channelnewsasia.com - HERE Not a film for everyone
   
 
  blogs  
 
yournews
   
   
 
Video Finance Lifestyle Travel Weather Discussion TV Shows
CNA Live    | About Us 
 
  Home ›
 
Reviews
Smaller Text Size Larger Text Size

 
 

Not a film for everyone
By Melanie Oliveiro, 938LIVE | Posted: 26 June 2009 1410 hrs

 
 
Photos  of

   
 

RATING:

SINGAPORE : “HERE” is a Singapore film-within-a-film about a man who is sent to a mental hospital after witnessing the sudden death of his wife. Mentally crippled by the tragedy, the man loses all desire to speak. Once warded, he meets other like-minded souls who are also prisoner's of their troubled pasts.

Meanwhile, doctors at the mental institution are experimenting on patients, putting them through a radical treatment programme called "videocure". The man slowly begins his path to self-discovery and in doing so, bonding with a young kleptomaniac.

But will he ever get well enough to assimilate back into society, and maybe talk again? You have to wait for about 1 hour 20 minutes for your answer.

We need movies to escape from life's daily struggles, to be entertained, to have fun, to soul-search but you won't get this HERE.

This is one of those arthouse movies that does not stick to the recognised conventions of storytelling. Don't get me wrong, it's not completely avant-garde to the point of being indigestible.

You will be able to appreciate filmmaker Ho Tzu Nyen's artistic viewpoint as well as grasp his musings about sanity, reality and the human condition. But it's just too self-indulgent a project that it alienates the average film fan.

The wooden, inexperienced acting from the entire cast will also distract you. And the biggest let-down of it all, it drags at a snail's pace.

If you still want to watch a meatier mental hospital movie, check out “One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest”, “Awakenings” and “Girl Interrupted”.

“HERE” is not a film for everyone. It's too slow, too arty-farty for the average cinemagoer, and it's not very entertaining. It pains me to give two stars to a much-hyped, made-in-Singapore film that was recently screened at Cannes Film Festival. But truth be told, I'm not loving it.

- CNA

 

 
Bookmark and Share



Other entertainment News
Fantastic Mr Fox: Fantastic film for all ages
Amelia: Takes off but doesn't soar
Imperfect impersonation
A Christmas Carol: It's no shiny happy tinsel but still a gift nonetheless
Paranormal Activity: Blair Witch bungalow
2012: Disaster 101
My Girlfriend is an Agent: Korea's Mr and Mrs Smith
Humpday: Really good friends
Capitalism - A love story: Moore, Moore, Moore!
Astro Boy: Boy, oh boy!
Vengeance: Guns and gangsters
This is It. This is Michael Jackson.
George Benson: Songs And Stories
Jennifer's Body: She's a man-eater
Love Happens: Don't feel the love here

 

 
Affiliate Sites:
 
About Us  |  Contact Us  |  Advertise with Us  |  Terms & Conditions