Hainan ji fan (2004)

Director:

Kenneth Bi

Writer:

Kenneth Bi (writer)

Release Date:

20 January 2005 (China)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

Fearing her son could be gay, a conservative mother takes in a French foreign exchange student, who ends up teaching the family a lot about life, acceptance, and love. |

Plot Keywords:

Chinese Restaurant | Cooking | Friendship Between Boys | Cycling | Au Pair

Awards:

3 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Sylvia Chang	...	Jen
Martin Yan	...	Kim Chui
Mélanie Laurent	...	Sabine
LePham Tan	...	Leo
Craig Toh	...	Harry
Alvin Chiang	...	Daniel
Maggie Q	...	Gigi
Ivy Ling Po	...	Grandma
Han Chin	...	Grandpa (as Ronald Bi)
Samuel Chong	...	Master of Ceremony
Steph Song	...	Jennifer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Garrett Hoo	...	Johnny
Andy Mok	...	Batman
Rick Tan	...	Gigi Manager
Allan Wu	...	Ronald

Also Known As:

Hainan Chicken Rice (Hong Kong: English title) (working title)
Rice Rhapsody (International: English title)

Runtime:

Hong Kong:106 min (DVD version)

Country:

Singapore | Hong Kong | Australia

Language:

English | Mandarin | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Taiwan:GP | Malaysia:18PL | Australia:PG | Singapore:M18 | Hong Kong:IIA

Filming Locations:

Singapore

Company:

Kenbiroli Films

Quotes:

Leo: Life first. Things second.

Fun and Ultimately Uplifting

Review: Rice Rhapsody (2004) By Ken Lee

Though director Kenneth Bi's _Rice Rhapsody_ (2004) generates much interest primarily of its homosexuality theme (that troubled the Singapore Board of Film Censorship inasmuch as its month-long deliberation for the film's wide release in the city state in which the film is set and made), it explores at its core generational conflict; specifically, how a single parent's inability to adapt to modern circumstances leads to disillusionment and more misunderstanding. So it'd be misleading to categorize this as a "Gay" film, per se.

The plot is set in contemporary Singapore's Chinatown. Sylvia Chang, wonderful and enarmoured with supposed Singlish, plays a single mother (Jen) struggling with the uncertainty surrounding the sexual orientation of her third son, Leo (played by a certain delectable newcomer, Tan LePham), when his two elder siblings are both out and proud, much to her dismay, bringing issues of same-sex marriage and their boy-friends back to dinner table discussion. The lives of the family are going to be changed with the arrival of a French foreign exchange student, Sabine, played by a cooky Mélanie Laurent, who has a thing or two to show about finding common grounds, and knowing what's truly important in life.

The issue of homosexuality isn't a "modern" circumstance, of course. Its open acceptance (or tolerance) and embraced and head-on examination as an "idea", however, is, especially in this city-state notorious for its anti-gay "lifestyles" stance. So even if the movie isn't without its flaw, it's still ultimately uplifting, and a welcome addition to a growing list of movies purport to examine social, cultural and political aspects of the city-state, from "12 Storeys" to "Eating Air" to "Chicken Rice War".

Recommended.

Little known facts: Director Kenneth Bi is the son of Ivy Ling (Ling Bo) who is a mega star in Shaw's Huang Mei Diao era. She has a cameo appearance in this film.