by Hayley Charlesworth
With his debut feature, director Hong Khaou creates a quiet, stunning vision of love and loss in Lilting. It is a story that explores grief and acceptance in its many forms, crossing cultural and societal boundaries as it does so.
With his debut feature, director Hong Khaou creates a quiet, stunning vision of love and loss in Lilting. It is a story that explores grief and acceptance in its many forms, crossing cultural and societal boundaries as it does so.
The film follows two people who are brought together by the shared experience of a tragedy. There is Junn, a Chinese-Cambodian mother living in sheltered accommodation, who is unable to assimilate into British society, and there is Richard, a young gay man in mourning. They have both lost Kai, Junn’s son and only family, and Richard’s lover of four years, to a fatal car accident as Kai was on his way to come out to his mother. But this is not some coming-out drama or an exploration of prejudice as based on cultural norms. Lilting is the story of two people taking ownership of their grief, and resenting the other for daring to share in that pain. Junn’s dislike of Richard is not because he and Kai were gay, in fact, she doesn’t know about their sexuality for the majority of the film, and when Richard eventually tells her the truth, she is accepting. Junn was wholly dependent on her son to function in a society that she didn’t understand, and she blames Richard for taking Kai away from him. Meanwhile, Richard is desperate to help Junn, knowing it is what Kai would have wanted, but has to mask the depths of his pain until it begins to consume him, feeling as if his own life with Kai has been cast aside.
Richard arranges for a friend, Vann, to translate his conversations with Junn, as well as Junn’s interactions with an elderly gentleman that she is courting, Alan. The interactions with Alan provide a welcome break from the tragedy, with a frankly hilarious scene as Junn details what she doesn’t like about Alan, and Vann provides the deadpan translation. But seeing Vann translate for Junn and Richard is an interesting technique. Repeating Junn’s words in English somehow numbs the feeling, adding to the emptiness she feels now her son is gone. It is when Junn’s words go un-translated, save for the subtitles, that the depths of her emotions are truly explored.
Richard arranges for a friend, Vann, to translate his conversations with Junn, as well as Junn’s interactions with an elderly gentleman that she is courting, Alan. The interactions with Alan provide a welcome break from the tragedy, with a frankly hilarious scene as Junn details what she doesn’t like about Alan, and Vann provides the deadpan translation. But seeing Vann translate for Junn and Richard is an interesting technique. Repeating Junn’s words in English somehow numbs the feeling, adding to the emptiness she feels now her son is gone. It is when Junn’s words go un-translated, save for the subtitles, that the depths of her emotions are truly explored.
Both Richard and Junn’s lives with Kai are shown in flashback of the few days prior to Kai’s death. We see Kai visiting his mother the day before, the scene opening the film, and repeated later when we know the truth behind Kai’s visit, in that he was about to come out to his mother but chickened out, and died before he got another chance. We see, albeit briefly, Kai and Richard’s deep love for each other, making Richard’s increasingly failing attempts to mask his sadness from Junn all the more tragic. Actor Andrew Leung has fantastic chemistry with both his more famous co-stars, and is certainly a star on the rise. The fact that he can hold his own against BAFTA-winning Ben Whishaw (as Richard) and Cheng Pei-pei of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (as Junn) with such little screen-time is a testament to his skill. Peter Bowles is endearing but frustrating as Alan, as recognisable a slightly inappropriate old man as any. Naomi Christie does seem to draw the short straw as Vann, initially just translating Junn’s words, but grows as she is drawn into the lives of these two people, with a very sweet and funny scene in which she and Richard narrate Junn and Alan’s date from the kitchen as a highlight.
But it is Ben Whishaw, and to an even greater extent, Cheng Pei-pei whom this film belongs to. Pei-pei is an absolutely stunning screen presence, her cold, harsh exterior changes when, with Richard barely masking Junn’s immense loss, and as she experiences a fond memory of her son, the delight on her face is simply captivating. Whishaw, meanwhile, is rightly considered one of Britain’s finest young actors, and it’s no different here. Richard is put through the emotional wringer in this film, and Whishaw pulls off the complexity of his character with perfect ease.
But it is Ben Whishaw, and to an even greater extent, Cheng Pei-pei whom this film belongs to. Pei-pei is an absolutely stunning screen presence, her cold, harsh exterior changes when, with Richard barely masking Junn’s immense loss, and as she experiences a fond memory of her son, the delight on her face is simply captivating. Whishaw, meanwhile, is rightly considered one of Britain’s finest young actors, and it’s no different here. Richard is put through the emotional wringer in this film, and Whishaw pulls off the complexity of his character with perfect ease.
At only 91 minutes long, Lilting has no desire to take us into the back-stories of these characters, save for the small pockets of information regarding their lives with Kai. Instead, Lilting is concerned with catching moments of grief, acceptance, and moving forward, and the difficulties inherent in that. The three-way bilingual conversations are a way of interpreting that difficult but growing understanding between Junn and Richard, and are a wonderfully utilised narrative device.
Made on a low budget, Lilting makes great use of its dull colour palate to emphasise the loneliness and loss faced by Junn and Richard. They dress in drably coloured clothes, and Junn is surrounded by old-fashioned décor. But in the flashbacks, we see Richard and Kai in bright, white rooms, and Junn and Kai in a room with beautiful purple hydrangeas. It is a lovely, yet simple contrast. Junn’s sheltered accommodation and Kai and Richard’s apartment (which looks wonderful, by the way) are two worlds apart, just like the cultural gap between the two, and seeing each other in the other’s environment is symbolic of that divide that was bridged by Kai. Vann’s presence in all of these scenes is crucial also, almost as if she is the new Kai, helping the two to connect without him.
Lilting is an affecting, quiet drama that pays close attention to the realities of loss. While it explores issues of culture and sexuality, it uses these more than a mere device to create tension. It tells a wholly human and relatable story that is just as hopeful as it is devastating.
Lilting is playing at the East End Film Festival. Catch it on 18th of June at Hackney Picture house. Buy tickets here!
Made on a low budget, Lilting makes great use of its dull colour palate to emphasise the loneliness and loss faced by Junn and Richard. They dress in drably coloured clothes, and Junn is surrounded by old-fashioned décor. But in the flashbacks, we see Richard and Kai in bright, white rooms, and Junn and Kai in a room with beautiful purple hydrangeas. It is a lovely, yet simple contrast. Junn’s sheltered accommodation and Kai and Richard’s apartment (which looks wonderful, by the way) are two worlds apart, just like the cultural gap between the two, and seeing each other in the other’s environment is symbolic of that divide that was bridged by Kai. Vann’s presence in all of these scenes is crucial also, almost as if she is the new Kai, helping the two to connect without him.
Lilting is an affecting, quiet drama that pays close attention to the realities of loss. While it explores issues of culture and sexuality, it uses these more than a mere device to create tension. It tells a wholly human and relatable story that is just as hopeful as it is devastating.
Lilting is playing at the East End Film Festival. Catch it on 18th of June at Hackney Picture house. Buy tickets here!
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