★★★★☆
Yi-Shan Lee’s A Dance With Rainbows captures the underdog spirit of Rocky while combining it with the family drama that defines the film, revealing a different side to what initially feels like a familiar story.
Yi-Shan Lee and Ho Ping’s script starts as a straightforward boxing film following an underdog. It quickly shifts, revealing that it isn’t truly a boxing film at all, but a character-driven drama featuring exquisitely crafted boxing sequences.
The film is a coming-of-age sports drama that uses boxing as the backdrop for a deeply personal story about family, resilience, and self-discovery.
While, on the surface, the film is about Ling, a boxer trying to make a name for herself, it’s much more of a character study.
It offers insight into Ling’s life, motivations, aspirations, and desires. Her personal life and family drama become the centerpiece that holds the film together.
“A deeply personal character-driven drama with exquisitely crafted boxing sequences.”
Lee and Ping use boxing as Ling’s connection to the real world, helping her understand the realities of life and ultimately choose the path she wants to follow.
They constantly force her to make decisions that challenge her original ideas of right and wrong, good and bad, replacing those simple notions with shades of gray.
Almost everyone around her, especially the adults, operates with a quid pro quo mentality where honor, hard work, and discipline mean nothing.
Instead, success, money, and getting ahead are presented as requiring you to sell your soul, your morals, and ultimately yourself.
Ironically, it’s the son’s ping pong coach—who has only a small role in the film and an even smaller one in relation to the antagonist—who delivers the film’s most insightful and meaningful advice. The moment arrives unexpectedly, making it all the more impactful, endearing, and worthwhile.
Lee’s direction is crisp and fluid, allowing the film to move effortlessly between the boxing sequences and the family drama.
The pacing remains steady throughout, never dragging or rushing through important moments.
Part of that success comes from Lee’s approach to the boxing scenes.
The fight sequences are shot with remarkable precision. They’re loose enough to feel natural while remaining sharp and steady as the camera follows the fighters around the ring.
Combined with astonishing sound mixing, every punch lands with convincing weight, pulling you into the action and making each bout feel like you’re watching a real boxing match rather than a film about one.
“The fight sequences are shot with remarkable precision.”
Yi-Chun Tsai’s score is subtle and doesn’t fully emerge until roughly 20 minutes into the film. When it does, it’s smooth and light, moving through the story like Christy Martin in the ring.
The performances are spectacular, and every character feels authentic and lived in.
Lin Yi-ting’s performance as Ling is nothing short of spectacular. She fully embodies the character, bringing remarkable depth to Ling’s resentment toward her parents while simultaneously conveying her longing for her family to be whole again.
She showcases grit and endurance while quietly harboring the emotional pain waiting beneath the surface.
Yu An-shun and Lotus Wang, who play Ling’s parents, also deliver excellent, deeply committed performances. While they operate at the same level of execution as Lin Yi-ting, their characters simply aren’t given the same opportunity for emotional depth.
“Lin Yi-ting’s performance is nothing short of spectacular.”
A Dance With Rainbows is a knockout, delivering an insightful, deeply personal character-driven narrative while executing its sports drama elements flawlessly.
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