Synopsis
Mysterious poetic story of long-lasting discord between beautiful sisters unfolds in Malaysia and Japan.
Mysterious poetic story of long-lasting discord between beautiful sisters unfolds in Malaysia and Japan.
Malu 夢路
Even if we don't like Edmund's movies, but it cannot be denied that all the actors in his movies play well. An actor is who's carries his skin.
Final Score : 65% 🍏
"Lan.
I haven't told anyone about you.
I kept pretending that you had never existed.
Do you know: how sad it makes me feel?"
Malu is an achingly sad, mysterious and full of twists psychological thriller about intergenerational trauma and how siblings different ways of dealing with difficult family households can eventually lead to estrangement, resentment, and disappointed love. Director Edmund Yeo asks us the haunting question: "Are we a shadow of our parents?" (source). Through collaboration with female talent including the producer and actress, Mayjune Tan, playing Hong, the editor behind Naomi Kawase's films, Tina Baz, and the well-spotted potential of the fantastic Sherlyn Seo playing Lan in this film, Edmund Yeo weeds out some of his former setbacks…
Edmund Yeo's latest film is probably his best one yet, though unfortunately that has not been a high bar to pass. There's some interesting concepts here, non-linear character interactions in the same shot and whatnot, but a lot of it falls back to one of his fundamental failings; that his cinematography is seeking to be more aesthetically pleasing than aiding in telling the story. Ah well.
"Identity cannot be found or fabricated but emerges from within when one has the courage to let go."
- Doug Cooper
When they were children, their mother took them to commit suicide by jumping into the sea and tied a beautiful bow on their wrists. From then on, the sisters inherited the displacement of grandma and mother in their blood, and were also bound by fate. She is skilled in changing the accent of Taipei, Guizhou, Shanghai and Singapore, but she does not belong to any place. It would be great if you can become a ghost that is not feared after death. Throwing the notebook with the names of Hong and Lan into the river, there will always be…
แม้เราจะไม่ชอบหนังของเอ็ดมันด์ โหย่วสักเรื่อง แต่ก็คงปฏิเสธไม่ได้ว่า นักแสดงทุกคนในหนังของเขาเล่นดี นักแสดงคือสิ่งที่แบกหนังของเขาไว้
เหนือสิ่งอื่นใดคือ เขาไปติดต่อกิโกะให้มาแสดงเรื่องนี้ได้ยังไงกัน ไม่เข้าใจจริงๆ
When the hardship and loneliness from the present encounters with the guilt of responsibility. This drama portrays the abandoned past is reflecting the miserable present while let the audience to guess any possible reasons of act.
[1st Viewing on 9/2/21 at Mubi]
It's never been easy (to admit) for me to grasp Edmund Yeo's work on the first viewing. I'm seeing and sensing this has some threads and themes that he has explored before in his shorts (I've seen callbacks to Kingyo, Love Suicides, Exhalation, and Last Fragments of Winter), culminated and compiled to serve a larger picture here. I wasn't expecting a Malaysian actress flexing her diversity of language (native and faked) to hold some meaning in this way, but an interesting usage nonetheless.
Will need to rewatch when time permits (as well as his other features).
A psychological melodrama about disconnection. Pace could be better.
That timelines and juxtaposition was so great. Melodramatic, tragic but beautiful and captivating.
gnossienne'li filmler
No one in this film can give up the ghosts of their memories, of their pasts. The first half with the sisters' experiences with their unstable mother is established pretty strongly early on with a harrowing scene where she methodically ties the two sisters to herself to commit suicide, so it was a pity that this section was dragged out way too long, as the second half that explores Lan's dual/multiple identities living and working in Japan was far more interesting. This exploration of her shifting identities includes taking on her sister Hong's name and emulating some of her behaviour, her somewhat ambiguous relationship with Kiko Mizuhara's character, Junko, and another character (who has his own ghosts, they all do),…
"Mysterious poetic story of long-lasting discord between beautiful sisters unfolds in Malaysia and Japan." is really not how I would describe this film..
but somehow at the same time, it's a pretty accurate describtion of it..
the story is about 2 sisters, who go through serious trauma as kids and only really reunite decades later after the death of their mother, but their complicated separate lives are told in a non-linear way mixed with the slowly revealing backstory..
not really a big fan of the film tbh, though it has it's fascinating moments (I was waaay too tired for a slow-burn at this point in the AM), but I love the enthusiasm director Edmund Yeo showed in the Q&A with the festival's artistic director! ;D <3
you can watch it here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3gg3E9khaA
(it's hella awkward though, be aware..)