Is There Money In This? by Vanguard – 48 Hour Film Project: Singapore 2009

To watch a comedy is an intention to amuse. Haven’t you heard that laughter is the best medicine? If you ever wonder what two dimwitted pre-planned robbers might do to carefully prepare themselves to do a well strategize robbery (Singaporean-style) this is a perfect film to get your answers. Maybe not all robbers acted this way but this is a sure fun film to watch leaving you smacking your foreheads and shaking your heads at their hilarious antics.

These two men who looked like in their late 30s, were choosing their weapon of choice from a small knife to a big parang and even rehearsed on their lines with it, advising each other on how to make themselves looked fierce at which point I couldn’t help myself but to laugh. They even tried on the right socks to wear over their heads for disguise. Although their plan was to rob these two men were well dressed for their mission, sitting under the void deck of a HDB flat, munching on peanuts while evaluating and choosing their victims as people walked by. Soon after they spotted a young girl who looked quite wealthy then prepared themselves to strike on her, following her from behind then surprised her afterwards. The girl however, instead of shrieking for help, fainted.

Despite planning to rob, upon seeing the girl lying motionless on the floor decided to help her by calling the ambulance. From robbers to hero, they “saved” what turned out to be a tycoon’s daughter. With their faces on the television news these two men, even though did not fulfill their mission were quite happy.

Honestly, although simple, this film manages to amuse me from the start till the end spicing it up with a little bit of local flair. I liked how it wasn’t too dopey for a comedy. I was glad it wasn’t another Scary Movie turn off.

Lily by JoabImages – 48 Hour Film Project: Singapore 2009

Thriller is well known for it’s cliffhangers and my all time favorite directors that manage to create this was Alfred Hitchcock. Although often overlapped with mysterious stories, the hero in thriller movies have to thwart the plans of the enemy but in Lily, the hero became helpless in the end.

I wasn’t quite sure of the whole storyline at first. Maybe I was trying too hard to make some common sense into it. But the idea of having to be trap in a place where you have to do the same routine over and over again could drive me, or anyone for that matter, up the wall.

Lily was a fictitious character of a television show that felt shackled by the repeated routine she has to do everyday and was dying to be released into reality where she would be “free”. She managed to grab the attention of a television viewer who was sitting on his couch looking rather weary, watching the show. At first in disbelief he then decided to help Lily escape by plugging in his camcorder and pressing the record button only to realize that he will replace Lily’s place in return.

Plot-wise, I thought it was smart in a way but I felt like there could be more to establish Lily’s role in the film and her relationship with the television viewer. But I guess in that moment all he wanted was to free a pretty young lady from her husband and that maybe he wasn’t dreaming after all. I think this could be perfect scare for kids who watch too much television.

Tuff Questions by 3Dollars50Cents - 48 Hour Film Project: Singapore 2009

Animation helps in creating an illusion of something that may not exists in real life. You may not see a real life colossal robot but only in the movie, Transformers. With animation you can also trick the viewers into thinking that you’re in space when you’re actually standing in front of a green screen. Tuff Questions seemed to be using a lot of that with their background making theirs one of the most unique among many. Using an animated drawn effect background created an illusion of a comic strip. With only one actor in this film, it was easy to focus on the subject matter.

I was almost fully intrigued by the use of an animated background throughout the film. Imagining how the production would look like and how editing could almost be arduous and all of which was done in a short span of 48 hours. It was fascinating to a point where it could end up like Sin City (in a way). The usage of the local slang always makes us laugh or chuckle at how amazingly dense it sounds sometimes but the touch of locality made it more easier to correlate to everyday situation. At one part of the film, the actor was made to play several characters in helping him understand or perhaps helped him imagined what happened during the scene of the crime. I must say, it was believable at some point and it felt as if you were trying to solve the case together with him.

I find that they have cleverly utilized the characters well and have created a film with clear direction that resulted in an intelligent yet witty short piece.

Art World by Kijo – 48 Hour Film Project: Singapore 2009

There are many evaluations and definition of art whereby any human can differently view the aesthetic value of a piece of creation. What may seem to be of value to someone can also be a child’s painting that is nicely framed. The thought process of creating a piece of art encompasses a fusion of the human emotions, activities as well as music and literature. Many describe artists as a very disturbed individual – one who lives in seclusion a lot maybe? Essentially, whatever that is made is a fabrication of the human mind.

Every once in a while a film may take you by surprise and sometimes it can be too obvious that you may even predict its “common” dialogues then blows you away with shoddy storyline or even acting. I was nearly killed by the latter. As I was trying to acquire their less audible voices, trying to comprehend every conversation that bandied back and fourth was like deciphering a secret code (not to mention the awkwardly sense of acting that made me irked). So I stopped listening and concentrated on the visual aspects of this film.
A journalist took up a job to interview an artist, one that does not like to be interviewed in the first place. And upon arrival to his spine-chilling lair, she helped herself in, almost constantly greeted to eclectic art pieces and especially one of a human heart in a glass jar. The artist emerged and soon after they conversed but it all ended when she found a human size “statue” behind a plastic curtain. Turns out, she became an art piece for the artist’s exhibition with her heart nicely preserved in a glass jar – the same as the one that she found while wandering in the house.

Smart plot? Yes. Horrifying? A little. Seen before? Yes. Reminds me of The Wax Museum. Although thanks to this film, I am dying to trot myself down to Haji Lane and visit the “scene of the crime” because the place looked very interesting.

Beyond the Band: The Rise and Fall of Johnny Axel by Team Seja – 48 Hour Film Project: Singapore 2009

I am not a big fan of television shows on celebrity gossips neither do I want to pry into other people’s secret lives (though it can bring juicy bits of details that are ultimately overly amplified). But considering the nature of my sense of curiosity, I may in the end want to be informed of the latest inside scoop. And for this one, it was as if I was watching a spoof of Entertainment Tonight.

Johnny Axel was a charismatic young man who was initially from a hardcore band, The Zombies. He left to join a rival band, The Scissors after he fell in love with the bassist, Danny and while they performed in their huge concert, Johnny was killed by a pair of scissors that was flung from a waving fan’s hand and into his chest (unreal but the doctor’s testimony made it seemed possible especially with the 3-D graphics illustrating how the scissors punctured his chest and into his heart).

It wasn’t draggy as I assumed it would be but I was ridiculously annoyed with the reporter on how she played such an unconvincing role. But that aside, Beyond the Band was nicely paced (with well written dialogues I must say) and cleverly edited with details such as name headlines, 3-D graphics and a mock television logo that made this mockumentary well strung together.

It was challenging enough to create a short piece in 48 hours but to make it more difficult was the fact that this was collaboration between two countries, Singapore and Australia (Curtin University). With over 35 casts and crew, I applaud this team for being able to produce an amazing job. I bet they’ve fully utilized Skype for this. Kudos to team Seja.

'Girl Off A Leash' by Amalia Yunus - NYU Tisch 2nd Year Works In Progress

That standard blue SIA bag carried by their stewardesses screams at me when the film opens. It seems to stick out from the overall pink uniform of the flight attendant who’s just disembarked from her flight. Hair still as coiffed and make-up still completely untampered with, she glides through he HDB corridors like she was still strutting down the aisle. That is until she gets home and finds herself immediately embroiled in yet another confrontation with her father. Cornered by hostility at home, she takes a walk out. But at he void deck, she notices her neighbour, Max, a little girl, who is on her way out with her mother. What startles her is the leash that encircles her torso and being tugged around by her doting mother.

I almost became too quick to dismiss this piece as an exaggerated manifestation of HDB living running on a trite topic of parental control. But it turned out to have more heart than I thought. In a ‘tug-of-war’ kind of struggle, the mother loses her balance and her consciousness as well (how convenient!). This allows the Max to ‘runaway’ with Sarah. With the initial clues that Max likes aeroplanes, it is easy to guess what will bring the two half-strangers together, almost too deliberately.

But in a more liberated and breathable setting under a tree, I found there were moments when there was a gush of tenderness seeping through my heart. Perhaps it speaks to a common desire – to escape and fly away (not like a flight attendant!). Layering the issue, Max asks Sarah why she does not ‘flyaway’ from her job if she was not happy in it. Not that Sarah could find an answer. Not that we could find an answer ourselves. But through asking someone else, we often answer our own questions, like Max did. And she got us all a happy ending.

'Encounter' by Ashish Ghadiali - NYU Tisch 2nd Yr Works in Progress

The first thing that made me sit up in this film was the polished and well-contrasted look of the cinematography. For its premise about a cop, the use of shadows, shades and silhouettes accentuate the suspense in all 10 minutes of tension in this drama. A Mumbai cop is on the hunt for a criminal somewhere in a dark alley. With the somber-hued colour palette of the visuals, the mood is appropriately dense. The well-paced editing also sheds enough light on where the story is going without sacrificing mystery and suspense.

But it could be a mediocre, formulaic attempt at recreating a Hollywood thriller or cop drama. Notice I do not say Bollywood despite the content about a Mumbai cop. This is largely owing to the style of the cinematography, which seems very close to commercial standards. Thankfully, there is a twist that brings us back to the less bombastic world of independent films (or even short films). And it hits a frequency close to me because it deals with a familiar issue – being a workaholic. In fact, a cheesy title to the film could be ‘Occupational hazard’.

After the initial 6-7 tense minutes, the cop who has been on the hunt finds himself in his own house. Not entirely sure why, he treads on furtively with a pistol ambushed between his palms, until he sees his wife and child in bed. They exchange incredulous looks at each other – a moment that jolted me out of my viewing stalemate, one that defined the film. He cannot stop working even in the comfort of his own home. In fact, in the light of this revelation, the film’s commonplace title ‘Encounter’ gets an ironic and pretty intelligent double entendre.

'Frankfurt' by Nicolas Pacheco - NYU Tisch 2nd Yr Works-in Progress

A film like this could be potentially pretentious because of the attempt to make something out of nothing. ‘Nothing’ by layman’s standards – the act of abandoning an old sofa. Of course, in the eyes of the characters, the sofa means much more to them and the act of abandoning it is a philosophical journey. 3 friends, who supposedly act as themselves – film students, decide to abandon a musty and crusty sofa. One is regular bloke who just wants his beer at the end of the day. One is more or less the eye-candy (female) of the trio who is also more expressive and emotional. The last one, also capable of stealing the attention, is a gawky intellectual who is documents every moment in the sofa’s road to ‘heaven’.

Reminiscent of Tsai Ming Liang’s ‘I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone’, the sofa goes through a bumpy journey through a urban scape. While the feature imposes a kind of surrealism over a possibly realistic situation – workers salvaging an abandoned mattress, this short takes an unreal situation but makes it quite naturalistic. Poor sofa, after suffering bruises from a 2 storey fall, it tears from the dragging and lugging by the characters. Then, it has to take the pub-debris rubbish of beer cans and peanuts from the trio. Finally, it gets ‘executed’ by kerosene and fire.

The matter-of-fact, unpretentious acting in this potentially pretentious piece probably stems from the fact that they know each other pretty well as schoolmates. It actually becomes quite a treat as the film progresses to see the dynamics of their friendship and interactions. The best is, you know it is mostly quite real. Their reactions to each other, their final thoughts on the sofa, the quirks and touches of spontaneity… it’s a fine line between what’s real and what’s induced by having a camera pointed at them. Don’t quite understand the title though (unless it’s mentioned somewhere in the lines).

'Love Lost' by Leonard Lai - SIFF

That unsettling climax. That's got to be what Leonard wanted us to walk away with. It's been more than a month since I've watched Love Lost and that is still is the first scene I remember. But I am not going to reveal what it is until you share this journey of being lost in love, Taipei, time and even porn with me. Yes, there is porn somewhere inside!

'Love Lost' is Leonard's first attempt at acting and directing at the same time. It is also like an experiment in which he tries to reconstruct (perhaps without a script) scenes from his personal breakup. And it is daringly 45min long which teeters on the fence between a short and feature - facing the risk of not qualifying for certain competitions. The story single-mindedly explores the emotional journey of young man who returns to Taipei (from Singapore) to try to rekindle a broken relationship. From the general dynamics of the events, it is a largely linear story peppered with flashbacks. What makes it special?

Honestly, the thought of the director embarking on a journey of self-discovery through re-enacting an episode in his life, gives me as much thrill as watching an esoteric installation art performance. You are either soaked into it or as amused as a transient museum tourist. But watching the film offered another treat - the freedom of form. "Love Lost' is experimental and 'ill-disciplined' in its style. Whilst trying to imagine ourselves in the soggy and cluttered back alleys of Taipei, Leonard makes a few genre- bending swerves. One distinctive 'trick' was "Leonard-of-the-present' and 'Leonard-of-the-past' sharing the same frame, There is also a jogging-through on the screen of his sms exchange with Faith. But the one that left the most indelible mark is use of stills to take us through the scene in which Leonard attempts to reconciliate with Faith.

Sometimes, this film seems like a '10 things we do when we lose love' kind of film in which the character moves from one indulgent act to another. The opening film already sets the tone of it. A skinny man squats in a forlorn manner in the bathroom while he lets the jets of water from the shower stream down his naked body. In the background is a sobbing sound that sometimes reaches the pitch of a woman. It takes a little time to register that it came from him. Then after a string of desperate acts in Taipei, he finally comes to his basest needs. He tunes in to porn online and starts masturbating. The sequence, though deliberate, gave me a point of connection with the character. It levelled down his behaviour to something we could identify with. And in the context of his breakup, it is helpessly human. I was not too sure about the Chinese lullaby (sung by Faith, reclining next to him) setting the perfect tone for this. :P It was unsettling for sure.

So on hindsight, it's funny how we humans can go from chasing romantic ideals to just satisfying basic needs. Without addressing this, 'Love Lost' would have not have found its way out of the woods.

'Brother No.2' by Jason Lai - SIFF

Having seen Jason's '3 Feet Apart' in the Singapore Shorts Collection Volume 1, makes 'Brother No. 2' a leap of a hundred feet from it. '3 Feet Apart' is mind-tickling animation about a character who has a mobile phone growing out of his ear. "Brother No. 2' is no-nonsense digging of history's skeletons. It is straight-forward, it makes its journey clear and there are no attempts to heighten the drama except maybe for the cartoon drawings which seemed a little incongruent with the rest of the film.

'Brother No. 2' won the Dong Bak prize (the top prize) at the 2008 Busan Asian Short Film Festival. The festival is daring in the way it awards prizes and I was a little baffled after watching 'Brother No. 2' because it was a very safe TV-style documentary that broke few grounds, except for one - getting a big historical figure to be in the video.

The documentary, like many Khmer Rouge documentaries gives a voice to the victims and later generations of victims of the genocide that wiped off about 2 million Cambodians between 1975 and 1979. Soy Sen, a man probably in his 30s is the anchor of the voices and the film. He has lived through a prison camp and returns to his camp to confront one of the prison chiefs whom he believed has been responsible for his father's execution.

If all the merciless torture and persecution mentioned in the history books were true, I began to wonder how the people who persecuted could continue walking around, getting on with their daily lives without back lash from the descendants of the executed. Amidst the more benign post-Rouge surroundings, where Buddhism spreads a veneer of calmness over life, it seemed odd to see these persecutors living side by side with the people they once bludgeoned.

Perhaps this is the workings of a documentary, especially one that involves many talking heads like 'Brother No.2'. Under the untampered, straight-on, natural background shooting style, even the 'villians' of the documentary are humanised. So while, we know the persecutors have done 'bad', they are given the same objective, matter-of-fact presentation. Sometimes, if I don't pay attention, I may lose grip on who's the victim and who's the villian. Perhaps, that's the hidden 'X-factor' in this documentary.

Just to illustrate another example. For reasons unknown (I did not stay for the Q & A), they managed to get a key figure in the Khmer Rouge genocide to appear in the video. His name is Nuen Chea - apparently the second hand man to Pol Pot and the man who released the orders of exection and torture. While the narration psyches us up to face a demon, when Nuen makes his appearance, we see a silver-haired man just enjoying the serenity of retirement in an isolated house. There is a scene of him and his wife enjoying a 3-course lunch delivered to them clearly etched in my mind. He does not speak much. And before the scene was his 'talking head' denying his acts of cruelty. What's unspoken, unmentioned is always more unsettling and that lunch scene had that kind of an effect on me.

While, the documentary scored on various achievements like getting heavy-weights to appear and even following our protagonist Soy Sen faithfully, could have loosened its rules of delivery a little. The entire film is polished in a rather predictable way. It could very easily fit into a Channel NewsAsia programme. Not sure if the producers meant it for that avenue. At its worst, it is a little patronising. While it dug deeply into the story, it could have also dug just as deep into visual imagery that I am sure is abundant in post-war Cambodia. Instead, it used a series of cartoon drawings to illustrate several points, resembling an educational program for students.

The film did come end with something more than a emotional journey. Soy Sen decided that one of the ways to put the matter to rest was to organise a village screening of videos that educated the younger brothers and sisters on the atrocities of the persecutors. Not sure if it will unleash another can of worms, but at least someone's had his say for now.

Guerilla Show - Home Screening of 'Respirator'

Was at a friend's home party and got a chance to watch Michael's (Tay) latest short film 'Respirator'. According to Michael, the Q & A at the party was more intense than his screening at Substation.

Michael either beaming at the favourable response or sharing something very cheeky.

Production Talk - 'Good Morning 60' by Samantha Wee

Samantha Wee's first Singapore-made short film follows the 2 days after an ageing Chinese man, Peter Pang, turns 60. Birthday woes get turned around after a surprise encounter with Bhangra (a form of Indian dance) injects Peter with a newfound zest for life. Through the magic of this dance, Peter attempts to regain the sparks that had somehow gotten lost between him and his wife.

Jeremy (J) : How was the idea for your film conceived? What inspired you?
Samantha (S): I actually got the idea for my film in 2007 when I was still in New Zealand studying. I had been dancing Bhangra for 4 years already and thought it'd be fun to put it into a film. That's pretty much what inspired me - I wanted to do a Bhangra film, and then had to think of a story around it. It started out at first with a much younger main character, someone around my age, but I was getting nowhere with it. Then one day the old man idea suddenly popped into my head and it all came together from there.

J : Is this your first short film? Are you still in school? Or have you been in the media industry?
S : I suppose you could consider this my first short film as the previous ones that I had made were all done at University. I used to crew on lots of short films made by my friends, and I'd also made 2 films of my own. This film however was the first time I made something in Singapore, the first time I worked with a proper budget, hired crew, had professional actors and had so much gear, so to me, I consider this to be my first proper short film.

I'm actually working in the local film and TV industry now. I graduated in 2007 from the University of Auckland with a degree in film studies, and returned to Singapore as I knew I had to come back here to make some of the films I want to make. I've just been doing freelance work as a Production Assistant or Assistant Director, so to be able to make my own film and direct it was really refreshing for me.

J : What's your attachment with Banghra?
S : I've been dancing Bhangra for 5 years already and am part of a Bhangra group called 'Sher~e~Punjab Bhangra Crew", which incidentally is the group you see dancing in my film. I got interested in the dance as I saw a group perform it in my Junior College and was blown away by the energy and vibrancy. I knew one of the guys who had performed in school and asked him if I could join, and he brought me into the group. And I've been dancing ever since, performing at weddings and other community functions. To me, there's an inherent joy that comes along with dancing Bhangra, and I wanted to showcase this in my film, and hopefully whoever watches it gets bitten by the Bhangra bug as well!J : How did you manage to get Lim Kay Tong to act for you?
S : Getting Lim Kay Tong was one of those things where the stars all aligned in my favour. In my first job in Singapore, I had worked on a project where we produced a video on anti-media piracy and in it we had interviewed various people in the local film industry, Kay Tong being one of them. As the PA, I had to call him to arrange an interview time and hence had his number, so after I had written my script, I gave him a call and asked him if he'd be interested to star in my film. I sent him my script, we met up, he said he loved it and that was that. Needless to say I was pretty ecstatic when he said yes as Kay Tong's my favourite Singaporean actor and I didn't tell him this but I pretty much wrote the script with him in mind, so it had to be him.

J : It seems like a relatively extensive production. Was it challenging to carry it off?
S : It was very challenging to carry this project off, mainly because I was also producing it which split my time heaps. Also being my first time making a film in Singapore, there was a lot of groundwork to be done. I had a lot of support though which made the actual shoot days go really well - my crew was excellent and were really efficient despite there being only 4 of them. My parents were also with me all the way, doing things like driving the snacks and I to location, handing out water during shoot, helping me with props and wardrobe...

The most challenging shoot day was probably the wedding scene, which comes right at the end of my film. I had about 30 extras and this was the biggest group of people I'd ever had to work with. My brain went pretty crazy trying to process acting plus blocking plus shots plus logistics, but I think it worked out in the end and everyone left the shoot on a happy note.

J : What type of films do you like?
S : I love American indie films, stuff like Lost in Translation, Me & You & Everyone We Know, anything by Wes Anderson, Juno, Lars & the Real Girl... You know stuff with a good story, well executed and simple. I've also been getting into superhero films of late, my favourites being Iron Man and The Dark Knight.

J : What are your sources of inspiration for films? Any particular person? trend? style? issue?
S : I don't think I can peg my sources of inspiration to any one thing, but I tend to come up with very character-centered stories where the person deals with something, so I suppose whatever issue interests me at the time kind of makes it into a film idea.

In terms of style, I'm very American-indie influenced. Obviously all my favourite filmmakers inspire me, but also, whenever I see a good bit of film, something that's well-written, well-directed, well-handled, I try to learn whatever I can from that and it inspires me to also be able to make something of that level eventually.

'Big Road' by Alec Tok -- SIFF

I have always believed that men should not even think about attempting to decipher the female psyche. They should not write about it in books nor poetry (ever seen a literature class' voracious outroar against John Keats for writing La Belle Dame Sans Merci?) nor make a film about it. Delving into the process of transcribing the female would be like opening Pandora's Box as women's emotions are simply too complicated to be translated into any sort of text.

So you can imagine my surprise to see Alec Tok's 'Big Road' attempt to tell the tales of 3 (random) women in Shanghai: a neglected daughter who was treated like a servant in her own home, a woman who wanders around the central railway station and a barely legal prostitute who later on became the mistress of a very old man.

Whilst the idea of weaving 3 non-related stories together, ala Eric Khoo's 12 Storeys or Love Actually, seems interesting, it proved to be difficult to execute in a succinct manner. The absense of clear lines dividing the stories, merged with the non-linear storyline made the film complicated and the usage of blurry camera effects made it a challenge for the spectator to keep his eyes glued onto the screen.

I thought that 'Big Road' should have been named 'Long Road' instead because that was what watching it felt like: long, langourous and seemingly never-ending. For instance, I saw a number of people going off for a toilet break when the static camera rolled on for 15 minutes, showing one of the protagonists choosing clothes to wear for the day. Women take forever to pick out clothes, we get it already. There's no need to punish the entire cinema for that!

'Big Road' had its plus points despite all that I have ranted about before this. I liked the usage of reccuring motifs such as the hankerchief that was carried by one of the women. It brought a much needed semblance of order in such a chaotic space. I liked the way he incorporated tableaux into the film. I liked the way he juxtaposed the darkness of domestic life with the lightness of running around in the snow. I have to give it to Alec Tok for trying his very best to turn the film into an artistically evocative and rather compelling one despite having picked a difficult subject to focus on.

'Sacrifice' by Mat D. Flims - 48 Hour Film Project : Singapore 2009

No action too big or small should underestimate the power of love.

Cultural and ethnic differences, going against parent’s will, finding possibilities in impossibilities, holding on to thin lines of hopes and letting time be their determinant factor. This film shares the intense journey of two young individuals who steps out onto unfamiliar grounds to fight and declare their love despite the hurdles they have or may faced.

The story unfolds and shares one hurdle which the Malay girl and Chinese male have went through to express and fight for their love. As we follow the Malay female through each hurdle she faces, enlarged text messages conversed between both were use to keep the audiences in suspense and to also act as indicators to guide the audience.

In the name of love, she would cross the lines with her family again despite their objections to this relationship. When the taxi has broke down, she would run the miles in order to be there for her man. When her phone was out of battery, it did not stop her from giving up hope and to rush down to the clinic. Even with these multiple closed doors, she stood firm and did not let these hurdles put out the fire of positivity she has uphold for.

Audiences’ suspense were held when the film shows the male sitting nervously in the clinic. Despite him being oblivious to the receptionist’s intense irritation towards him for constantly moving back his appointment, he continued to wait patiently for her. Light humour were use to lighten the film’s mood through the receptionist’s exaggerated signs of irritation that were plastered across the receptionist’s face as she snipped away furiously on a piece of paper.

In every relationship, it does take two to clap, as cliché as it may sound. With her ‘failed’ efforts and pondering on where he is, he appears from behind the stair case in a sarong bottom. As both lifted their heads and began to walk in opposite direction, their eyes met.

For a second, this ending drew an intense and powerful finish as the partners walk towards each other with sudden relief and a mixture of emotions. Their own individual’s fight for this relationship was deem worthy enough, no matter how big or small their sacrifices are. The film ended with a sentence, which underlies the theme of this film, ‘do not give up on them when they have not given up on themselves’, paraphrased. This was followed with a heart warming wrapped up with both individuals dressed in the Malay traditional wear with a young toddler in their arms.

Have you ever been in love and wondered whether actions are justifiable for a person’s representation of love? Have you stay true to your heart and fight for love in determination despite words of stubbornness and naivety thrown at you?

Like this short film:

Love has to be tried to know whether its worth fighting for.

'Sophie' by X-tremma - 48 Hour Film Project : Singapore 2009

A moment of lust leads a man down the broken path of repents.

With the increase number of marriages in a year, so has the number of affairs. The only noticeable differences are the emotional fruits that reap from them and the various packages people leave with them. One with a smile, the other a broken heart of lies and pain. As far as lust is concerned, the film creates and leaves audience in constant suspense throughout the emotional reflections of the woman. This leads us, the audience, into those painful memories of hers that unleashes the chilling baggages that affairs come along with.

This initial suspense made us seem to follow this woman’s reflections from a ‘hidden camera’ which lures us into following her every action. Our eyes linger around the settings of this seemingly haunted house, those intense seconds of watching the red candles melting slowly infront of the rusty mirrors, her lacy bridal train that sweeps silently against the dusty grey floors and those red full lips and worn out make up. This contrast of a perfect eerie surrounding against a imperfect broken soul within made that the most intense minute.

As we are lured into her chamber of thoughts, the film progressed to further seduce the audience with the ‘cat and mouse game’. A phone call to the married man brought the audiences on another journey of their affair moments and the sweet temptations which both fed each other with. Her raised questions in effort to evoke his memories by bringing him through the trails of their affair; the drifting grey and lustful images of her, the pieces of the missing jigsaw which she answered for him, the lingering of her presence in the house, left the audiences wondering what was she going to reveal next.

“Spohie?” as the married man remembers it all, ‘Click’

As abrupt the ending could be, so were the questionable feelings audiences were left with. That one magical ‘click’ brought us to the end of the film from two sides of the story. The ‘hidden camera’ watched her clutching a snipped photo of him in her hands, “was things supposed to look like that?” as she prepared to let everything go and end her life.

Whereas the married man walks back towards his wife as he appears on the television to give an on-site report of the suicide, totally oblivious to the fact that they once had a affair and just a mere second ago he was on the phone with her.

Despite such abrupt and slightly bizarre ending and realization of the woman’s journey, the film has managed to capture the emotions and baggages that are involved in a affair. As adults, affairs will no longer become a short period of child’s play, a sudden burst of lustful temptations but packages of emotional burdens and the unexpected brokenness.

Like the art of seduction, it tempts and lures you away from reality but when you do wake up, you will find yourself lost in a painful mess of repents.

'Crumbs' by Al Bajet - 48 Hour Film Project : Singapore 2009

Forrest Grump says, “Life is like a box of chocolates”, I say ‘Life is a jigsaw puzzle of clues’

‘Crumbs’ is an interesting film that has cleverly plotted subtle clues throughout this detective genre, which develops an unexpected twist at the end. Like the classic children story, ‘Hansel & Gretel’, audiences begin to follow the investigators on cookie trails, which eventually lead them into the killers’ den.

As the film screened for the second time, the planted subtle clues revealed themselves which links directly back to the film title ‘Crumbs’. With an extra attentive eye, minor details like the cookie monster that was placed beside the first victim, scattered crumbs at the first crime scene, the female investigator taking her time to ‘indulge’ the chocolate chip cookie and the cookie crumbs found beside the deceased news reporter were spotted.

Humor was also injected occasionally to soften the mood through words and exaggerated actions. Words like ‘Tick, Tock, your time is up’ coupled with the exaggerated shock reaction, the mischievous scheming look on the news reporter’s face as she tip toes her way to follow the investigators. Some how, every film needs a touch of humor or a pun some where to create that film’s unique touch.

One of my favorite scenes was where both investigators were waiting for the bill. While the male investigator called for the bill, the camera focused on the female investigator’s process of emotions. From the careful bite off the cookie, the facial emotions that flinched slightly during the conversation and the male investigator recovering from the ‘stalker’s message’, captured and intensify the suspense of the film.

Before the audience could suspect some thing amiss, the investigators were off chasing after the waitress. Within a minute, the investigators were left with an empty house, a lost target, a new deceased victim, waiting for back ups and a clueless direction.

“Next, We are Next!”

“….. No, actually you… are… next…”

A partner whom you have been working the case with almost 24/7, the person who has been next you all the time were the answers to the clues. Alone he stood trying to recover from what happened while the waitress snipped and played with the scissors and the female investigator’s eerie smirk marks the unexpected ending of this film.

Even though the clues in the film were not spotted the first time, the ending made up for it. Like the film, as we try to find the reasons and answers behind questions, we tend to forget that the answers were right underneath our nose.

'On The Ball' by Boxers - 48 Hour Film Project : Singapore 2009

Friendships are like wine, it takes time and nurture for the details to be aged beautiful.

A simple film with the main focus on the meaning of friendships and the different stages in life friends goes through together. This film brought me on the road of reminiscing my younger days where friendships meant the world to me, more than any other thing in the world.

The film progressed nicely in the beginning with one of the scene that summarised friendship in a nutshell. After a failed attempt in robbing people, both friends sat down to let this matter dissolve while having a good laugh about how their strengths make up for the other’s weaknesses. With that fate sealed, they were motivated once again to make the next attempt successful. The highlight of this scene for me was when they playfully used a pack of cigarettes to serve as a reward for the winning party. The visible innocence in these two men amidst the complicating environment reminded me of those younger days, where challenges and decisions were made without realising the long term risk involved. Like a life journey, we tend to make mistakes and never learn from them.

With that motivation and the will to survive, both men set foot for their next attempt. Even though the linkage of events here was slightly disrupted, the ending made up for it.

This leads to my second favourite scene in the film, with the camera focused on just the hand and the mobile phone against the grey background and messy table. The friend made that faithful phone call with reluctance to break the news before flinging it onto the table. The other friend appeared on the evening news screaming and challenging the ‘public’ “was it suppose to look like that?”. As illustrated in this handcuffed scene, this highlights how, at a certain stage in life, people will begin to understand that luck is a variable factor which tends to run out.

As simple the film was it brought out a straightforward message for me. Despite the bitter sweet reminiscence of our younger days throughout the movie and our basic understanding of what friendships were about in those biological ages, the film also became a reflection of the current.

Some times as we move on to another chapter in lives, we tend to forget the meaning of friendships and only seeking solace in it when people desperately needs a listening ear. On those clear days, we are just two humans busy with our separate lives.

Instead, maybe we can try to engrave in our minds that true friends are like our life journey partners where we are a part of each other’s life at all stages of it.

'WYSINWYG' by Repro - 48 Hour Film Project: Singapore 2009

Desperate times sure seem to bring about desperate means.

A film narrated through the conversations between technologies and uses comic satire to highlight and question the actions of humans. By the end of the film, it leads the audience, at least myself, to reflect on our lives and our actions in the current world of technologies through the technologies’ opinions and audiences’ reflection on the actors’ course of actions.

There were two major scenes that highlight how humans were willing to achieve their end results by all means, even if it was to question personal integrity and crossing the lines of professionalism. Another point which the film highlighted was how humans failed to realised they are the fallen preys of technologies rather than owners of technologies.

In the first half of the film, it shows the lead actor, a successful journalist sourcing for interesting stories online so as to create ‘top stories’ to boost his falling readership. Just like most upcoming and inspiring stars, his refusal to conform to the society’s interest of “sex sells” affected his readership numbers.

His first “story” took place at a retail shop with the joint effort from his sympathetic younger sister. She created a commotion with the patient retailer within the nicely decorated retail shop where she demanded a cash refund on a shirt that she bought nearly a month ago. As things turned ugly with the retailer flaring up on this ‘innocent’ school girl, out pops the brother with his dependent video recorder threatening to broadcast the retailer’s bad service attitude while being dragged away by the embarrassed sister.

The film led audiences to the first questions of whether the siblings’ actions were morally appropriate when the scene unfolds in the room where the siblings discussed their next course of actions. Concurrently, the technologies were having a similar debate on whether their assistance in his videos were right or wrong. As the film develops, it slowly revealed the contrasting roles and personalities that the technologies represent; camera phone, the conscience one and the video camera, the “free spirited” one.

The use of humour in scenes was cleverly injected between conversations to hide the subtle sarcasm and critiques of the brother’s actions, a reflection on our current society. An example was where the scissors told the gadgets to be thankful for not doing a physical dirty job like his, trimming the nose hair.

Tension heightens when the brother decided to embark on his second story, a scandalous ‘making out session’ of his underage innocent sister and her adult boyfriend captured on video. A professional who used to value his integrity became a fallen man over night as he succumbs to the society’s interest by preparing to upload this captured ‘sex’ video without any sense of guilt.

The camera phone’s realisation amidst the twist in events led it to take the plunge. As he slowly edges to the end of the book pile, he reflected on how this journalist use to be a morally just man and wondered whether things were supposed to look like that now. Even as the video camera joked about the camera phone’s decision and asked him to take things as a joke, this highlighted one of the film’s messages, from my perspective.

The camera phone, which may not know the world’s ways of life, actually knew the difference between being morally just and the consequences of living a life of remorse for such despicable acts.

A witty mix and match of every day’s technologies, use of subtle sarcasm and mockery to criticise our human ways in this film brought a refreshing change of perspectives. Highlighting of how hum

ans could stoop this low to satisfy society’s demands in order to achieve something for own personal gain without considering the consequences that comes along with it allowed audiences to do a personal reflection.

Personally, this short film is more than just a simple and slight humorous film. It has managed to subtly highlight the serious issues currently in our society by cleverly integrating them into the technologies’ conversations.

Some times a person who observes these issues will feel a pang of pity and sadness when they observe how these talented people have no idea that they have been blinded by their goals and failed to know which actions are right or wrong anymore. Eventually, they fell prey to these helpful technologies without being aware of it.

NOISE at SINdie

There is now more noise on the blog. 1 reviewer is often lonely. And I have always wanted to start more people vocalising about local films instead of the same few voices. Hence, I got a few new voices to join the SINdie team. They are Zafirah, Sin, Nick, Li, Elfe and Grace (not pictured below). Here are what they want you to know about them....

48 hr Film Competition - Amy Yeo, an abused woman

Amy Yeo is an abused woman in the 48 hr film competition. She gets overworked by TV news stations and has to go through so many different guises. Well, I am not talking about a real person. I am talking about a character each of the 48 hr film competition teams must use in their 5 min film. The other must-have element is a pair of scissors.


The 48 hours film competition is really making the audience crack their heads in voting. Production values have gone up compared to the previous year. The teams come in sizes of 10 -15 in some. And hence, the hige audience support as seen here is wholly justified.


Before we bring you some of the reviews, here is an adulterated account of what a team went through.


"I was able to source and confirm a few talents 2-3 days before the event. .............................Friday,by 9pm, we had all gathered back in my office where a group of us gathered to brainstorm and write a story............................ We took pictures of our acting talents and used their mugshots for inspiration. .............................At around 2am, we got some sleep in the office and got ready to leave for our shoot at 9am in the morning............Saturday, we decided to do everything in one location.................................We needed some last minute extras and I managed to get my dad on board. Shooting continued for the whole day and finally concluded at 9pm at my flat. I then proceeded to do a rough cut of the film before sleeping at 4am..........Sunday, I had a team of 2-3 editors/post-production people including me ...............................By 6pm, my director finally finished his edit and we then had to down convert the footage from HD to SD. That unfortunately took us 1.5 hours and by the time we left the office for Tisch Asia (the drop off point) it was already 7:45pm...................We made it with 23 mins to spare and successfully dropped off the film."


- Andrew Yu, Vanguard

19th EU Film Festival - From Boon Lay to Brighton

I was invited to a very special dinner and home screening event at the Swedish Embassy Residence at Andrew Road. There was somehow a strong sense of the yellow and blue colour scheme evoking thoughts of its national colours. Sweden is chairing the European Season in Singapore this year and therefore are also in charge of the 19th EU Film Festival.

How does SINdie fit into this? Or vice versa? Well, that night was a very special movie bloggers' night (So honoured they found us!). Food and conversations aside, we were treated to the opening film WOLF, a Swedish film about tghe endangered Sami people (indigenous people in Sweden). I have always known the selection at the EU festival to be very strong, having watched several gems at previous festivals.

Celebrating the EU’s wide-ranging but common cultural heritage, the EUFF will feature 19 critically acclaimed films across several different genres such as Wolf (Sweden), Hunting and Gathering (France), London To Brighton (UK), and Playing Solo (Finland) to provide varied viewpoints into the EU’s member nations. For example, Wolf (Sweden) will introduce the audience to the Sami, the indigenous people of northern Sweden who have their own language, culture, faith and way of life, as well as explore the Swedish justice system in a way that shows the conflict between tradition and modern-day society.On the other hand, London To Brighton (UK), an award-winning thriller, tells a tale of retribution of redemption among London’s criminal classes. London To Brighton will be shown at the EUFF alongside Royalty, the short film that inspired it, and its producers Al Clark and Rachel Robey will also be present to introduce the film as well as give a short post-show Question and Answer session.

Singapore Showcase

After 18 editions, the EUFF has managed to remain current to its target audiences with constant success, and this year promises to be no different. Incorporating a fresh new youth element to attract a younger audience, the EUFF will, for the first time, be working with the Nanyang Technological University’s School of Art, Design and Media (ADM). The festival’s Singaporean and European audiences alike will get a first look at some of the brightest young cinematic talents in Singapore today, when a selection of works from the first batch of graduates from ADM’s film program are screened as shorts before some of the main feature films in the EUFF.

'Dreaming Kester' by Martin Hong - SIFF Shorts Finalists

Kids are hearing so many voices in their heads these days. In my days in school, there were only a few voices – (1) The parent, who keeps reminding me of the consequences of not studying hard, (2) The child, in me that wants still wants to play and be creative. Thoughts were simple then and there was no internet then. These days there are a lot more voices – (1) The parent (2) The child (3) Facebook that tells you who you should be (4) The TV shows and advertisements and (5) The peers who determine for you what’s cool and what’s not. Suddenly, being an adult is not just a matter of going through a rites of passage. It is a rocky road and not everything is what it seems on the outside.

‘Dreaming Kester’ reaffirms what I feel about the way kids think these days – they are given more freedom but the freedom of thought makes them more sensitized to any misfortune or potential danger. The danger in the case of the film is growing up, as represented by the adultist voices that ‘Kester’ hears in his mind. Like the blanket that appears in his film, ‘Dreaming Kester’ is a real patchwork of different whims, thoughts, forms and styles. It is jarring and disorientating at first. And makes you very tempted to utter in an ‘adultist’ tone in your head – ‘a school boy’s piece of work’. But its unadulterated, untempered childishness is also its winning trait. Films are like a speaking language. When a certain style is popularized, followers will succumb unknowingly and any deviation from it may be perceived as less ‘film-like’. So perhaps, it helps to be young and slightly ignorant of what the popular styles are.

In the film, Kester is fighting hard against the adultists who are trying to make him conform and grow up like a conventional adult. He’s got very little on his side except will power and an endearing little guardian angel who comes with a box head. Bumbling clumsily on his bed, the little one is a source of encouragement for Kester. (While watching it, I could not help noticing the DIY ‘green-screen’ technique used, it looks unprofessional but also helplessly funny). In a way, the avalanche of ideas and points raised resemble a school essay. Weren’t we all idealistic once? Didn’t we once have answers to everything? Or at least must come up with an answer no matter what? But there were not entirely un-cinematic as well. There was a moment in the swimming pool in which I wondered if a sinking Kester was going to pull through. There was also the very heart-warming montage of flashes of Kester’s real personal photos that made him more than just a narrative agent, someone real.

'DISTANCE' by Ong Zheng Kai - SIFF Shorts Finalists

Zheng Kai is a pony-tailed young man who is about to embark on his overseas studies. He is a look of idealism that seems at odds with his family. Presumably, he must be studying an arts-related subject to be making a video days before his departure. Somehow, the attitude of the family members towards his leaving seem a little lukewarm. Studying arts overseas is like hopping on to a boat that will take him far far away from his family. Perhaps if he was studying medicine or law, it may have been viewed as a hopping onto ship that will return with rewards measured in wealth and prestige.

The choice to direct himself in the film yields uneven results. It seems very often that Zheng Kai looks quite self-conscious and still keeping a fair amount inside him. Somehow, if he had directed another actor, it might have given him a chance to ‘expose’ himself in a more discerning way. With a third person’s point of view, he could have exercised more selection in the shots and angles. In fact, there were very few close ups, which seemed to keep us some ‘distance’ away from his real sentiments.

‘Distance’ has a largely contemplative drift to it. Events like his grandmother’s fall are only mentioned and the focus on the after-math feelings dominate. There are also cutaway shots on old photographs and objects that suggest the past that he will be leaving behind. Perhaps, it’s Zheng Kai’s way of coming to terms with the issue of leaving his grandmother behind – that he would skirt around the matter.

But he does come round to facing the issue - essentially one that is keeping his heart torn between 2 poles - embracing the freedom of being overseas and appeasing his conscience in the light of his grandmother's fall. At this point, his grandmother's been discharged and is lying in his immediate space. A poignant silence hangs between him and his grandmother as he sits next to her in bed. Quite appropriately, it seems difficult for both parties to come up with words. Then, in a dramatically pregnant moment, his granny utters a word of affection and understanding of his circumstances. I must say the film in its entirety did not make a huge impression on me but there were these tender moments that arrested the sub-conscious part of me.

'Swimming Lesson' by Kat Goh - SIFF Shorts Finalists

Kat Goh's 'Swimming Lesson' won the best film in the SIFF Shorts competition. Incidentally, the still of the little girl learning how to float in the swimming pool has been my masthead for some weeks now. A little lesson learnt from the past becomes a lesson to be treasured for life. 'Swimming Lesson' is an intense family drama about a girl who is leaving home for overseas studies for the first time and gets annoyingly nagged on by her doting mother. Over ear-bursting decibels from raised voices, we are slowly and deliberately directed to a message, a moral-of-the-story.

While the treatment and direction reflect much sincere thought and effort, I often felt the dialogue and acting was too grating for my senses. The doting mother left no stone unturned in making sure that her daughter was fully-equipped for her trip. But that's only fully equipped from her point-of-view. Her definition of being equipped included having freshly-boiled tonics stocked up in the luggage! you get the drift and could possible guess the potential altercations. Furthermore, the mother's nagging voice is one that is excruciating to hear. We dread the onset of any heated debate between her and the other family members.

While other weird objects find their way into the girl's luggage (like a long multi-plug extension cable), the girl finds herself increasingly pressured instead of anticipating her long-awaited liberty. Not only does she get kiasu admonitions about overseas living form her mother, she also has to bear the same from other family members. Sounds like TV drama? Well, it is difficult to ignore the fact that Kat has spent 8 years in TV. The intensity and bite of TV-style argument is ubiquitous in the film. Perhaps what softened its didactic drift was the interspersing of scenes from a swimming lesson. A determined girl tries very hard to perfect her kicks as a basic step in swimming but she is still well within the safe grasp of her swimming instructor who is her father. The greenish hue of the scene suggest that it is a flashback scene, with the girl supposedly representing the current day mother. Like a kind of punctuation, the flashbacks provide a huge amount of relief from the belligerence of the characters.

Sometimes an average film could be saved by a single act of ingenuity. It could be the film equivalent of a 'Eureka!'. I felt 'Swimming Lesson' would have been a rather mediocre film about a trite topic without the grandfather's shocking act of 'leting his hands' go. Well, isn't that what all filmmakers aim to do? Leave an uneraseable spot in the minds of the audience with a single act, an often shocking one.

'Sink' by Kirsten Tan - SIFF Shorts Finalists

Very few of the other SIFF venues would have done justice to the film 'Sink', other than the National Museum Gallery Theatre. The unembellished structure of the screening 'stage' makes watching 'Sink' a pure, untainted experience of mesmerising visuals and timeless wisdom. 'Sink' flowed into my consciousness uninterruptedly and drew me into a story that transcends space, culture (though it was shot in Thailand) and time.

Perched on a skinny metal pipe is a box-like sink. Nothing hovers around it except the gently beating sea waves. Imagine the sight of something as domesticated as a kitchen sink transplanted into a unlikely spot like the beach. What's ironical is the fact that the beach is full of water, something that the sink is meant to supply. A dislocated object stands against the sunset, with its base lost in the rising tide - that's the lyrically startling image that I find so difficult to erase from my mind.

The story is linear and simple. A sink stands alone at a beach ready to serve anyone who encounters it. A Siamese boy spots it and develops a fascination with it. Our little boy, virginal, in his interactions with the sink, treats it like a new found friend. He may be a little playful but his antics never overstep the lines of ‘subsistence’ or ‘sustainability’ (I apologise for making ‘Sink’ sound like a ‘green-movement driven video on sustainability’). Then like in many religious fables, he grows into an adult, not immune to the ills and vices of the grown up world. Reminiscent of Kim Ki Duk’s Spring Summer Autumn Winter and Spring, the boy returns to the sink as a bearded young man. This time, he's an inpatient lad who brings with him violence that he has inherited from the outside world. Under his reckless hands, the sink gets 'dismembered' eventually and with the rising tide, the sink is 'consumed' and left in a sorry state.

'Sink' is a near-perfect communion of form, theme and story-telling. A simple fable, a straight-forward message and a story that unfolds in a linear fashion allws 'Sink' to 'seep' easily into our consciousness. What completes the experience is undoubtedly being transported right into the expanse of the sea, listening to the pulsating waves, watching the water foam as it approached the sand and seeing the countless specks of glitter on on the sea, under the glow of the horizon's sun.

After 2 convincing chapters, I felt the film's final chapter lowered its key. Like Kim Ki Duk's film, there was a ending that was a too definite and uneventful. But perhaps it was faithful to the principles of Buddhist teachings. In 'Sink' the young man has matured into a silver-haired old man who has supposedly learnt his lessons in life. But nothing much happens from the advent of this chapter. The story resolves on a comtemplative level. In a funny way, I feel I have been put through a hypnosis in this film with its graceful form. A hypnosis that rarely changes its key or rhythm though.

'SHINGAPORU MONOGATARI' by Hafidz Senor - SIFF Shorts Finalists

This piece is a little suprise in the finalists' selection for various reasons. The first reaction from watching 'SHINGAPORU' was asking myself if there was something wrong with the sound system. So it turns out that, it is soundless movie - not even a silent movie (which often has music in place of all other sounds in the film). Then, you begin to wonder where on earth are the black and white moving images from. They can't be just a series of archival footages because the film was essentially made up of these, which means there is no element of creation in the film.
Then comes the discovery. In the 3rd of 4th footage, if you observe carefully, amidst everything black and white, a modern SBS bus (the current version) glides across a small section of the screen, reaffirming Hafidz's ingenious touch to the moving image.

While having to sit through 12 min of silence and black and white images, guided only by subtitles, can be pretty hypnotic, I secretly found it easy to register moments of the film in my mind after the credits rolled. There was something unsettling about juxtaposing current-day scenes in a war-era filter with a statements that evoke fear about the Japanese Occupation. It is like suggesting that a dark chapter like that could find its way back into our history books again.

Hafidz's boldness is palpable in the way he sticks to using only black and white images and refraining from breaking the silence. Perhaps, any kind of music might have coloured our understanding of his grandfather's account. Coincidentally, after sitting through bouts of hysteria and drama from the other entries, watching 'SHINGAPORU' was sub-consciously welcoming, like a respite. And in fact for the sense of suffering and fear that we have come to associate with the occupation, the use of silence is more accentutating than depletive. It's like the fear of the silent and unspoken.

'SINGAPORU MONOGATARI' is a film that I grew to like on hindsight. So be forewarned, your real sentiments about this film may take a while to coagulate.

'Leaving Me' by Chew Tee Pao - SIFF Shorts Finalists

Men seem to be like islands. They always seem to have a way of keeping themselves amused and entertained by material, by objects or simply by their own thoughts. The comfort of company is one part of their well-being. Women seem to need some form of co-existence on everything. They want someone else to get involved either in person or in heart. At least, that's what 'Leaving Me' left me with.

In 'Leaving Me', a couple sits in a dimly-lit living room watching TV soap. They are sit a distance apart, suggesting the state of engrossment of the man who is more focussed than his partner on the soap. Wait, it is no ordinary soap, the man's in it. It turns out that he is an actor, who is sucked into a moment of narcissistic self-evaluation, in his watching of himself on screen. His helpless wife tries all ways not to be marginalised but each futile attempt just makes her more defeated than the previous.

Parallel to the insidious drama happening in the living room is an emotionally heightened tussle between a man and his unhappy wife in the soap. Tee Pao elicits an irony in the actor being more subdued in real life compared to the his more dramatic persona in reel life. In the real life situation, his partner is just as hurt as the lady in the soap. And perhaps a grievance that is unspoken and unresolved in the heart is more painful than one is externalised as in the TV soap. In the soap, the girl resorts to pointing a gun at her partner who has cheated her. In the living room, the lady has no recourse for venting her frustration, which makes the TV drama quite a mockery of his real situation.

On a technical note, the living room seemed a little dim for the audience to read the nuances of what is going on. Or perhaps, she should have escaped more often to the kitchen which is better lit! I also felt that the episode seemed a little narratively compressed, that in a very short time, we went from sofa tension to doorway drama when she is packed and wanting to leave. It almost feels like the events were scripted to coincide with the length of the compact TV drama. For a film that rides on the nuances of emotional shifts, the rather standard choice of shots or rather, visual representation of the drama seemed bland or typical. While the idea of a situational parallel puts the film in its own class, the actual emotional journey does not quite take off. Like the 'boxed-up' nature of the TV soap, the portion of real drama was very much served in slices.