Film picks: Living, Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, Cinema Reclaimed
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S. Roomai Noor portrays Inspector Latiff, the police officer who appears in the 1960 anthology film Hantu Rimau.
PHOTO: CATHAY-KERIS FILMS
Cinema Reclaimed: Driving, Kicking And Punching
The National Heritage Board’s Heritagefest is an annual celebration of culture and heritage, and Cinema Reclaimed is its film strand.
The curators – lecturer and writer Ben Slater with artist and researcher Toh Hun Ping – have created an accessible and offbeat programme of Singapore films that explore 2023’s themes on sport and transport.
Older films from the Malay-language studio era will be paired with more contemporary ones, with the older movies receiving new subtitles created by programme partner Asian Film Archive.
The event kicks off on Sunday with a talk by Slater in which he dives into the ways Singapore films have portrayed sport and transport. The presentation aims to be entertaining and generously illustrated with film clips.
Hantu Rimau (Tiger Ghost, 1960, 117 minutes, exempted from classification, screens on Sunday and May 21, various timings) is described by Slater as unusual for the period because it is an anthology of three mystery stories, all investigated by Inspector Latiff, played by S. Roomai Noor.
Latiff is a fictional character created by British expatriate Pelham Groom, who was a journalist and former military officer, as well as a World War II veteran. Slater also calls the film daring, as Latiff’s sidekick is a glamorous forensics doctor played by Mary Lim.
Films completed before 1966 are exempt from classification.
Where: Oldham Theatre, 1 Canning Rise
MRT: City Hall/Dhoby Ghaut/Bras Basah
When: Sunday to May 28, various timings
Admission: $10 for screenings. Talks are free
Info: str.sg/ioyb
Living (PG13)
In the film Living, Bill Nighy is Mr Williams, a man sleepwalking through life who is told he has a terminal illness.
PHOTO: THE PROJECTOR
102 minutes, now showing at The Projector, 4 stars
British-Japanese author Kazuo Ishiguro penned the screenplay for this interpretation of Japanese master Akira Kurosawa’s 1952 classic drama about the meaning of life, Ikiru.
Director Oliver Hermanus neatly transposes the bureaucracy and cultural reticence of 1950s Japan to post-war England, where Bill Nighy’s Mr Williams apathetically shuffles documents at his desk every day as the head of London County Council’s Public Works Department.
The civil servant learns that he has cancer and now wants to “live a little”, but does not know how.
He tries a boozy night out with a local bohemian (Tom Burke). But it is the spirited youth of a junior female employee, played wonderfully by Aimee Lou Wood (Sex Education, 2019 to present), that becomes his awakening – so what if their blossoming friendship attracts gossip?
What makes life worthwhile? Williams eventually finds his purpose in the face of death, and his graceful and moving rebirth is a reminder to live while alive.
For his portrayal of Mr Williams, British actor Nighy earned a Best Actor nomination at 2023’s Academy Awards, while Ishiguro earned a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination.
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie (PG13)
(From left) Tracy Pollan, Sam Fox, Esme Fox and Michael J. Fox in Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie.
PHOTO: APPLE TV+
94 minutes, premieres on Apple TV+ on Friday, 4 stars
Canadian-American actor Michael J. Fox tells the story of his life, from boyhood to the present day. With film clips, re-enactments and on-camera interviews, a tale is spun of a kid from Burnaby, British Columbia, who has his Hollywood dream come true – only to have it all darkened by the shadow of a debilitating disease.
No crying, no pity – that was the instruction Fox gave director Davis Guggenheim before the start of the project.
The result is a biographical documentary that frames the actor’s life as a feel-good story in the first half and a taut psychological drama in the second.
The turning point is his diagnosis of early-onset Parkinson’s disease. When the movie and television star – who had been at the top of the world with the Back To The Future science-fiction film series (1985 to 1990) and the sitcom Spin City (1996 to 2000) – is told of his diagnosis, his world shatters and he has to build a new life.
While not a thorough work of journalism, this film does cover the key areas of work and family and, more importantly, never forgets to let Fox shine on camera as a sweet man with a cheeky sense of humour.
