 | ESPOO CINÉ INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL |
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Hong KhaouLilting
UK 2014In English & Mandarin, English subtitles 86 min Drama For audiences aged 12 and above 'Ben Whishaw plays Richard, a young man who hires a translator (Naomi Christie) to oil the wheels of communication between Junn (Cheng Pei-pei), an elderly Cambodian-Chinese woman living in a retirement home, and her English OAP beau (Peter Bowles). In reality, however, Richard is himself aching to connect with Junn, the mother of his recently deceased lover Kai (Andrew Leung). This delicate low-budget British miniature weaves a complex disquisition on mourning, memory, love and language, with a confident avoidance of overt emotional rhetoric. It's finely performed all round: Whishaw is wry, nervy and vulnerable, and veteran Cheng (a wuxia action queen from the 60s onwards) brings a rueful gravity to Junn, a woman deeply unimpressed by the world around her. Fluid, surprising camerawork (Ula Pontikos) and oblique but unfussy play with time frames make for an affecting, intelligent, unapologetically downbeat feature debut.' Jonathan Romney, The Guardian Director: Hong Khaou Screenplay: Hong Khaou Cast: Ben Whishaw, Pei-Pei Cheng, Andrew Leung, Peter Bowles Production: Dominic Buchanan / Film London Microwave, BBC Films, Stink Films Print: NonStop Entertainment |
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