A few months ago, I abandoned the idea of writing a feature film with 3 stories. My reason for doing so was that it is easier to make the audience remember the world of 1 person than that of 3. Watching Anthony's G-23 (which I thought was a witty take on ratings like R-21, NC-16) changed my mind about that.
Kicking off with a spicy Indian soundtrack it presents a montage of images relating to an old cinema now currently screening Bollywood movies. But this sequence is not a standalone novelty, it actually ties in nicely with stories that we were about the hear - 3 characters and the relationship between their lives and the cinema. There was a teary Indian girl who has a love-hate relationship with her own Indian culture. An old man who seems to fall asleep everytime and a Chinese woman who with a `desperate-to-get-laid' look on her face.
High production values aside, I felt I was slowly beginning to feel Anthony's shtick in his storytelling craft. Like in Ah Ma, there is that unmistakable blend of metaphysical and sentimental elements. In Ah Ma, we saw we witnessed an emotional reaction at the end that appeared like a supernatural answer to the actions that have been presented in the preceeding minutes. In G-23, in a karma-esque surprise to the death of the cockraoch, the butterfly kite was the answer to old man's (or perhaps mine) suspicion that his late wife's spirit may be near. When I was 23, I was still floating around the many influences in my life but not knowing where to place my centre of gravity. At 23, in G-23, Anthony has demonstrated that wisdom on life that I took some time to find.
I actually prefer this to Ah Ma. But the TV screen where I watched it from did no justice to the film which really belongs to a theatre.