Plot
In contemporary London, a Cambodian Chinese mother mourns the untimely death of her son. Her world is further disrupted by the presence of a stranger. We observe their difficulties in ... See full summary »
Release Year: 2014
Rating: 7.4/10 (348 voted)
Critic's Score: 65/100
Director: Hong Khaou
Stars: Pei-pei Cheng, Ben Whishaw, Andrew Leung
Storyline
In contemporary London, a Cambodian Chinese mother mourns the untimely death of her son. Her world is further disrupted by the presence of a stranger. We observe their difficulties in trying to connect with one another without a common language, as through a translator they begin to piece together memories of a man they both loved.
This is a gem. I wouldn't have watched it unless I had been taken.
(Thank you, Beryle.) If it had been on TV, I might have watched some of
it, but that is the joy of cinema. You have no distractions. I thought
it might be depressing; it wasn't. I thought it wasn't my sort of film;
it was. Thought-provoking.
It was easy to forget that you were watching actors. The performances
were that good and very moving. It was very much like a French film.
It was interesting how much back-story was left out and yet it still
worked. I asked myself a few questions because I wanted to know more.
(Perhaps I felt I could help.) Where were we? (North-east
London/Essex?) How long had she lived in England by depending on her
husband and son for all communication with the outside world? What did
people do for a living? Where did the translator come from and was she
being paid? Without her son would she at last break out into the world?
However I realised the back-story didn't matter. It told you all you
needed to know. The nub was all that mattered: an insight into
communication, memory and grief. Some things have to be said and some
things are perhaps best left unsaid. The characters kept asking the
translator not to translate after they had said something because they
had time to see the effect it would have, (something that does not
happen with a common language) but even the translator could not help
but get involved.
You could speculate on a happier outcome but the final scene where she
drifted back to the last meeting with her son perhaps indicated it
would be a while yet before she could move on.
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