Director: Zahir Omar (Malaysia)
Tailo (Sunny Pang) was a gentleman taxi driver by trade, calling himself "Chinaman." However, together with his younger brother Sailo (Fabian Loo), Sailo's close friend Gwailo (Jack Tan), and ex-con family friend Ah-soon (Eric Chen), he ran an extortion operation targeting rich people who rode their cabs. After a Dato was victimized, the police under cool, dedicated Inspector Kamal (Bront Palarae) were on their trail.
While Tailo and Ah-soon were more careful, the two younger guys were rash and foolish, trying to do little heists on their own, like one involving Reanne (Joyce Harn), the mistress of a jewelry businessman. However, when the two majorly lost money and their tempers in a gambling joint, they had the sadistic hothead mafia boss Jared (Frederick Lee) on their heels over the huge debt they owed him.
The story is very easy to get hooked into. With the crisp visuals and eclectic music, the unfolding of one exciting event after the other was riveting to watch. There was engaging family dynamics. There was insight into Malaysian Chinese culture. There was very black comedy. There was heart-stopping motorbike chase action. There were crazy criminal characters. There was even blood-splattering Tarantino-esque violence. This is as mainstream as festival entries can get. I really enjoyed watching this film. 8/10.
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THE LONG WALKDirector: Mattie Do (Laos)
In the near future, an old man (Yannawoutthi Chanthalungsy), known as a healer and medium who can communicate with the dead, was seen walking and talking with a pale and mute young woman(Noutnapha Soydara). The same young woman was seen appearing to a little boy (Por Silatsa) whose daily routine involved walking to market with his ill mother (Chansamone Inoudorn). It turned out that the young woman was a ghost, while the old man and the little boy were one and the same person 50 years apart.
When an old woman with dementia disappeared from her noodle store, the old man was requested by Lina (Vilouna Phetmany), the old woman's city girl daughter, to look for her mother. On the other hand, the little boy grappled with his mother's failing health and his father's drunken abusiveness. The ghostly young woman eventually brought the old man back in time to help the little boy cope, bringing them face to face. However, his assistance may actually turn out to be causing more harm than good.
I was engrossed with the complex time-traveling paranormal plot, with plenty of interesting ancient local folk practices, plus some sci-fi on the side. The cinematography was so lush and gorgeous on the big screen, such that even the disgusting was looking good. The eerie musical score built up a thick atmosphere of dread and suspense. Despite some confusing side details in the main plot, the lead performances of Chanthalungsy and especially 10 year-old Silatsa kept my attention the entire time. After two hours of this richly bizarre trip, director Mattie Do neatly cleaned up for a beautifully moving ending. 8/10.
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Director: Sheng Qiu (China)
In the suburban community of Wenjing, the land gave way and its buildings sank. The government official Jiang (Wang Xinyu) led engineers Mr. Han (Xiao Xiao) and his younger counterparts Ant (Deng Jing) and Xiahao (Mason Lee) to survey and assess the damage. Xiahao thought it was an underground water leak that caused the damages, however his boss did not agree and thought the young man was being foolish.
In a parallel story, a pre-teen boy also named Xiahao (Gong Zihan) played around the urban debris and green woods around their city with his close gang of friends, including Fatty (Chen Yihao), Old Timer (Xu Chenghui), Coal (Chen Zhihao) and two girls Foxy (Qian Xuanyi) and Fang Tin (Xu Shuo). One day, the gang experienced a very long walk to the house of Fatty, which took a turn to the strange.
I honestly do not know what to make of this unusual film. The seemingly unrelated stories of the two main threads both seemed to lead nowhere. Wer the two stories were happening at the same time?. Or did Xiahao the kid grew up to be Xiahao the surveyor? This film by director Sheng Qui was more about experimental storytelling, rather than the traditional styles we are familiar with. By the time the film ended with a puzzling bird-watching scene, I realize that I did not fully understand what it was trying to say. I need more exposure to more arthouse films to gain more appreciation for their abstract style of cinematic art. 4/10.
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