Be With Me

The theatre was silent: a kind of reverent awe that causes an audience to hold its collective breath, as if standing up to leave would somehow ruin the poignancy of the moment.

There were tears, sure, and also a few lecherous comments about the lesbian kissing scene, but there was the feeling we had witnessed something a little bit special.

Be With Me moved many a festival-hardened critic at Cannes, and it did the same with this particular group of movie-goers fed on Hollywood jumbo fare, upsize please. Somehow I feel this was not unique.

For all of Jack Neo's commercial success, rarely has his hawker fare transcended the Causeway. This is not because of overzealous customs officers but due rather to the non-exportability of his films to Europe and beyond. This is where Eric Khoo stands out.

Far be it from me to label his style art house, but Khoo stands out simply because he understands he audience does not need to be spoon-fed. Weaving three loosely-connected strands around the spool of Theresa Chan's life, Be With Me is a wonderful caricature of love, set in Singapore. Not the other way round, by showcasing Singapore as others are loathe to do.

In a delightful collage of Singapore life, Khoo tells the story clearly and without pretence, while richly immersing even the casual viewer in a collage of faceted distillations. There is no need for a big name to sell the story, as this movie is a labour of love, eager to give but not to receive. In a world of the bottom-line, it is refreshing to see a filmmaker not obsessed with how much his movie will make, or to quantify his success by associating it with simple saleability.

Sure, Ezann Lee and Samantha Tan do add eye candy to the already potent broth, but the truth is this is a totally believable story, with not so much stereotypes, but distillations of Singaporean wants and needs.

Suitably for a film inspired by the deaf and blind Theresa Chan, the movie has a lowered hearing threshold and minimal dialogue, perhaps to reflect this brave woman world. Her thoughts and her story come to you in subtitles. Theresa's acting is so natural; it is almost as if she wasn't acting at all, like she did not even know the camera was there. This is her story, and she's telling it her way.

Eric Khoo is a loving director. He treats the story with the utmost care and priority, sometimes to the chagrin of his producers. With his track record though, Khoo has moved on from the Singapore Film Festival to Cannes, and now back to the Singapore big screen. How ironic that it takes foreign film festivals to validate his obvious story-telling talent.

You notice Seet Keng Yew almost immediately. I've seen this guy somewhere, you think. The truth is that he's seen you. He's your not-so-dependable security guard, voyeuristically monitoring your condominium’s security cameras. I think he's got the best job in the movie: a few lines of dialogue here and there, but eating and sleeping in between. His first line of dialogue was to order an oyster omelette. He draws immediate comparisons with Lim Kay Tong's Harry Lee in Perth: he's relieved from his security job, he wants to beat someone up to correct an injustice but finds he cannot, he is overly taken with a pretty woman he meets in the course of work, he dies from a head wound etc. Perhaps he wants to eat everything in beeeeeautiful Perth too.

His object of desire is played by the delectable Lynn Poh, probably the biggest acting name in the movie, and she isn't even a speaking character. She's not the only delectable one though. What Michelle Goh was in Mee Pok Man, many say Samantha Tan is for Be With Me. How do we know? Look how Khoo is terminally infected with the Loving Lens Syndrome. We see it in Lost in Translation, Japanese flop Option, and now here in Be With Me. Samantha is stretches languorously in bed, checks her SMS in a loose pasar malam Rip Curl spaghetti top, is nuzzled by sometime boyfriend Brian, dances uninhibitedly in a club, blah blah blah. She looks barely legal! But oh yeah, Eric Khoo is smitten.

Likewise, he is smitten with Singapore food. Even if you're blind and deaf, there's so much food in the movie you can even smell it. I mean it's EVERYWHERE. Samantha and Brian eat gelato, the father works in a provision shop and cooks home-cooked meals for a hobby (two portions, since to him his dead wife still eats), Seet Keng Yew eats and eats (noodles, chicken chop, oyster omelette, and stewed pork with bead for a nightcap), and every chef's dream food critic Theresa Chan who says everything's delicious (no comments on presentation though).

Everyone wins in this movie: Seet's character dies and doesn't have to look for a new job. His family has one less to worry about. Samantha can live happily with Brian. Ezann can perhaps start life anew. The father finally puts his wife's death behind him. His wife's spirit rests in peace. Theresa has her story told. The provision shop is open. Marlboro man can buy his cigarettes. The son has a fulfilling job. Eric Khoo has another resounding success. Did I miss anyone out?

Oh yes, the only loser in this movie has to be Siemens. Their unfriendly SMSing function and low-definition screen was highlighted. Their shock-proof phones can't survive six-storey falls (the Nokia 3210 can), and they have damn irritating SMS ring tones.
Thank God no one's Siemens phone barked during that silent, poignant theatre moment.