Film of the week: Lilting

COULSDON COLLEGE: MEDIA TEXT INFORMATION SHEET

TITLE:

Lilting

YEAR OF PROD:

2014

TYPE:

FILM

TELEVISION

DOC.

MUSIC

ADVERT

MUSIC VID.

OTHER:

DIRECTOR

Hong Khaou

PRODUCER

Dominic Buchanan

WRITER

Hong Khaou

PRODUCTION COMPANY

BBC Films

KEY CAST /ARTIST

Ben Whishaw (Richard), Pei-Pei Cheng (Junn), Andrew Leung (Kai), Morven Christie (Margaret), Naomi Christie (Vann) and Peter Bowles (Alan)

KEY CREW

Music: Stuart Earl, DP: Ula Pontikos, Editor: Mark Towns, Casting: Kharmel Cochrane

GENRE

Drama, romance

BUDGET

£120,000

BOX OFFICE

$197,588

THEMES

Sexuality, acceptance, differences, love, heartbreak, loss, family, barrier, language, bond, understanding, trust, grief, forgiveness

AWARDS

GLAAD Media Award- Outstanding Film, Cinematography Award at Sundance for Ula Pontikos.

NARRATIVE: The IMDb description: “In contemporary London, a Cambodian Chinese mother mourns the untimely death of her son. Her world is further disrupted by the presence of a stranger. We observe their difficulties in trying to connect with one another without a common language, as through a translator they begin to piece together memories of a man they both loved.“ My opinion on the film: So I decided to watch this film only because the DP is Ula Pontikos I had not seen much of her feature film work so especially after watching Weekend, I felt inspired to watch another piece of her visual work. Lilting was just amazing and I definitely did not expect it to be this good because the trailer made it seem quite boring. The deeper meanings behind this piece of work are beautiful and I really liked how the language barriers between the characters was made to seem like the conflict, however parts of the film showed that is really wasn’t and it is not common language that connects two people, it is the connection itself and the emotional bond you share with one another. Lilting was powerful and moving and Ben Whishaw provided a stunning performance. Of course the cinematography was beautiful, amazing compositions that followed the rule of thirds and the depth of field engrossed me fully into the scene and Ula did a brilliant job, I always feel inspired when I watch her work. The lighting was also perfect. So I highly recommend this film, it’s a must watch. 9/10.

KEY SCENES: ·         Junn is sitting in her room, ‘talking’ to Kai, and when the scene is repeated in the middle and at the end ·         Richard’s talk with Junn at the end, explaining that Kai was gay and they were in love. The translator doesn’t translate but she seems to understand ·         The argument between Richard and Junn about Kai’s ashes ·         Junn and Alan dancing in the room ·         When the translator translates for Junn and Alan for the first time ·         Junn and Alan’s dinner date ·         Flashback scenes that show Kai and Richard together

COMPARABLES: Weekend

PROGRESSION OF KEY CONTRIBUTORS: This was Hong Khaou’s first feature film and he has previously only made videos and shorts between 2005 and 2012. This includes: “Waiting for Movement” and “Spring”. Ben Whishaw has gone on to act in Paddington (2014), The Lobster (2015), Suffragette (2015), The Danish Girl (2015), Spectre (2015) and In the Heart of the Sea (2015) Ula Pontikos has gone on to shoot: Second Coming (2014), Glue (2014), The Game (2014) and Humans (2015).

ANY OTHER BUSINESS? Lovely quote from the film: “Through plenty of crying, I've learnt to be content that I won't always be happy, secure in my loneliness, hopeful that I will be able to cope. Every year on Christmas Day I get very lonely. An incredible feeling of solitude. On this day, everything has stood still, even the trees have stopped rustling, but I'm still moving, I want to move, but I have nothing to move to, and nowhere to go. The scars beneath my skin suddenly surface and I get scared. Scared of being alone.”