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Reviews
Be with Me (2005)
Worth a look not only because it's a Singapore film, but grows on you
I had just caught this film on DVD, having missed its theatrical release. The other Eric Khoo film I've watched was 12 storeys some years back and still quite fresh in my mind, which I thought was excellent so naturally my expectations would have been rather high. Especially so given the publicity this film has received in Cannes.
The film opened beautifully, and the theme of finding one's soul mate is constant in the three tales of finding love in one's teenage, middle age, and senior years, with the true story of Theresa Chan, a blind mute lady who overcame great odds interwoven amongst the three stories.
All went on great for me until the portion on Theresa Chan came in. I felt that with the true account of Theresa Chan added in, this made it more like a documentary and not a movie, and hence killed the 'movie magic' for me. If I had wanted to watch an documentary, I would have gotten myself one. Halfway through the film in the Theresa Chan autobiographical segments where she recounted her early childhood, I found myself nodding off to sleep as it went really slowwwwwww. And the lack of audio/music which forced you to read the subtitles definitely contributes to the sleeping pill effect (I think the producers want the audience to understand it's not easy to be deaf, and to empathize with what Theresa has to go through). Again, I found myself making the best effort to stay awake to see what's Eric Khoo has in store for us. And he does not disappoint if you get over this bump. There is always something to keep you wondering what's going to happen next as the three separate stories unfold.
Of the three stories, I loved the one about the middle aged love best. The protagonist is played by an excellent Seet Keng Yew. Cast as a timid 37 year old bachelor working from job to job as a lowly security officer, with no ambition in life other than a eating eight meals a day which therefore ensures that life expectancy isn't one of his goal; the actor carries the role so well that one could probably be left to think that the character doesn't get intimate with anyone other than his left hand. Spurred on by his desire to find acknowledgment even as faint as a smile of approval from his pretty office executive love interest, he mulls on how to get get her to be aware of his existence, and how he pines for her. And when he finally picks up the courage to deliver his painstakingly written note to his love interest, fate deals him a hand he never expected.
The unraveling of the movie, and how the three stories are interlinked by fate and destiny only happens towards the end, so make sure you stay awake for that! It may not hit you with the effect which Amores Perros with its 3 separate stories and that car accident scene had for the film. Be with me's punchline is a lot more subtle, and has a delayed effect. But it at least makes your investing of valuable time watching this and enduring through the 'documentary', which did nothing for me, worthwhile and rewarding. That, is the measure of a good art-house flick to me.