Movie Review: 4.30

The core details first. Local film, independent/low-budget, directed by Royston Tan. Running time 90+ minutes. Quiet Singaporean drama revolving around a boy and a very foreign Korean man's weird relationship in a very empty house.

Depending on how impatient you are regarding films, you might either be frustrated by the film's slow pacing or you might tolerate it. One of the first shots of the film is a long take featuring our lead character, a pre-teen Chinese Singaporean boy named Xiao Wu, scrabbling around in the dark looking for something in a guy's room in the dead of night. That's practically all that happens for what feels like minutes afterwards, and we don't learn anything about what he was doing before we finally get to the next shot, which begs the question of why they held the bloody shot for so long.

Long takes, slow cutting, and generally serene pacing are the signatures of this film (I'm told it's a departure from Royston Tan's usual style). I think it's probably an experiment on Royston's part, because there are plenty of points where I found my attention wandering for lack of something happening. Music is used sparingly and not too much diegetic sound, so an audience is many a time left twiddling their thumbs waiting. That said, there are also scenes that use the long take well; for instance, it is used to communicate effectively the trappings of a classroom scene and that agonizingly empty and slow lonely feeling. As long as you're invested in the characters of the movie, the slow pacing should be an overall plus to your appreciation of it.

There are only two "real" characters, they hardly interact with each other, don't even speak the same language, and yet, they both bring something to the situation. Xiao Wu provides humour, mischief, and innocence as a counterpoint to the sordid themes, as the child character often does, but at the same time he is at the centre of much of the pain in the movie, being abandoned by his mother to live with a stranger that doesn't even speak the same language. The "Korean uncle" Jung, unhappy and distant guardian, although he does very little guarding, is the vague and fuzzy dream that us and Xiao Wu are feeling around for. In a hazy, timeless landscape where Xiao Wu has virtually no one and nothing, we are tantalized with few but intimate little details about this man who is just in the next room, but just can't talk to.

The movie focuses on Xiao Wu's numerous attempts to reach him, and Jung's ambiguous reactions, despite all the differences between them. Most of these attempts to connect are disguised as pranks, courtesy - but since these are the only times Xiao Wu's life brushes another, they feel sincere, treasured. As I grew depressed about Xiao Wu's empty, empty existence, Jung also became my little fixation, as he was pretty much the only person either of us saw - extended, contemplative shots were now filled with a bit of longing to become somehow closer, to make some real contact, to get some real conversation. 4.30 was quiet and dark. It took a while, but it got me.

Some credit has to go the the acting, too. Xiao Li Yuan (the boy) and Young-jun Kim (the Korean) do fine jobs, finer still when you take into account how difficult long takes are, in getting everything right. Sound, voices, are conspicuous in their sparseness, which only helps add to the impact of certain scenes when they are present. Overall it's a minimalist approach that eschews the usual heated dialogue and overly snaky plot that is common in local productions. At no point do Jung or Xiao Wu talk plainly about how they feel, and yet you manage to understand their isolation, their desperation.

Some may think 4.30 is mostly just a lot of tedious shots and an overly long short film (and they would have ample reason), but I could stand to defend it as an artistic triumph, an example of Singaporean cinema that doesn't rely on the easy tricks (horror, hot actresses, guns, tired slapstick, name actors, etc.). Not a movie designed for casual audiences, but I'm glad Tan stuck with it and didn't try to shoehorn anything in.

Also of note: To enhance the awkward relations between Jung and Xiao Wu, director Royston Tan forbid them from talking to each other. The one time this rule was broken, Royston canceled the shoot. Nice to see he's learning enforced method acting.

most of the time, we take things for granted. and we always want something else other than what we don't have. but maybe life is just like this and the grass is always greener on the other side.

i mean school's really killing me but perhaps the feeling of progression fits me better than stagnation.

because we all like to progress

Of school and pride

Just thought I wanted to share some school mottos that I felt are really powerful stuff...

In no order,

The Best Is Yet To Be - Anglo-Chinese School

Nil Sine Labore (Nothing Without Labour) - Victoria School

Ora et Labora (Pray and Work) - Saint Joseph's Institution

Auspicium Melioris Aevi (Hope of A Better Age) - Raffles Institution

Up and On (Upward and Onward) - Saint Andrew's School

Naimatma Balheenien Labhya (Perfection Cannot Be Acheived By The Weak) - Modern School Delhi

I really like all these mottos as I think they all epitomize the strive and desire for excellence.

Of worth mention is the Victoria School's motto. "Nothing Without Labour" really is something I hope to live by.

In fact I think all these mottos are pretty good principles.

Here's to good mottos.

derp derp

I just heard that one of the teachers who accompanied us to India was fired last June for slapping a student. Guess who, hurr hurr.

registar

Last night, I turned in my personal particulars, family particulars, bank account numbers, and a whole list of everything the army needs for my enlistment. I had to chose the initials I wanted on my nametag, the sizes of my attire and a whole list of interests and whatnot.

I guess it's becoming increasingly apparent that the day to my manhood (kinda) is drawing closer. I've booked my appointment for my pre-NS check up. Guess it won't be long before I'll be entering. Kinda scary, because I do realise that once I get in, I'll have a whole lot more personal and social responsibilities to live up to.

Time really passes fast...

Guess the army is coming, real soon, to make a man out of me.

Poly, tougher than JC since 1954

So there is a facebook group and a bunch of stalwarts out there who think they got it tough in poly.

Ignorant brats. They should just go home and suck thumb.

There's a reason why we take 95% of all scholarships.

Dictorgraphic Demographics

Well if you don't already know by now, Barack Obama is the first black US President in history. Surprise to many I must say. With his oratorical prowess, many attribute his victory at the polls due to his strong ability to communicate and link the hearts of the people with his ideas.

Is it really a surprise then that probably the most racist country in the world has finally elected a black president? Well not so. 40 or so years ago, when Martin Luther King Jr's 'Let Freedom Reign' speech was delivered, many would have said of civil rights and racial equality being put in the right direction. Well racial equality was destined for the American land.

According to a BBC report in 2010, 70% of Americans over the age of 65 are white. And well, over 55% of Americans today under 5 are not white. This represents a huge shift in American demographics. (Which I guess kinda explains the sudden influx of crappy black musicians in the 21st century.) Music aside, this is an important note. Because the America we know in 30 years time will be different from the America we knew in the 90s.

I guess things are not that lopsided for the moment. For most Americans living in poverty (or extreme poverty) are not whites. This leaves power and influence still squarely settled on the shoulders of the white man.

Who knows what this will bring to this new world. Only time will tell.

This Road is a Bloody Trail

I just witnessed a car accident.

Today, 30th Jan 2010, approx 1320pm, at the Shell Station bus-stop near NP, as I was chatting with 2 classmates of mine, we head a loud Bang.

Its a Saturday, yet traffic was strangely heavy today. There we were, at the bus-stop, and I spotted 2 Secondary School girls from YI, crossing the road. Indeed, they were jay-walking, but so have 4 of us PForters on that very same stretch of road.

Alas, I didn't see the whole thing. But what I saw was substantial. I saw the white Mercedes Limo-cab brake hard; and I saw her legs in the air. She flew, and she landed hard. When traffic cleared a little, I saw a small group of people, cab-driver included, crowding around her. A Caucasian woman popped her head up with the student's bag, and checked her pulse. A bottle of water was passed around till it reached the Caucasian woman, and she used to it clean off some blood. I wasn't able to really see, but I did see her bloodied face and arms. She was alive, and the police and eventually the ambulance came, and then off they went.

I thank my lucky stars I'm alive to type this, because I too came close to being run-over by a car while jaywalking last Wednesday night. Had I been rooted to that spot for a second more, the consequences unthinkable.

Indeed, she was lucky to survive, and I too hope she survives. Still, I cannot imagine the pain a parent would feel to know that all their sacrifice and investment has come to an abrupt end when their child dies.

smell then reach out

I just filled up my pilot application form a few minutes ago.

Well, what I want to see down the line, is MinDef calling me up, I go for their checks, and I get in before I take my A level examinations. Of course that's ideal, and the chances of this happening is not 100%.

Well, hopefully I'll be shipped into enlistment in January 2011 and continue that charge from there.

I just checked up my CCA and extracurricular records and I must say it is particularly dazzling. And all that I'm searching for now is the straight As to finish up the cherry on the bowl of cream I've been preparing for the past year or so.

So now, study hard, really I have to. Straight As aren't easy, but reach out and touch the sky; when in the end I make it, I'll look back and think I laboured not in vain. And I will reap the fruits of my labour.

I am closer than I have ever been.

I am here for a higher purpose

College and the world

Today I attended a lecture on genetics composition in NTU. It was part of my friend's module in her biomedical sciences degree and I decided to just take a look since I was free today. I sat in like a drop in the deep blue sea.

And shit, as I sat there, I realised all of a sudden with so much overwhelming conviction that I got to study hard if not I'll end up doing something that sucks and something I don't want for my degree...