Wong orchestrates a densely poetic mis en scene, combining acting, art direction, lighting, camera, colours and wardrobe into an impressionistic dreamlike landscape in which the characters and their feelings appear as fleeting moments of time. Amazing composition and framing. General camera work is brilliant. Melancholy of the characters is felt. Emotions portrayed best with a strategic lack of dialogues. Their rehearsals become their activities. Her clothes show time lapse. The cramped rooms, narrow hallways and stairwells serve as a metaphor for the sexual repression of the society but also as a claustrophobic atmosphere that fosters intimacy. Even the camera is mostly static, most scenes begin with a pan either from left, right, above etc and comes to rest on the final frame. This is introduced from the very first shot. Their spouses aren't seen and only heard. We feel their presence as much as the 2 characters do. The male drives the action of the film by pursuing the object of his desire and the female resists his advances. The inexorable journey toward love is the main tension of the film, a tension that's supremely palpable. Interesting are love stories that are forbidden by the society and also the kind of love that's platonic and not sexual because maybe that can go deeper than sex. At least one can try to write and make a film on it. The quotes in the beginning and the end of the film indicate the memories being blurred. That's also the way we remember most of the film because many images are blurred, indistinct, fleeting, filled with shadows, seen in mirrors, through curtains, or other out of focus foreground objects. An example of poetic economy is the use of only one exterior location. A street corner. The scarcity of locations leads to the recurrence of many familiar images. The most evocative location is the narrow stairway to the noodle shop. Each recurrence offers geographical grounding but more importantly emotional resonance.
Reviews
4 Reviews
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
(2019)
Overrated and simply average
26 May 2020
Great camera work, colour palette and mood. Nice vague dialogues. I love the first half of the film where love was unexpressed and unspoken. Something I'd expect from lovers falling in love for the first time with someone of the same sex, in the early 18th century. What could've spoken to me on so many deeper levels and layers, became just another unrequited love story. Nevertheless, the film touched and moved me.
The Truman Show
(1998)
I am now a True Man
26 May 2020
Reality show within a film. Crazy concept. Things don't fully establish till more than half the film and you slowly get it. Perfect example of taking a concept, exaggerating it by 100 times and you've something out of the ordinary. Existential. Makes you question life, God and your own identity. Nice how they show all the abnormalities in the 1st scene so that we feel just little and just enough strange like Truman himself does with the happenings around him. And after we the viewer and Truuman find out what is happening, he goes through that first scene again with similar abnormalities and now we get it completely what we didn't get in the beginning. Nice that they show the island and everything too because from the beginning the audience doesn't feel cheated. We also see from the beginning that the audience is watching everything and we aren't in dark about anything. Just as much in the dark as Truman is and nothing more. In fact we are less in the dark than he is. But the situation is so bizarre on such a large level that we don't get it. It's not a complete suspense and thrill but just enough. Finding the right amount of thrill is very important
Dhuusar
(2019)
Hauntingly introspective & immersive
25 May 2020
Stunningly mature piece of work by a first time director duo fully in command of their craft. Brilliant camera work, writing, editing and performances. It keeps you wanting more. It questions. It disturbs. It sticks. It lingers.
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