Film Picks: Sisu, Singapore Chinese Film Festival, Singapore films on Prime Video
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Coo-Coo 043 is set in Taiwan's pigeon-racing community and stars Yu An-shun as Ah Ching, a pigeon breeder.
PHOTO: Singapore Chinese Film Festival
Sisu (M18)
91 minutes, now showing at The Projector, 4 stars
In World War II-era Northern Finland, a solitary gold prospector trekking 800km across the stark tundra encounters a Nazi death squad. They seize his treasure and leave him for dead.
But he is no ordinary miner: Aatami (Jorma Tommila) is a berserker who single-handedly destroyed 300 Soviet soldiers during the Winter War.
The title, Sisu, is a Finnish word not easily translated, encompassing stoicism and perseverance.
Finnish writer-director Jalmari Helander – the twisted mind behind the very un-Yuletide horror Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010), which also starred Tommila – structures seven chapters, each a set piece in creative hyper-violence.
The gonzo performance by Finnish actor Tommila, who is in his mid-60s, is not for the squeamish. He has more battle scars than Rambo and less talk than John Wick. He is as indestructible as the Terminator, cool like Clint Eastwood in his 1960s Dollars Trilogy film series and an inspiration to seniors.
Whang Yee Ling
Singapore Chinese Film Festival
Coo-Coo 043 is set in Taiwan’s pigeon-racing community and stars Yu An-shun as Ah Ching, a pigeon breeder.
PHOTO: SINGAPORE CHINESE FILM FESTIVAL
The 11th edition of the event will showcase 34 features and 21 short films, all screened in cinemas. There will also be talks and panel discussions under the event’s Festival Forum section.
The Taiwanese drama Coo-Coo 043 (2022, M18, 135 minutes, May 6, 3.30pm at GV Bugis+) puts a spotlight on the world of pigeon racing, a sport with lucrative cash prizes.
Ah Ching (Yu An-shun) is one such struggling breeder. For him, a winning bird would be a ticket out of poverty. Film-maker Chan Ching-lin’s story delves into Ah Ching’s working-class anxieties and the way his obsession with winning has tainted his relationships with his wife and daughter. The plot kicks off when Ah Ching’s pigeon 043, a prize-winning bird which vanished long ago, reappears.
The film won Best Narrative Feature at the 2022 Golden Horse Awards and was selected as the opening film of the 2022 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival.
Where: GV VivoCity, GV Bugis+, Oldham Theatre
MRT: HarbourFront; Bugis/Rochor; City Hall/Dhoby Ghaut/Bras Basah
When: Friday to May 7
Tickets: From $14, with discounts for members of the Singapore Film Society and others
Info: scff.sg
John Lui
Ajoomma and other Singapore films on Prime Video
Jung Dong-hwan (left) and Hong Huifang in Ajoomma.
PHOTO: GOLDEN VILLAGE
For those who missed it when it was in cinemas in late 2022, Singapore film-maker He Shuming’s drama Ajoomma (2022, NC16, 90 minutes) is now available on the Prime Video streaming service.
The story of Auntie (Hong Huifang), a middle-aged Singaporean obsessed with K-dramas who finds herself lost in South Korea, earned four nominations at the 2022 Golden Horse Awards, including Best Leading Actress for Hong and Best New Director for He.
Ajoomma is produced by Giraffe Pictures, a local house co-founded by film-maker Anthony Chen. Two of his award-winning features, Ilo Ilo (2013) and Wet Season (2019), have also recently been added to the streaming service.
Prime Video is available in Singapore for $2.99 a month.
