So I'm back... new day new post... !!.... I've already told you'll that my love and quest for movies surpasses languages ....So here's a review of a BRILLIANT !! short film by Anthony Chen ... By me The BUNNYMAN !! ;-)
I got invited to the preview screening by the Singapore Consulate - Mumbai on 31st of March 2015 @ NCPA , for the critically acclaimed short film ilo ilo by Anthony Chen ..
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| ILO ILO |
The film festival marks the start of the celebrations lined up to commemorate Singapore’s 50th year of independence and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Singapore and India. more on the festival will be written @ the end note of the blog (remember the social message always has to come LAST... hehehe).
At sharp 6:00 pm The little theater @ NCPA preview screened the movie...99 mins of no drama or hamming is what the film gave to it's viewers... ilo ilo is set in Singapore during the 1997 Asian financial crisis/ recession of a middle class family...and is primarily the tale of a bond / friendship between a boy and his Filipino maid ...such close is the bond that it becomes the reason for igniting the mother's jealousy towards the maid , because she thinks her boy / son is getting more close to the maid than her ... At the start the maid is new to the place and the family and the boy tries his best to harass the daylights out of her !...but her economic scene back home is not such that she can backtrack so her persistence with genuine care makes her win the boy's heart who now calls her auntie :-)
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| Anthony Chen |
So this is the tale in a nutshell (I've avoided some parts of the story because I think when you write a review of / for a film you should leave something for the audiences to explore themselves)...where a debutante director Anthony Chen who's also very young himself ! (just 30) tries to tell the viewers that in today's world where working parents are a fact of life and an unsaid norm ...such a scenario is possible ...his treatment to the subject is very mature and at the same-time is not very heavy or taxing on the viewers, because this if not treated lightly could have easily become a film that would give the viewer a heavy heart but you leave the hall with a smile on your face and that's the beauty of this film ..must say he surely knows his work...and as they say when brilliance is an inborn trait the AGE doesn't matter ! ...If I was to compare it with an Indian film makers style then I'd say it comes very close to the styles of Sai Paranjpe and Basu Chatterjee...where cinematic treatment comes very close to REALISM ! ....which is why I say it's relate-able.
I was also placing and evaluating this in current times and to my surprise I think this is a universal phenomenon in all the so to say developing countries so yeah this is also a crossover film for me...I'm not a parent yet (at least of what I know..hehehe).... this can be the case with India's urban cities too ! ... for all those working parents ...I ain't saying it's bad of course with the cost of living going up both the parents have to and should work...but try spending some golden/quality time(s) with your child in his / her's growing years (I'm aware it's easily said than done, but no harm trying) .. otherwise what you''ll end up doing is thinking of a situation / scene who's existence in reality is questionable, which the mother in this movie does.
