The opening film of the inaugural Columbian Film Festival in Singapore
A film by director Franco Lolli
The opening scene - mom is packing things in the living room and is carrying baby. Grandparents are in the room with mom. Lead actor, Eric, sits near the door with his dog, Lupe.
Mom and son on crowded public bus with the dog to meet the dad. Mom leaves son and dog in Dad's care.
The dad's place is tiny and messy. Imagine opening the door and that's it. Meet the bed. Dad works as a furniture repairman for Maria Isabel who is this really rich lecturer or teacher with two children.
There is great disparity between the rich and poor. This is evident in the streets outside the dad's place and that of Isabel and her friends.
I sympathise with Isabel as her kindness to both father and son is not repaid. Instead Eric makes things difficult for her e.g. throwing boyish tantrums and showing disobedience by refusing to eat his supper. Dad prefers to work elsewhere rather than at the summer cottage repairing furniture for Isabel's friends.
At the same time I can understand where the dad is coming from. He prefers not to be pitied. The one who gets hurt the most from this separation between parents is the child, Eric. He gets bullied by friends of his age, who call him names in childish ways. A scary thought is how these kids grow up to be adults someday and never outgrow this sort of bullying and power struggle.
Eric prefers home and the dad that he does not like to Isabel's fancy cottage, extravagant meals and Christmas presents.
As part of this growing up process, Eric makes a difficult decision of allowing his dog be put to sleep due to cancer.
This story is real in that there is no happy reunion showing the complexity of human relationships, there is a daily struggle to make ends meet, to fit in (for both father and son), and the facing of death.
There is nothing fancy or stylistic in the storytelling or moving picture which may explain the increase of film goers checking their mobiles constantly, which irritated even the likes of me.
My friend explained the gist of this film well, "It's about every life."
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
Tuesday, April 25, 2017
Pop Aye
By local filmmaker, Kirsten Tan, and the first Singaporean movie nominated for the Sundance Film Festival
An architect on a journey with his elephant encounters many different types of people
The effects of urbanisation on people and animals.
Regret and guilt.
The movie begins with a middle-aged man trying to hitchhike with his elephant. Later we find out that he has mistaken this elephant to be that of his childhood elephant, Popeye. He sold Popeye out to start a livelihood in Bangkok. Popeye was put down a few years ago as his leg was broken.
But first he appears to be sidelined at work. This unhappiness propels him to his childhood memories about his childhood elephant. He buys one who was being monetised.
This elephant is really cute and expressive. He can smile, make noises when he's sad, sheet and happy. Very cool.
The film pans back and forth between real time and what transpired before. We understand that the lead was thrown out of the house by his wife.
In his bid to travel to his childhood home, he meets a vagrant, policemen and a transvestite. The vagrant, though poor, willingly gives up his early possessions to him, and is kind. The lead gives him money to buy a scooter to fulfill the vagrant's childhood dreams and a phone.
The lead gets caught fire forged papers etc, but cleverly gets his policemen drunk and escapes with the help of a transvestite. She was very kind too and got him the keys to unlock his elephant. There is this jarring unkindness in the sex industry in Thailand.
Along the way they met the vagrant who met a fatal accident. Detouring again he cremated the vagrant and brings the ashes to his lover.
Finally they reach his childhood kampung, which lo and behold, is now a cement building with similar units like a HDB. His uncle sold the land to a developer, seeking himself out to the city. The city took his soul, no doubt.
Sadly he brings "Popeye" to an elephant sanctuary. Did he managed to redeem himself?
The movie closes with impending demolition of the first building which the lead character but. It is sad but seemingly inevitable.
An architect on a journey with his elephant encounters many different types of people
The effects of urbanisation on people and animals.
Regret and guilt.
The movie begins with a middle-aged man trying to hitchhike with his elephant. Later we find out that he has mistaken this elephant to be that of his childhood elephant, Popeye. He sold Popeye out to start a livelihood in Bangkok. Popeye was put down a few years ago as his leg was broken.
But first he appears to be sidelined at work. This unhappiness propels him to his childhood memories about his childhood elephant. He buys one who was being monetised.
This elephant is really cute and expressive. He can smile, make noises when he's sad, sheet and happy. Very cool.
The film pans back and forth between real time and what transpired before. We understand that the lead was thrown out of the house by his wife.
In his bid to travel to his childhood home, he meets a vagrant, policemen and a transvestite. The vagrant, though poor, willingly gives up his early possessions to him, and is kind. The lead gives him money to buy a scooter to fulfill the vagrant's childhood dreams and a phone.
The lead gets caught fire forged papers etc, but cleverly gets his policemen drunk and escapes with the help of a transvestite. She was very kind too and got him the keys to unlock his elephant. There is this jarring unkindness in the sex industry in Thailand.
Along the way they met the vagrant who met a fatal accident. Detouring again he cremated the vagrant and brings the ashes to his lover.
Finally they reach his childhood kampung, which lo and behold, is now a cement building with similar units like a HDB. His uncle sold the land to a developer, seeking himself out to the city. The city took his soul, no doubt.
Sadly he brings "Popeye" to an elephant sanctuary. Did he managed to redeem himself?
The movie closes with impending demolition of the first building which the lead character but. It is sad but seemingly inevitable.
Tuesday, April 11, 2017
Swipe Right
A play by Year 3 LaSalle acting students
Was filled with humour, localised context, and updated with contemporary culture and current knowledge.
About Tinder
The superficiality of using looks to determine love
Or maybe it is not about finding love
Though there were successes
Love at first sight. The click. The same frequency.
Putting up private details on dating apps
They never allow you to quit
It's about the data
And statistics
And understanding human behaviour
Pursuit of something
Finding that special someone or something
Even though it's theoretically, logically impossible
It could be a Yeti
Who is thy father
Definitely not a Pontianak
'Cos there are way too many buildings and concrete
The millennials
Emojis everywhere
The government
The constant train breakdowns
Will just be the new norm
The Underground protests
Uber drivers who is not interested in human contact or conversations
He is just an Uber driver
Poetry of mineral water bottles meeting in a lonkang
People stuck to their phones all the time
Controlled by machines without knowing
The Yeti who buys from Ta Bao
Bemoaning the lack of Singaporean myths (this just reminded me of Yishun Devil's Ring, and of course the cow going up HDB lift)
That starving and pain are a given of conceptual freelance artists
Exploring the tunnels of Singapore
Finding true love at the most unexpected places
That finding love is a journey and discover akin to a ride on the MRT
The funny, tacky, crude and sexy pick-up lines
Couples who make eyes at each other and say the most mushy things
Ah Beng Nathan Hartono
Ridiculous sounding surname To-to marrying a To to be a To To-to
It was good, at times insightful though some parts were a tad bit draggy.
Was filled with humour, localised context, and updated with contemporary culture and current knowledge.
About Tinder
The superficiality of using looks to determine love
Or maybe it is not about finding love
Though there were successes
Love at first sight. The click. The same frequency.
Putting up private details on dating apps
They never allow you to quit
It's about the data
And statistics
And understanding human behaviour
Pursuit of something
Finding that special someone or something
Even though it's theoretically, logically impossible
It could be a Yeti
Who is thy father
Definitely not a Pontianak
'Cos there are way too many buildings and concrete
The millennials
Emojis everywhere
The government
The constant train breakdowns
Will just be the new norm
The Underground protests
Uber drivers who is not interested in human contact or conversations
He is just an Uber driver
Poetry of mineral water bottles meeting in a lonkang
People stuck to their phones all the time
Controlled by machines without knowing
The Yeti who buys from Ta Bao
Bemoaning the lack of Singaporean myths (this just reminded me of Yishun Devil's Ring, and of course the cow going up HDB lift)
That starving and pain are a given of conceptual freelance artists
Exploring the tunnels of Singapore
Finding true love at the most unexpected places
That finding love is a journey and discover akin to a ride on the MRT
The funny, tacky, crude and sexy pick-up lines
Couples who make eyes at each other and say the most mushy things
Ah Beng Nathan Hartono
Ridiculous sounding surname To-to marrying a To to be a To To-to
It was good, at times insightful though some parts were a tad bit draggy.
Tuesday, March 28, 2017
It's Only The End of The World
Juste La Fin Du Monde (It's Only The End Of The World)
This was one big question-mark film we caught at Alliance Francaise today. Firstly I don't understand French. It didn't help that there was so much dialogue and it was real quick conversation. My eyes had to move between the visuals and catching the subtitles. Furthermore, I was trying to read the expressions of the actors and actresses and trying to catch the subtle nuances. Didn't help that I don't quite remember the synopsis other than the fact that Marion Cotillard is so "chio".
The perspective and shots were quite unseen in my world. The scenes were mostly slow moving with a lot of dialogue and real intense towards the end.
Initially i thought Catherine was married to Suzanne. She was Antoine's wife. He's filled with so much anger. Maybe because they are unable to conceive and Louis, the brother and lead of the show is the surrogate father. There were intense moments when I thought the brother, a homosexual, was attracted to the sister-in-law. And Louis was attracted to Antoine.
And the mom. Her passing words to her son, "we'll be better prepared the next time" may mean that this is all a pretence?
And the sister whom he has never met - Suzanne. They are really strangers. He does not accept the invitation to sit on her bed. She adores him like crazy and has all those newspaper clippings of him.
And in the end, he never told them about his illness. Although at many moments the air is charged with so much tension I thought "yes he's finally going to say it". Nope. Didn't happen.
On the contrary, he spoke about other things. E.g. as his mom wished - to encourage his sister. As Antoine wished - to continue that conversation in the car. To visit again to make up for all that lost time. Which was so sad yet beautiful.
That mundane talk in the car without expression of true feelings. That seems so true of everyday life, especially with people we're familiar with and love.
In the end, he imagines the cuckoo flying out from the clock and I keep thinking he's just not going to find his way out and die. True to be told it seemingly flies back into Time but the camera pans to a bird that has fallen asleep.
It is a peaceful sleep.
This was one big question-mark film we caught at Alliance Francaise today. Firstly I don't understand French. It didn't help that there was so much dialogue and it was real quick conversation. My eyes had to move between the visuals and catching the subtitles. Furthermore, I was trying to read the expressions of the actors and actresses and trying to catch the subtle nuances. Didn't help that I don't quite remember the synopsis other than the fact that Marion Cotillard is so "chio".
The perspective and shots were quite unseen in my world. The scenes were mostly slow moving with a lot of dialogue and real intense towards the end.
Initially i thought Catherine was married to Suzanne. She was Antoine's wife. He's filled with so much anger. Maybe because they are unable to conceive and Louis, the brother and lead of the show is the surrogate father. There were intense moments when I thought the brother, a homosexual, was attracted to the sister-in-law. And Louis was attracted to Antoine.
And the mom. Her passing words to her son, "we'll be better prepared the next time" may mean that this is all a pretence?
And the sister whom he has never met - Suzanne. They are really strangers. He does not accept the invitation to sit on her bed. She adores him like crazy and has all those newspaper clippings of him.
And in the end, he never told them about his illness. Although at many moments the air is charged with so much tension I thought "yes he's finally going to say it". Nope. Didn't happen.
On the contrary, he spoke about other things. E.g. as his mom wished - to encourage his sister. As Antoine wished - to continue that conversation in the car. To visit again to make up for all that lost time. Which was so sad yet beautiful.
That mundane talk in the car without expression of true feelings. That seems so true of everyday life, especially with people we're familiar with and love.
In the end, he imagines the cuckoo flying out from the clock and I keep thinking he's just not going to find his way out and die. True to be told it seemingly flies back into Time but the camera pans to a bird that has fallen asleep.
It is a peaceful sleep.
Thursday, March 23, 2017
Where is your Diamond Island?
"Diamond Island" by French-Cambodian filmmaker, Davy Chou.
Loved this film which was screened at Alliance Francaise on 21 March 2017. It starts with this publicity commercial of this beautiful, utopian ideal of city living in Cambodia called Diamond Island, set just a stone's throw away from Phenom Penh. There's this game reality about this commercial (imagine SIM City publicising this) and the best part... The highlight on this island has a ship-like tower that bears so much resemblance to Marina Bay Sands.
And that is true. I thought it must be a parody. They are at this moment building a hotel which looks like that in Cambodia, on Diamond Island.
This feature film about the loss of innocence of those 4 boys and the differing lives they lead because of the opportunities presented is sad yet so true.
Loved this film which was screened at Alliance Francaise on 21 March 2017. It starts with this publicity commercial of this beautiful, utopian ideal of city living in Cambodia called Diamond Island, set just a stone's throw away from Phenom Penh. There's this game reality about this commercial (imagine SIM City publicising this) and the best part... The highlight on this island has a ship-like tower that bears so much resemblance to Marina Bay Sands.
And that is true. I thought it must be a parody. They are at this moment building a hotel which looks like that in Cambodia, on Diamond Island.
This feature film about the loss of innocence of those 4 boys and the differing lives they lead because of the opportunities presented is sad yet so true.
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Quotes from A Writer
“Myths are public dreams, dreams are private myths.”
“Follow your bliss.
If you do follow your bliss,
you put yourself on a kind of track
that has been there all the while waiting for you,
and the life you ought to be living
is the one you are living.
When you can see that,
you begin to meet people
who are in the field of your bliss,
and they open the doors to you.
I say, follow your bliss and don’t be afraid,
and doors will open
where you didn’t know they were going to be.
If you follow your bliss,
doors will open for you that wouldn’t have opened for anyone else.”
~ Joseph Campbell
“Follow your bliss.
If you do follow your bliss,
you put yourself on a kind of track
that has been there all the while waiting for you,
and the life you ought to be living
is the one you are living.
When you can see that,
you begin to meet people
who are in the field of your bliss,
and they open the doors to you.
I say, follow your bliss and don’t be afraid,
and doors will open
where you didn’t know they were going to be.
If you follow your bliss,
doors will open for you that wouldn’t have opened for anyone else.”
~ Joseph Campbell
Tuesday, March 21, 2017
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