Ilo Ilo (Anthony Chen, Singapore, 2013, 99 min)
Wisconsin Film Festival, April 5, 9:00pm & April 6, 1:45pm»
Anthony Chen’s debut feature, Ilo Ilo, won the Best First Film prizes at the Cannes and London Film Festivals. It is a quietly observant film that examines the struggles of a Singapore family and their Philipino maid during the 1997 Asian economic crisis. While not particularly adventurous in terms of form or style, Ilo Ilo vividly and succinctly analyzes the obstacles and conflicts facing each member of the household. Each character is fleshed out with strengths and weaknesses, making the relationships more complex and engaging. The conflicts are not explosive, they slowly burn through the film as the characters deal with the consequences of the economic crisis and their own decisions.
The Lims, Teck and Hwee Leng, are expecting their second child, and to help Weeh Leng manage the household during her pregnancy they hire Terry, a maid from the Philippines. Terry can only stay in the country as long as she’s employed, and she sends much of her salary back to her sister who is taking care of Terry’s 12 month-old son. The Lims also need help supervising their 10 year-old son, Jiale, who has the worst disciplinary record at his school. Terry struggles to earn Jiale’s respect, but he hasn’t shown much respect for anyone or anything since his grandfather passed away.
I particularly admired the film for capturing how cruel children can be, but doing so without villainizing Jiale as a “bad seed.” The deeper motivation for Jiale’s behavior is a bit oversimplified (he hasn’t been the same since the death of his grandfather), but for the most part his misbehavior comes from not understanding consequences the way kids tend not to understand. Early in the film Jiale pranks Terry at a store which leads her to be detained by the store security. This is an unbelievably cruel act to perpetrate on a foreign domestic worker who could lose her job and support for her child. But we never completely lose sympathy for Jiale despite his initial tormenting of Terry because he’s just lashing out, trying anything to regain a sense of control.
Terry becomes the emotional center of the film, as she struggles to find her way both within the Lim household and within Singapore, despite economic, social and religious differences. The power dynamic between Terry and her employers becomes even more interesting as the Teck and Hwee Leng struggle with their own respective employers. The economic crisis seems to have shaken everyone’s sense of control of their own lives, so they compensate by asserting control where they can.
Jiale finds his father’s hidden cigarettes and decides to try one. When the cigarette makes him sick, he thoughtlessly tosses it in the toilet, not thinking about the consequences for either Terry (whom Whee Leng initially suspects had been smoking) or Teck (who has been hiding his smoking habit from Hwee Leng). By this simple action Jiale creates significant tension within the family, not because he’s evil, but because he’s clueless. In some ways this actually makes him more sympathetic in relation to the clueless decisions the adults in the family make. Teck loses a significant amount of money in the stock market, and Hwee Leng is duped by a fly-by-night motivational speaker. The adults should know better. But they are all making these poor decisions because they are struggling to manage their anxiety, grief, and economic hardships.
The film depends a bit too much on numerous motifs that provide short cuts to emotional resonance (Terry’s hair, Whee Leng’s lipstick, Teck’s cigarettes, Jiale’s electronic and real pets, the lottery), but this is forgiven due to the quality of the performances which provide a range of genuine emotions and tones. Anthony Chen is a filmmaker to keep an eye out for, and I look forward to his future efforts.