Any parent who has had to advocate for their child will find something to relate to in Chinese-American director Ann Hu’s well-intentioned and gently moving drama. It’s loosely inspired by her own experiences raising a dyslexic daughter, fictionalised here into the story of an illiterate woman who goes to the ends of the earth – at least that’s how it feels – in emigrating from China to New York to get specialist educational support for her seven-year-old.
The acting is patchy in places, but Harmonie He marches away with the movie with a lively performance as sunny little Meimei, who is unable to read or write at school in China. Just before Meimei is expelled (“not normal” is the headteacher’s verdict), a visiting American teacher, Thomas (George Christopher), spots her dyslexia. At this moment, you might well adopt the brace position for white saviour. But it’s Meimei’s mum Lan (Zhu Zhu), a school caretaker, who saves the day. Uneducated herself, Lan makes the wrenching decision to leave her husband and take Meimei to America.
In New York, unable to speak English, Lan gets a job working as a live-in housekeeper-carer to a writer who uses a wheelchair. This is Helen (Amy Irving), who wants peace and quiet to finish a book, not a young family in her apartment. But of course, Meimei melts her heart in five minutes flat. At times the script feels in a hurry to neatly tie up characters’ feelings. What does feel authentic is Lan’s tooth and nail battle to get Meimei into an expensive private school for children with dyslexia. “Getting into Harvard is a breeze by comparison,” says a teacher, rolling his eyes. Helen Slater gives a sensitive performance as the school’s principal Dr Wurmer, a tough but compassionate gatekeeper who must make impossible decisions about whose seven-year-old daughter gets a life-changing education. Confetti is a little predictable and comfortable, but heartfelt.
