Review: Felix Tan's Hidden Summer in My Heart

Two strangers...an entwined destiny, but still strangers to the end.

That pretty well sums up what i felt as a commercial flop by an aspiring local production.

I believe there are 3 kinds of moviegoers: the critics, the innocent audiences, and lastly the industry people (aka filmmakers). I'm sure the former two are left spitting after watching this film (btw its shot in digital beta), that will explain the last day of screening at 1utama where me and The Girlfriend had the entire hall to ourselves. So, i rather be fair by judging this film based on a filmmaker's viewpoint, or at least a budding one.

Hidden Summer in My Heart (陌生人) was produced by a crew of mostly MMU graduates headed by Director Felix Tan. Now, on the pretext of the story and concept alone this film would seems to be another one that is touching on social issues, and that concept could really work. This is story of a mother looking for her daughter in a alien country, then crosses path with a young pimp who betrays her at first but sort of repented later. The young guy decides to help her find the daughter and both tracked to Johor Baharu, which coincidently is the guy's hometown. There, the mother brushed her daughter for a moment before the girl runs away. The guy accidentally meets her former girlfriend whom he tricked into prostitution some years ago. Then out of nowhere, the bad guys (the guy's former employer) decided to get even with him. In the end, most things went well but not in the way neither of the two preferred and certainly against most audience's expectations.

So what's the problem? Its a good story hindered by loose plots, shallow characters and mediocre acting. Some sub plots are really unnecessary, especially the dance number which might have been added as the actor's promo. The characters doesn't rout for attention. It feels like they don't really know themselves nor their world. Bland. We don't really feel pity for the mom, nor we feel rage or pity with the main guy, nor anyone else. There's nothing for the audience to hold on to, and that's why the film drags us from KL to JB.

There are to me, many things unresolved in the film. Some characters are explored not even halfway, then they are dumped with no explanation whatsoever. There's a depressing feel, especially during the meeting between the guy and his ex, but the filmmakers didn't capitalize on that. After a brief encounter, she was out, and everything came down to this guy again. That leads to the casting. Actors are just so-so. The mom doesn't speak like a Chinese mainlander, and that cuts down authenticity. The guy was stiff, again unauthentic. I'd wished his expression could be better. There were some parts that are promising, that includes his singing.

On the technical side, cinematography was unconvincing. There are a slew of engaging angles but did not really tally with the plot. I think the use of digital video makes this film too glossy, but i understand it might be unavoidable since its a relatively young production company. The music could be bettered. Using much of computer generated music, it feels awkward at times. The music wasn't adding a punch, but are hitting another nail at their feet. The editor obviously hard worked. This could be due to the availability of shots, as some scenes were near to jumpy. Attention were also not given enough for some bits of the audio balance.

This was a concept that might work had it not been the loose plots and other minor stuff. At the end of the show, we left the already empty hall, empty headed. But then, its a bold try for a new company, and in terms of effort, is worth my two thumbs:)

no-fark!