Singapore's entry to the Oscars, Ilo Ilo, by 28-year-old Anthony Chen, has gained much recognition after winning this year's Cannes Camera d'Or (Best Feature Film).
The subdued indie film is loosely based on Chen's childhood in a middle-class Singaporean family during the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
Burdened and perpetually busy, the pregnant Hwee Leng (Yeo Yann Yann) and husband Teck (Chen Tian Wen) hire a Filipino nanny, Terry (Angeli Bayani), to look after their lottery obsessed, impish schoolboy Jiale (newcomer Koh Jia Ler), who is on the brink of expulsion from his school. Jiale finds "Auntie Terry" a strange intrusion and rejects her, but Terry surprises the boy with her don't-mess-with-me kind of discipline—and soon she unwittingly becomes part of the family's quiet struggles, affecting their lives more than anybody expects.
Anthony Chen smoothly captures the family's simmering troubles through profound subtleties. His understated approach renders the film even more realistic; the drama contained, cracking in small moments. The strain of the financial problems, the numbing monotony of the mother's tiresome job made even worse by her pregnancy and Jaile's constant trouble with the school, the secretly unemployed father's internal turmoil, all hung heavily throughout the film.
The strongest character in the film is the mother, Hweng Leng, with an impeccably natural performance by Yeo Yann Yann; she is striking in her silent jealousy, pride, and helplessness. She is, in fact, the central character here, with caregiver Terry only a supplement to the family's drama—a mere witness and a decent jill-of-all-trades employee.
The film, though, is a bit weak in the Terry-and-Jaile relationship, only hinting of a special bond that we do not experience to its fullest, hence we do not get attached to Terry.
But nevertheless Ilo Ilo is a movie with a heart; impressing us with brilliant performances, most notably by Yeo Yann Yann and Koh Jia Ler, with very human characters. The film truly immerses us in the small family drama, mainly because of its authenticity and soulful portrayal of life.
3.5 out of 5 stars
Opens December 4, 2013 in Philippine Cinemas
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