Sunday, September 01, 2013
I haven't been watching movies much this year, but when news broke that a Singaporean film had been recognized in the prestigious Cannes Film Festival for the first time, I told myself that I shouldn't miss it.
Ilo Ilo (爸妈不在家) is actually a simple story with not much dramatic bite, but it probably won audiences with its authenticity of a typical Singaporean family in the 1990s. It followed the dynamics of relationships when a Filipino domestic helper was employed into a local Chinese family amidst the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, and how the hostile boy eventually turned to like the helper and incurred some jealousy by the mother.
I noticed some subtle undeveloped storylines in the film, which had the potential of further developing the characters. One of it was when the Filipino maid witnessed a suicide by a neighbour, and then looked at her own wrist, which had a healed scar. That part wasn't explained further, just that she was angry when the boy joked about death. The director probably hoped that the audience would ponder over these subtleties.
I enjoyed the nostalgia when watching this movie, which was set in the 1990s. The father was using a pager; the boy playing Tamagotchi; there weren't flat computer screens nor LCD TV; there were no Yusof Ishak currency notes etc. You could tell that effort was put in to avoid capturing any signs of current-day technologies, which I believe would be pretty challenging. My friend and I did notice one loophole -- we saw a Abercrombie & Fitch paper bag. Otherwise, you'd even suspect if it was really shot in the 1990s.
It was cool to know that Yeo Yann Yann, the female lead, was really pregnant when she took the role of a pregnant mother. The ending credits actually showed real footage of her delivery.
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Rave reviews were given for this film by the media and critics alike. I agree it was a sincere autobiographical feature film, but I'm still a little curious to know what was that main punch that made the audience at Cannes give the film a 15-minute standing ovation after the screening. The film went on to claim the Caméra d'Or ("Golden Camera") for Best first feature film this year. It definitely deserves positive reviews everywhere, but I'm sure there's still capacity to improve in his second and subsequent film offerings.
Nevertheless, I'd encourage you to enter the cinema to support it and other local films.
人生是黑白的.
10:21 PM <3
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