The Home Song Stories

I recently got a job at The Embassy Theatre in Wellington, and to just my luck the Film Festival has recently started. We sometimes get to go in and watch the films for free if we aren't doing much. My boss said I could go in to watch, so I jumped at the opportunity (simply because it was a free film).

The Home Song stories is a brilliant film.

The story follows the young Tom at age 10 (i think) as he, his Mother and sister struggle to contain a normal lifestyle, being Chinese immigrants in Australia in the 1970's. A lot of the focus is on his Mother who battles between providing the needs for her children and resenting them, being still quite naive and wanting more freedom.

Joen Chen is fully compelling in probably her best role to date. Joel Lok is already destined to have a great career, who pulled off the most engaging child performance I have seen. For the most part, he reacts passively, with minimal dialogue: it's his woeful looks that draw you in.

The cinematography is fantastic. The color tone seems so natural and real, while still being cinematic. The CU's have great engagement with the character's eyes, with little depth of focus, guiding you to exactly what you should be watching. The slow tracks in and sideways draw you to new developments in the story, working perfectly with the actors' performances.

The story itself is one that is told to its fullest extent that would work for a film, hands up to Tony Ayres! I read some articles and apparently there was a bit more to the story, but would be to much to work structurally.

I am annoyed that after the film finished, I had to leave to get back to work. Because just a few minutes after Tony Ayre himself came out to answer questions from the audience.

Overall, this is one film that SHOULD NOT BE MISSED. Find it! Watch it! I feel like I should have paid for my ticket. But I will probably get the DVD anyway.

I am absolutely sure most people will like this film. It's a beauty. :-)

Tony Ayres has tackled some tough subjects in the past (AIDS and mercy killing in"Walking on Water" for example), but making a film about his relationship with his own mother seems a real challenge. Ayres' mother, fictionalised as Rose in the film and played by Joan Chen, was a beautiful nightclub singer in Hong Kong, who, more or less on a whim, migrates to Melbourne with her two young children and Bill, an Australian sailor (Steven Vidler). Rose and Bill marry, but Rose walks out after a week. Seven years later they get together again, but Bill is soon off on another extended tour of Naval duty and his malicious mother Norma drives Rose and the children, ten year old Tom (Joel Lok) and 14 year old May (Irene Chen) out of the house. Desperate, Rose and the children go to live in squalor with Joe (Yu Wu Qi) a handsome young illegal immigrant from Hong Kong who works in the same restaurant as Rose (who has been reduced to washing dishes there.). Initially Joe is besotted by Rose, but when he starts taking a romantic interest in May, Rose, as she is wont to do, overreacts.

As the story is told largely through the eyes of a ten-year old, we have to remember that, smart kid that he is, there is much he does not understand. Late in the film, in a conversation between Rose and May, we do get some of Rose's story and why she looks for security from just about any man who offers it. Looking back, the adult Tom can see clearly what at the time was a mystery. And of course he can now forgive Rose for the trauma she caused him.

This is a sad story, but uplifting rather than depressing. Joan Chen, a world-class actress, is perfectly cast and totally convincing as the beautiful but neurotic Rose. Yu Wu Qi is excellent as her younger lover, but first time actor Joel Lok (who volunteered himself for the role) takes first prize for a truly Zen – like performance as Tom. Kerry Walker was a suitably disapproving Norma and Steven Vidler an eager and naïve Bill.

For a low budget "art" film, this is very well produced, with a fine original score, professional cinematography and excellent performances, though the script does not allow Kerry Walker and Steve Vidler to do much. Most of us survive our parents, and Tony Ayres and his sister have survived theirs, but I think you can't really pass judgment on them until you have had children yourself. And then it is easier to forgive.

The Home Song Stories is a beautifully crafted autobiographical drama from Tony Ayres that explores the complexities of love, mental health, and the migrant experience in 1970s Australia. Joan Chen is unforgettable as Rose, a glamorous yet troubled nightclub singer, delivering one of the most powerful performances of her career. The story, seen through the eyes of her young son, is tender, raw, and deeply personal.

What makes this film truly special is its emotional honesty. It doesn't sugarcoat the immigrant journey or the trauma within families, but instead presents a heartfelt, nuanced portrayal that resonates on many levels. A quietly devastating film that deserves more recognition.

I went to the Australian premiere of "The Home Song Stories" last night, and I'm damn glad I did.

It's a great film.

Tony Ayres has done a magic job of bringing his life story to the big screen, and he's picked a great cast to do it with.

Newcomers John Lok and Irene Chen are fantastic as the young Tony and his older sister, Mei.

Joan Chen's finally found a great role, after a string of awful ones.

She shines as Tony's mother, a former Hong Kong nightclub singer who moves to Australia in 1971 with her two children, after marrying an Australian sailor... who she promptly shoots through on.

I don't really want to tell you too much about the movie, because I'd rather you went and saw it yourself.

All I can say is that it's a great study of immigrant life in the 70's, and a snapshot of Australia at the time.

I'm not sure how wide a release "The Home Song Stories" will get, but if it turns up in your local cinema, go see it.

I haven't enjoyed a film this much in a long time.

To hear an interview with Tony, go to

http://rastous.podomatic.com/entry/2007-02-25T18_39_35-08_00

A terribly sad story told through the memories of the youngest child of a mother and her two children who migrates from Hong Kong where she was somewhat of a cabaret singer, to Melbourne where she really does not find a favourable Fung Sui. I went to see the movie, perhaps with too much expectation. But one expectation I did not have is the down to earth handling of the production. I felt it was not a movie anymore but a tragic event unfolding before my eyes in ordinary Melbourne low key suburb. Lot of things go wrong, and I found myself waiting for a little ray of sunshine, may be you will too. The acting is excellent and the pain is real. The cinematography is just as real, no fancy shot, no "make up" on the images, just the same as you get someone out of bed, nature too was in the raw. I had to accept all this was done in purpose to get a more positive feeling about this film. knowing a fair bit about some aspect of Asian way of life from personal experience, I had a lot of empathy with the characters and their resentment of the an old cow.