Lilting

Chung and Whishaw

Earlier this year I read a glowing review of the Cambodian born film maker Hong Khaou's debut film
Lifting.and so I was pleased to see that Theatre Clwyd chose to show the film last night.
It was only showing the once and there was around eight people in the audience.
Speaks volumes for cultural North Wales eh?

The film's story centres around grief.
Richard (Ben Whishaw) is mourning the death of his partner Kai (Andrew Leung), and in his grief he reaches out to contact Kai's mother Junn (Pei-Pei Chung) a non English speaking Chinese woman who has reluctantly been admitted to a nursing home. Junn has always disliked Richard, resenting his friendship with her son who she had no idea was gay. and the story lifts off when Richard employs a Chinese interpreter Vann (Naomi Christie) to help open the dialogue between Junn and her racy old suitor and fellow home resident Alan (Peter Bowles) an initiative that in turn allows for Richard and Junn to deal with their own grieving together.

Whishaw and Leung as Richard and Kai

Lifting is an impressive film which is improved by the performances from the two leads. Whishaw (not an actor I have rated before) is the emotionally more brittle character of the two and his portrayal of a man who has lost the love of his life is heartbreaking to watch and made even more poignant as his obvious distress balances out Chung's more stoic and rather flat emotions of loneliness and loss.
Their scenes together (buffered by an excellent Christie as the emotionally torn Vann) are at times electric and incredibly moving. The emotion being heightened as both characters share flashbacks
with conversations they had with lover and son.
I could have done without the laboured and unnecessary comic story line of the twilight courtship between Alan and Junn, the film didnt need it at all. The film, more importantly, is a study of grief, grief from the perspective of two very different people
Lilting is a little gem of a movie.
8/10