A Land Imagined
Singapore / Netherlands / France 2018
produced by Fran Borgia, Melvin Ang (executive), Ng Say Yong (executive) for Akanga Film Productions, Films de Force Majeure, MM2 Entertainment, Volya Films
directed by Yeo Siew Hua
starring Peter Yu, Liu Xiaoyi, Luna Kwok (= Guo Yue), Ishtiaque Zico, Jack Tan
written by Yeo Siew Hua, music by Teo Wei Yong
review by Mike Haberfelner
|
Wang (Li Xiaoyi), a lonely migrant construction worker working in
Singapore's land reclaiming project, goes missing one day, only his truck
is found. Police investigator Lok (Peter Yu) takes over the case, and he
starts digging deep, uncovering some unsettling details about the
construction company Wang worked for.
Earlier: Wang has just broken his hand at work, and is thus given a
less physical job as truck driver - at a lower pay. Ofr course, just
quitting his job is not an option for Wang, because as a migrant worker,
his employer has confiscated his passport and through some complex legal
construction, Wang actually owes money to the company. Wang starts
spending his nights at a nearby internet café, where he soon becomes
friendly with the night clerk Mindy (Luna Kwok), and he also gets in touch
with an anonymous internet troll who opens his eyes to a few things going
on in the company. Wang also becomes friends with co-worker Ajit
(Ishtiaque Zico), who wants to leave the company to look after his mother
... and then he just disappears. Expecting little help from the
authorities who tend to look down on migrant workers, he investigates
himself - and eventually finds Ajit's dead body buried on the beach. But
he is spotted finding the body and can only just escape whoever-it-is -
but now he has to go into hiding, and this is where things get weird ...
A Land Imagined is quite the experience: In part, it's
a noir-ish mystery, and then there's also quite a bit of social commentary
to it ... but at the same time it's also a dream like experience where the
mystery bits of the part become quite transcendental. But most
importantly, the whole thing works like a charm thanks to a very clever
script, a solid directorial effort, and a very competent cast, all making
this movie a rather unique experience.
|