Love Education is a touching Chinese-Taiwanese family drama from powerhouse cinematic figure Sylvia Chang. The film centres on one family but tells many different stories, including the evolution of the relationship of the aging parents, their daughter's grapple with modern romance in an ancestral world. The primary story follows the mother of the family, Qiu Huiying, as she fights to get her father's grave moved to the city so that it might be buried beside her late mother. What stands in the way is her father's now extremely old, extremely stubborn first wife, who, it transpires, was abandoned by her husband when he went to work in the city. Parallel to this we have the youngest of the three generations of women struggling over her own relationship problems with her boyfriend, a passionate, soulful and complex musician. In searching for answers, the daughter bypasses her own mother and turns instead to her grandfather's first wife. Through sheer obstinacy she convinces her to have a conversation and a friendship is created.

Love Education is a thoughtful film, with excellent performances all around. It has a way of gently laughing at its own characters, subtly reminiscent of the way family members might laugh at one another. The plot meanders considerably and there's a fairly tedious subplot about an online news channel wanting to document the conflict over the grave, as an unnecessary reminder of modernity. Beyond that though the film is excellent, deeply passionate and full of lessons to impart but with an aversion to preachiness and a refusal to be judgemental.

At the heart of it is Sylvia Chang, who writes, directs and portrays Qui Huiyinh. She is formidable, a deft hand as a director, with a strong eye for imagery and love of vulnerability in stalwart characters. But she's as strong as an actress, channelling her directorial traits through a phenomenal performance as the matriarch. It’s impassioned and conflicted, as all of her characters are. I very much hope that she continues to build on her status and reputation as one of the finest female auteur working today. Love Education is certainly enough evidence of her overflowing talent.

EveryFilmIWatch is multi-channel film review project run by Sebastian Cox, ScriptUp co-founder. Further reviews can be found on Instagram.