magnumano
May 15, 2008 04:06PM

G23
Anthony Chen’s first short is at best a bewildering attempt at a character study.
The film’s weak attempts at engaging its audience is its ultimate undoing. The characters feel distanced, regardless of whether a conscious decision or not on Chen’s part, it doesn’t make great viewing period.

The audience is forced to sit through mundane moments of emotions; the Indian girl crying at the cinema being a classic example. Sitting through the movie we feel nothing for the characters. I personally was unable to identify with any of the characters. And thats not to say I need to be a widowed senior citizen in order to feel the old man’s grief and longing or a lonely middle-aged woman to understand sexual frustrations.

The fault lies with very flat characters and an even flatter storyline. The characters just don't feel real. I for one am not convinced. There simply isn’t any depth to the film. Chen touches everything on the surface trying to evoke an emotional response from the poorest of reasons. I find myself asking if I’m supposed to feel for the indian girl who doesn’t want to eat curry or the middle-aged woman who steals pictures off magazines. One could argue that Chen highlights bigger issues such as intra cultural alienation and middle-aged depravation but none of these are explored any further in the film, due in part to Chen’s insistence on studying 3 very different characters in a 19 minute film. Besides there surely are bigger, clearer issues to make a film about. Add to all that a dialogue that feels forced and scripted and you have a recipe for disaster.

Thankfully the film has one saving grace. Regardless of its inadequacies elsewhere the cinematography is quite simply stunning. Timothy Chan has done a great job bringing to the screens color and mood that seem to convey a dozen messages. The framing is often subtle and at times I felt transported to the location and scene. Such was the power of the intelligent camera work. Credit must go to Chan’s craft and guile especially in creating seamless movement and lighting consistency throughout the film.

That said i must conclude by saying that this film as a whole, in my opinion is a very cliched, unrealistic and unsatisfying piece of work. It is a poser film trying very hard to be something its not but it gets away with it on the back of some of the very best cinematography we've seen in a singaporean film.

Written by Mano