‘Our Time Machine’ Tribeca review — Life, love, and puppets

Our Time Machine is a funny and moving documentary about an artist’s attempt to cope with his father’s illness by literally and metaphorically creating a time machine.

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Our Time Machine — a documentary premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival — begins with a quote by H.G. Wells: “We all have our time machines, don’t we. Those that take us back are memories…And those that carry us forward, are dreams.” For artist turned playwright and director Maleonn, those are one and the same.

Over budget and behind schedule, Maleonn, attempts to finish his play called “Papa’s Time Machine.” Through lifesize steampunk puppets carefully constructed with springs and gears and scraps of metal — reminiscent of Mad Max: Fury Road — the play tells the story of a son trying to retrieve memories for his father by building a time machine.

The play is semi-autobiographical and constructed from memories Maleonn had with his father Ma Ke, who was a director for the Shanghai Chinese Opera Theater and directed over 80 operas. It’s that artistry that Maleonn has always been chasing and has dreamt of working with his father on a project — “Papa’s Time Machine” is that chance.

However, his plan is complicated by the fact that his father has Alzheimer’s and his health is deteriorating quickly. The movie is framed by the production struggling both financially and creatively while scenes of the family’s time together are cut in.

Documentaries are often as good as its subjects, and Our Time Machine has a wealth of delightfully authentic and often hilarious characters. Ma Ke is so full of life and regret. His wife Ma Duo is a one-liner machine and an almost stereotypical sassy old woman — constantly on her phone and with a quip always ready. And then there’s Maleonn, struggling between pursuing his art as a means to grappling with his father’s illness and being a good son and taking care of his parents.

It’s difficult to communicate the complexity of real human emotion through the documentary form. You need subjects ready and willing to bare it all. And Our Time Machine achieves that transparency without feeling exploitative or overwrought. For the subjects, particularly Maleonn and Ma Duo, talking to the filmmakers is cathartic.

The documentary is formless and relatively plotless. Not many “events” happen. We watch Maleonn’s struggle to finish his play, Ma Ke’s frustration with his illness as it intensifies, and see tidbits of memories that Maleonn is trying to retrieve. But all these vignettes come together to create a moving experience filled with some sadness, but also so much life.

Directors Yang Sun and S. Leo Chiang have so much empathy for their subjects and that comes through in the filmmaking. The same could be said for last year’s Oscar winner for Best Documentary Free Solo. But whereas Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin portrayed emotions they have both felt from experience and relationship with their subjects, Our Time Machine taps into a universal human experience.