, which is still unknown to him. Approached to try again with another patient, Ming at first declines. However, when he finally finds peace through another meeting with Kajal, Dr. Ming Wang is ready to try again. Will he be able to exorcise his private demons? Will he be able to see internally the way he helps others see externally?

At the end of Sight, the real Dr. Ming Wang appears to tell us that everything that we saw is true. We see footage of Dr. Wang dancing with Kajal at the EyeBall fundraiser. We see pictures of the real Misha and his wife, June. We also see Dr. Wang with the real Arle, whom we discover did end up married. This stays close to a standard biopic. 

What sets Sight apart from other biopics is that we get moments of lightness and humor that play closer to a fictional film.

Dr. Wang opted to name the fundraiser with the deliberate pun of "Eye Ball". In Sight, Misha chides him for choosing such a silly and cliched name. The interactions with his family also have humor, such as his brother Yu's continuing efforts at business that always sound eccentric. Arne and Ming have one of the best "meet-cute" moments. She is working at the hotel bar where Ming is having a drink after an event. The man next to him asks if the food there is good. After Ming tells him that it is, that patron says that "the green stuff" looks great. Before Ming and Arne have a chance to warn him, that patron swallows a massive amount of wasabi. As the poor misguided patron is taken away by ambulance, an immediate bond comes between Ming and Arne. In one of Sight's flashbacks, we see Ming and two other Chinese students arrive at college. The three immediately realize that their suits are inappropriate for the setting. They have little money for new clothes. Enter a scene at the Salvation Army thrift store, where they marvel at jeans for fifty cents. 

Let's just say that their new threads are not exactly the latest styles either.

Moments like these make Sight into a nice, charming film. The audience is not drowned in misery or tragedy or seriousness. However, director Andrew Hyatt does not shrink from showing us particularly dark moments. Hyatt adapted Dr. Wang's autobiography From Darkness to Sight along with John Duigan and Buzz McLaughlin. The various Cultural Revolution scenes shock the viewer with their terror and brutality. They are not graphic. However, the scene where Wang, having been severely beaten, is unable to help a terrified Lili is deeply moving. Sight does not shrink from showing how the Cultural Revolution did great damage both culturally and individually.

It also gives us an insight into Dr. Wang's current dark night of the soul. In Sight, we see a haunted man, privately tormented by what he went through and what he failed to do. This carries over into his work. He is devastated when Kajal does not regain her sight. However, in time he, thanks to people like Misha, Arle, Sister Marie and Kajal herself, is able to forgive himself.

Sight is beautifully acted all around. The film floats between past and present, so we get two Wangs. Ben Wang leaves a very strong impression as the young Ming Wang. He is smitten with Lili, respectful and loving towards his parents, and able to display both courage and fear whenever facing against the Red Guard bullies. Wang shows a wonderful range throughout Sight. After a positive turn in Karate Kid: Legends, Ben Wang shows that he is fast becoming a solid actor in both English and Mandarin. Terry Chen as the adult Ming Wang also displayed moments of almost naïve charm. He also showed Dr. Wang's commitment and tenacity along with his fears and doubts. 

Most everyone else had smaller roles. Even Greg Kinnear, ostensibly the biggest name in Sight. The various figures flowed and ebbed throughout the film. Kinnear was asked to play the loyal, slightly goofy sidekick. He did that well. Danni Wang also was not a major part of Sight as Anle, the woman who eventually agrees to date Ming. She however is both charming and intelligent, a break from the usual portrayal of potential love interests as nothing more than supportive (though she is that). 

Sight blends humor and heart to tell this truly inspirational story. It shows our characters as flawed but ultimately good people, always attempting to do what is right. Dr. Ming Wang is a person of faith. "There is more to life than what we see", the real-life Dr. Wang tells us at the end of Sight. On that, we agree.    

 

DECISION: B+