Ilo Ilo and NaPo 18

Watched Ilo Ilo yesterday. It was a well-made film with good acting. A surprise to me that it wasn't better than competent. The plot was rather predictable. The symbolism a little forced. The camera angles, except for some nice close-ups, were familiar. The film could also do with tighter editing. It was a deft summary of the tropes of Singapore's Chinese TV dramas and multilingual stage plays, without the things that make them unique, the madcap comedy and the social criticism. Playing the father in the film, Chen Tianwen, the veteran TV actor, could stand for the same old same old.


hungry again
what good
are my neighbor's plums?

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