gradyharp

(2012-04-25 22:06:18)

Four Lost Souls in a Hotel of Forgotten Dreams

Singapore writer-director Yong Mun Chee has created a film that wile itmay take some mental adjustments in order to become involved n thestrange story, the work is well worth the effort. The cast is uniformlystrong except for the fact that in three cases the accents are so thickthat they approach not being understood. This is a film that wouldbenefit form subtitles throughout: the script is strong and deserves tobe understood.Very briefly the film's story or series of connected vignettes aboutfour immigrants to Los Angeles) can be summarized as follows: 'Takashi(sensitive Korean American actor Will Yun Lee), a Japanese hit-man whowakes up from a four-year coma, moves to LA to escape mysterioustraumatic memories. He strikes an unusual friendship with Blake (EricMabius, a strong young actor), the hotel manager of a cheap and sleazyHollywood hotel, who still mourns the loss of his wife to an affair heended up regretting. Julio (Mexican actor Fernando Noriega), an illegalimmigrant who works washing dishes in an Indian restaurant to providefor his wife and son still in Mexico, befriends Guy (Luke BrandonField), a young British backpacker who lives off his estranged father'sATM card and sleeps with any girl who crosses his path. The storysplices between the blossoming of these two friendships. Takashiattempts to help Blake break from his past, but in the process isforced to confront his own violent memories. Julio and Guy hustle forday to day survival and forge dreams of a better future, but afterJulio steals Guy's passport and sells it for a thousand dollars, notonly is their friendship at stake but also their lives. What followsare the at times wild and often gut- wrenching adventures of four mentrying to survive both emotionally and physically. It slowly becomesobvious that the relationship between Julio and Guy borders on thedaring deeds that each is willing to make (with some very sadcomplications and results) while Blake and Takashi are bonded by pasttragedies, yet both want to find something to believe in - a new start.The wrong elements these four men carry end up in the wrong hands andthat changes their lives inextricably.Each of the quartet of men gives a completely credible performance(understanding Noriega's, Takahi's and Field's heavy accents is tryingat times): we do identify with their plights and they keep us on theirside. The supporting cast is excellent, especially the work of JesseGarcia, Eric Avari, Laura Ramsey, and Elsa Pataky. WHERE THE ROAD MEETSTHE SUN is a bit unpolished - but that gritty feeling of the film addstot he raw story Yong Mun Chee has created. The title comes form thelyrics of the song by Matthew Perryman Jones and Katie Herzig: 'Angelswings spread over water worn wishes Guarding the dreams and the thingsleft unsaid And when it's done we will walk where the road meets thesun.' Grady Harp

DICK STEEL

(2012-04-12 23:17:13)

A Nutshell Review: Where the Road Meets the Sun

There are a number of Singaporean filmmakers who have stretched theirwings and gone out there in the world to make their films, fromdocumentarians such as Lynn Lee, James Leong and Tan Siok Siok with herupcoming film Twittamentary, and others such as Pearry Reginald Teo andJonathan Lim. with the world being their oyster and playground. Thecinematic road brings writer-director Yong Mun Chee back to Singaporewith her debut feature Where the Road Meets the Sun having premiered inthe USA a few weeks ago, before making it back here to premiere itduring the ScreenSingapore event.There could have been slight ruffling of the feathers for SingaporeNight given the showcase of two films that weren't made by any of theregular established names in the local film community, but afterwatching both films, I thought this could spur the entire communityforward to realize that we have talent both within and outside ourshores, some already establishing a beachhead overseas that perhapscould become springboards for others to follow. Idealistic, but worth ashot in my opinion.Mun Chee's film tells the story of immigrants in the cosmopolitan cityof Los Angeles, which in a way reflects both the reality of the city'smake up as well as tapping onto Mun Chee's own real world experience ofsomeone from the outside looking in. This is a character drivennarrative in a slice of life fashion that snapshots a moment ofconfluence, but not before a rather long winded introduction thatspanned a fast forward of months to introduce characters from variouscountries.There's Blake (Eric Mabius), a man estranged from his ex-wife, and nowrunning a cheap hotel where the characters all find themselves in, theBrit playboy Guy (Luke Brandon Field) being the rascal of the groupwith a penchant for all ladies, an illegal Mexican Julio (FernandoNoriega) who gets to LA in order to find work and sending back hismoney to his support his family, and Japanese gangster Takashi (playedby Korean American Will Yun Lee) who wakes up from a coma and a steepmemory of the woman of his life, but getting himself to LA with apistol where its smuggling got casually explained away, thequintessential and literal Chekov's gun.The foursome bond together and in itself creates two contrasting pairsin an opposites attract fashion. Julio and Guy provides the comparisonbetween one carefree and without responsibilities to others, with theother being the all round family guy out to look out for betteropportunities in order to make a living and support his family backhome. One travels to strange lands for pleasure, while the other out offamily necessity. Blake and Takashi are the more deeply reflectivetype, where they get together over a meal, or over music by the lateLeslie Cheung whose Canto-tune The Wind Blows On forms the backgroundof protagonists each searching for purpose and meaning in their lives.Production values for a first film is superb, and perhaps it's becauseof the technicians behind the production that hail from a very matureindustry, so much so that one's debut feature need not be a cheesy,laughable affair in terms of look and feel. Sure it may look like atypical indie film, but I suppose this will help the creative part ofthe production to focus on direction and fleshing of the characters,leaving aside the technical aspects to experts. Hence a film thatworked on both fronts, with Mun Chee weaving very powerful backgroundsand narratives for each of the four male protagonists that sucks youinto their lives and predicament, vesting your interest into what lifedishes out to them.This is a drama through and through with slight comedy that balancesout what would be a rather bleak though evocative tale aboutfriendship, hope and the struggles of the emotionally downtrodden, allin search of that magic air in a new environment to look forlive-changing directions.

JohnTEQP

(2012-04-12 07:40:04)

Lyrical character study

This is a very lyrical film, a character study with very goodperformances. As it introduces us to the four main characters, itstarts out in several locations, and the connections between them arenot obvious. Bear with the disjointed structure, however, because thevignettes are strong. The four guys are all flawed, some more so thanothers. The most apparently sympathetic character is the Mexican busboywho just wants to send money home to his family, and always seems to besmiling. His friendship with the British playboy doesn't seem to makesense, until you realize that they're both fairly mischievous; one justhas more permission to be so than the other. The two slightly olderguys both seem burned and despondent beyond repair, but each of themalso desperately wants to believe in something again, and thatsomething is love.