The Taste of Youth (2016) (DVD) (Hong Kong Version) DVD Region 3

From a purely cinematic standpoint, The Taste of Youth is a less engaging film than KJ, as the latter captured with depth a uniquely interesting subject over a significant timespan. However, The Taste of Youth's straightforward study offers a timely and more socially relevant look at youth in Hong Kong today, and the undertone of anxiety, discord and malaise that runs through society.

The Taste of Youth uses as its framework a December 2014 event in which 10,000 youngsters set a Guinness World Record by performing the Ode to Joy together at the Hong Kong Coliseum. Cheung finds the varied youths of his documentary from among those 10,000 participants, including a 15-year-old choir leader who plays the part of head prefect but questions the school's unreasonable rules, a 16-year-old alto whose teacher parents want her to become a doctor, an aspiring drummer who gets teased for her weight, a Mainland immigrant who feels the happiest when he's back in his old hometown, two ten-year-old pianists who are still innocent enough to dream, and a 24-year-old who dedicates all his spare time to volunteer work, much to the disapproval of his parents.

The subjects are not particularly interesting as individuals, as they're just normal young people dealing with school, living in the present, and thinking about the future, but their combined stories form a compelling composite of Hong Kong's younger generation. Some subjects are a bit blank, some a bit self-involved. Most are a bit awkward in front of the camera, and all are fairly forthcoming in voicing their worries, frustrations, values and dreams, or the lack thereof. Despite their young age, they are already slightly world-weary and well aware of the realistic limitations and pragmatic expectations of living in Hong Kong.

Just as revealing are the pushy, well-meaning parents who want the best for their kids, the best being a standard path of academic and professional success. They proffer their values and expectations, placing undue pressure on their kids despite their best intentions. As the youngsters fade to silence before their parents, what emerges is the gap between how the two generations see themselves, their futures and the world they live in.

At a time when Hong Kong's younger generation is increasingly asserting its presence in crucial political and social discourse about the city's identity and future, a documentary like The Taste of Youth offers a candid window into the minds and lives of the everyday student, and a bittersweet taste of what it's like to be young, restless and resigned in Hong Kong.