Review: The Lady (2011)

Yesterday I watched a film that I thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated. I don't normally write film reviews but I thought I just might, simply because this film was so beautiful. 

The Lady is a 2011 biopic film that depicts the inner struggles of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese democratic leader who tried to stand up for democracy for almost more than two decades despite being tied under numerous house arrests by the Military for more than a decade.

The film begins with Daw Suu's family life in Oxford before she goes back to Burma to care for her sick mother. During her visit, she witness the violence of the Burmese Military Tatmadaw and is drawn to the movement to promote reform. She decides to stay and lead the people for democracy and human rights. Despite clearly winning the majority in the 1990 elections, she is charged under house arrest. Meanwhile, her husband and her two boys, who are British and are not granted visas to visit Daw Suu, endlessly seek ways to promote international recognition of Burma's political situation in an attempt to secure her safety. This leads to Daw Suu's Nobel Peace Prize award in 1991, which was accepted by her elder son on her behalf. The film climaxes when Daw Suu's husband is diagnosed with cancer and only has months to live. Daw Suu is given the option of leaving back to England to see her husband one last time or to stay and continue to fight for democratic freedom, to which she says, "That is not freedom", and chooses to stay for her nation. The film ends with an extremely emotional blessing of Buddhist monks who marched to Daw Suu's house in support of human rights in 2007.

While many, including me, would think the film narrates many aspects of the Burmese political atmosphere, the film actually centres mainly on the life of Daw Suu and less on the Military. More specifically, it emphasises on how she gave everything -- her husband, her sons, her life in the UK -- up for her corrupted nation. She is the inspiration that her people need and she chooses to continue the legacy being her father's daughter as the head of a non-violent movement for democracy.

The incredible performances of the cast drove the film forward. Michelle Yeoh brings Daw Suu's character and personality to life by portraying the real Daw Suu so beautifully. It makes me feel as if I really do know the real Daw Suu, an extremely determined, moral, and inspirational figure. She was so great that I expected her to receive an Oscar Nomination. David Thewlis' portrayal of Daw Suu's worried but supportive husband is solid as well. In essence, it was Yeoh and Thewlis' performances that made the film extremely personal and emotional.

The cinematography of the film was relatively simple but effective. The exotic beauty of Rangoon and the coldness of Oxford was well balanced, presenting a contrasting irony where the natural beauty of Rangoon is stamped on by the political chaos while the coldness of Oxford is where familial warmth is. Being a biopic, the camera tends to follow characters upclose and around, providing that intimate setting, as well as allowing viewers to 'feel' and understand the characters. The speeches of that Daw Suu gives were shot with grandeur, greatly emphasizing how one person manages to inspire a crowd of millions with her warmth, her determination, and her moral belief.

Another notable aspect of the film was the music score. It provided so much to the film in terms of Daw Ang's emotions, warmth, and inspiration. One of the best film scores out there in my opinion.

To sum it up, The Lady is an amazingly beautiful film that drew me in every second of the 120+ minutes runtime and justly portrays the inspirational Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

When all seems well, it strikes.

Many people see me as an optimistic, cheerful, and open guy. And sure, I do believe that's me to a large extent. But despite being almost 20, there are still occasional times when all seems well, it strikes and I lose myself. I become lost - confused, unmotivated, and uninterested.

There's no anchor in my life. Things come and go. Heck, even people come and go. Nothing seems to last. Time is a healer, but it's also a destroyer.

I don't know why, I don't know how, but it struck me after I finished my exams. How am I going to spend my time now that exams and assignments are over? I'm not one of those people who think academics are everything, but at the same time, I seem to have realised academics to be my priority while I'm still a student and now that I'm temporarily done with it, my life feels meaningless. While most people are off partying and chilling, I'm stuck within myself finding everything a waste of time. Perhaps this is an early sign that I'm a workaholic -- nothing means much without work -- and I just have yet to discover the career.

What about games? What about TV shows? What about movies? What about books? What about Youtubing? I looked forward to all of these while I was studying for my exams. But now that they are over, everything feels like time wasters. I feel bad for engaging in these 'time-wasters' because I don't feel like I'm investing much into my future. I'm just granting myself with temporary gratification. I also feel bad because I value the people in my life greatly and I can't allow myself to lock myself to my room and watch TV all day while friends leave for their summer break real soon. Time is precious, and while these people are still here with me, I should treasure it. But ironically, by being uninterested and moody, I waste all this precious time feeling upset and end up not doing anything with them.

So yeah, that's how I'm feeling right now. Useless. And I only have myself to blame.

I'm starting to realise that this world's just a mental battle within myself. I find myself often feeling guilty because I am harsh on myself. And punishing myself seems far worse than the 'punishments' others give me. Because it's ongoing. And will be for the rest of my life. I'm not sure if this is peculiar to me and my life, but my close friends don't seem to encounter such problems.

For the first time, I'm exposing my soft-side/struggles on my blog. I feel vulnerable, but I'm sure everybody is to an extent. At least I'm not hiding it from myself.

Photo Essay: Vietnamese Locals

This is my first ever photo essay, and it is a product of my trip to Vietnam. Through this set of photos, I aim to portray Vietnamese locals in their work environment and hopefully provide an insight into their daily lives.

Unexpected Friends

I thought of the 8-hour budget-flight I was about to board. Eight long hours in the air. I wondered how I was going to spend it.

I found my seat near the back of the plane, in the middle aisle. On my left sat two Hispanic travellers, presumably a couple. The seat to my right was still unoccupied.

Just minutes before the plane was scheduled to depart, and just when I thought I was going to have two seats to myself, an old man wearing a silky short-sleeve shirt and a straw hat walked towards me hurriedly, panting, and asked me if the empty seat to my right was seat 40F. I nodded, and instinctively greeted him with a simple “how are you doing?”.

He looked at me, and said, “Sorry, what did you say?”.

I repeated myself.

He stared at me for a second, as if still waiting for my words to get into his brain for processing. Then laughingly he said, “Good, but you’d have to hold my hand while we take off!”. I didn’t know if he was joking or not.

Turned out he was joking.

As we were taking off, he asked if I was a local, and that was how our conversation – which would go on to last hours – started. Initially, we talked about Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand, the three countries that he was planning to visit on his 29-day solo trip. We talked about how he could get from Singapore to Johore, how from Johore he could get to Butterworth and Georgetown, and how from Georgetown he could get to Bangkok. We also talked about some places to visit, and he told me stories of his travels around the world when he was young and fit – not that he wasn’t then, at 82 years of age.

He told me that the last time he had been to Singapore many decades ago, he travelled by water. He did not stay in Singapore for long, as his cruise was heading to the UK and Singapore was only one of the stopover points. In addition to Singapore, he stopped in Sri Lanka and Italy. He also told me how he spent months working and travelling in the US. He had gone from Canada, down to the East Coast, all the way to the West Coast. In the end, he was forced to leave the country because he had overstayed with an invalid visa.

Gradually, our conversation moved to Asian culture. Given that he knew I only came to Sydney a year and a half ago, he asked for my opinion on Western culture. I did not know what he wanted to hear, and I did not want to offend him, so I tactfully told him it was all right, that I could adapt just fine. Surprisingly, he started telling me how he felt the Western world is too materialistic, with most youngsters succumbing to consumerism and a false perception on the meaning of life. He went on to bash the Western culture of meeting up over alcohol, and how promoting binge drinking only led to detrimental mental and physical health. To make a comparison, he claimed that the Asian mentalities such as working hard, filial piety, and conservatism, was much more true to his approach to life – which was largely based on one of his favourite authors, Hugh MacKay.

Talking about culture, he mentioned how his elder son’s partner is Chinese, and while thinking about her, he smilingly claimed she was “An absolute pleasure!”. This led the conversation into the topic of family. He had two grown-up sons. Staring into the seat in front of him in contemplation with his deep blue eyes, he told me that seeing his boys grow up and enjoy each other’s company was the best thing he could have hoped for as a parent. And now, as a grandparent, he found great indulgence playing and buying gifts for his grandkids. Never did he once mention a wife, and I didn’t ask.

This went on for the first two or three hours. He talked while he ate too, and even offered me a can of coke, which I gratefully accepted. After lunch, he got tired and slept shortly after. In the last two or three hours before we landed, he woke up and we talked some more.  

What really intrigued me about this man is how much he had to share about his life. Sometimes, he would just stare at the back of the seat in front of him without saying anything, as if his mind was playing out all those nostalgic memories that he had shared. I am also inspired by his optimism, his passion for life and its meaning. He just had this cheerful aura around him. 

We landed in Changi half an hour late of the scheduled time. We got out of the plane and I led him to the immigration custom and baggage collection areas. Using my smartphone, I helped him find the nearest MRT station to get to his hotel. I also got him a brochure that had an MRT map in it from the brochure stand just outside the immigration custom.

We parted as I went to the taxi stand to catch a cab while he went on to the MRT station. We got someone to take a photo of us, and he beamed and explained to the generous stranger, “We became instant friends”.

It’s true what they say, that after high school in the real world, you make friends and learn from people of all ages.

I wish my oldest friend well.

High School Nostalgia + More

I played volleyball with fellow IH people just today. The last time I played on a volleyball court was, as far as I can remember, all the way back in early-2011. That is almost exactly two years ago. Although we only played casually, I still enjoyed it very much.

As I played, memories of high school came back to me. Commending teammates, coming in together to shout "1-2-3 Dragons" after every point, calling out balls destined to land outside the court, calling for the ball, engaging bump-set-spike play, being aggressive for the ball etc etc. Everything suddenly became so vivid, as it if were just a few weeks ago. It was an extremely memorable season for me as I captained the team under Coach Graham. The fun we had back then, even when Coach Graham was being strict to us, was nostalgic. I also craved for that feeling I had in my stomach before the start of every competitive game. Well of course, all of that are gone now. I'm just glad that I was heavily involved in high school sports. Definitely an experience like no other!

The team... go Dragons! 

Thanks to Young who booked the court. I can't wait for the next session.


***

Some photo updates.

1. It's graduation season and I've recently been assigned to assist the graduations office. On my first shift, I brought my camera long and took some candid shots of people graduating.

I've witnessed graduates of all ages

"Here, mum you take from the higher angle while dad takes the lower angle, and at the end of the day we'll select the best 2 from the 500 almost-identical-photos we would have taken and upload them."

2) Buddha's Birthday/Mother's Day/TzuChi Day 3-in-1 Celebration

People who turned up at the event at Eastwood