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- Written by: Nita Teoh
- Category: Arts & Culture
Many of us can relate to the immigrant experience - perhaps having been through it oneself or had a friend relate their history to us.
I know I can – having migrated with my family from Singapore at a young age to live in Perth.
So the film “Riceboy Sleeps” caught my attention – the title itself also making me curious about the story line and what might unfold.
It is 1990s Canada and we follow the lives of Dong-Hyun (Ethan Hwang) (Dohyun Noel Hwang as child Dong-Hyun) and his Mum So-Young (Choi Seung-yong) – a single Mum with a young child who migrates to Canada from South Korea to escape her past.
She works hard in a factory to put food on the table and to give her son a good education so that he has the best chance of rising above her own circumstances in life.
Riceboy Sleeps is a rich movie about the immigrant journey - immersing the viewer in understanding the cross cultural experiences and challenges of the young Dong Hyu - from his younger years through to his teenage years.
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- Written by: Nita Teoh
- Category: Arts & Culture
On a warmish evening, my partner and I headed to the UWA Somerville to watch the Perth Festival movie Evil Does Not Exist.
I had been drawn to watch this movie – having watched the well known Oscar award winning film Drive my Car by the same Director Ryusuke Hamaguchi.
The story line revolves around Takumi (Hitoshi Omika) and his eight year daughter Hana (Ryo Nishikawa), who live in a small village in Japan where locals enjoy the tranquillity of nature and slower paced lifestyle, and reap the benefits of a small community where everyone knows each other and helps out where they can.
Then in come the developers with big plans to set up a glamping site for tourists, and hence the story unfolds as conflict and tensions arise due to community concerns about their water supply.
With gorgeous cinematography capturing nature, along with melancholic music by composer Eiko Ishibashi, this sets the tone for a reflective movie and an interesting story line that brings up the issue of what happens when we disrespect nature ?
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- Written by: Nita Teoh
- Category: Arts & Culture
On a balmy evening, my friend and I chatted away and enjoyed the ambience of the canopy of pines at UWA Somerville, as we awaited the start of the Japanese film Monster.
Directed by Kore-eda Hirokazu (Broker and Shoplifters), the story revolves around 2 young boys Mugino Minato (Kurokawa Soya) and Hoshikawa Yori (Hiragi Hinata)
Minato starts to act strangely and his Mum is relentless in demanding answers from the school, but with little progress made in finding out what is actually happening to her teenage son.
Bullying seems to be at play, and the story is cleverly told from the perspective of each of the main characters. And as we all know and can relate to - reality is in fact based on our perceptions of what we thought happened as seen through our own lens.
Auteur Kore-eda Hirokazu expertly unravels the story and what is happening with a deft touch for the movie goer.
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- Written by: Nita Teoh
- Category: Arts & Culture
Food coma (my description) and the Napoleon of gastronomy (a term coined part way through the movie) are a couple of terms that came to mind whilst my partner and I watched the The Taste of Things under the canopy of pines at UWA Somerville Theatrette.
Luckily for us, we had already indulged in dinner and a flourless chocolate and pear tart from charlies pizza on site. Otherwise, it would have been quite a challenge coping with the hunger that would have befallen us as we watched this exquisite movie!
Exquisite is the word that comes to mind...the movie centres around food and the daily life of Eugénie (Juliette Binoche) and Dodin Bouffant (Benoît Magimel).
Set in 1885, it follows the story of Eugenie, who has been an esteemed cook for Dodin, the fine gourmet with whom she has been working for the last 20 years.
One day follows another – where fresh ingredients are harvested from the garden, carefully prepared and then consumed – in a lavish fashion.
Director Trần Anh Hùng’s movie is a spectacular feast for the senses – as the story unfolds it whips up a sensory feast – both visual and culinary.
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- Written by: Nita Teoh
- Category: Arts & Culture
It was another gorgeous evening in Perth at the UWA Somerville Theatrette under the pines as my friend and I enjoyed a pizza from Charlies on site while we waited for the Japanese movie Perfect Days to begin.
The main character Hiramaya (Kōji Yakusho) has a simple life in Tokyo – he is a toilet cleaner and every day his routine is very similar.
He wakes up – gets ready for work, fights the traffic, has a busy day, returns home, eats dinner, goes to bed and wakes up to do it all over again.
He seems very content with his routine – its the little things in his day that spark him up and make him smile.
The age old question of how to be happy is a recurring theme that raises its head (in the background) whilst watching this movie.
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- Written by: Nita Teoh
- Category: Arts & Culture
It’s not every day that a special movie comes along – and for me Robot Dreams is one of them.
It is the 1980s New York City, and the main character Dog assembles Robot as a companion and they become best buddies until something unfortunate happens to Robot.
Based on the popular graphic novel by the North American writer Sara Varon, Robot Dreams captures your heart from the get go as you follow the main character Dog in his pursuit of friendship.
His adventures are many and varied – he has some feel good experiences and at the same time, sometimes it seems like the whole world is against him.
When he has a win, you are on the sidelines cheering for him, and when disaster strikes, you feel for this special Dog.
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- Written by: Nita Teoh
- Category: Arts & Culture
Boy meets girl?
A picture perfect wedding photo?
Not your usual fairy tale by a long shot.
Rosalie is a French period drama set in the 1870’s.
A young lady (Rosalie) enters into marriage hiding a secret from her future husband (Abel) which he only discovers on the wedding night.
Circumstances have united the unlikely pair – Abel is marrying Rosalie for her dowry due to being in debt for his failing cafe. Injured from the war, he is struggling to make ends meet and under pressure from the local lord to sell up.
Rosalie’s secret wreaks havoc on her marriage as well as providing a shaking up of the attitudes of the small close-knit town.