BE WITH ME

Directed by: Eric Khoo
Country of origin: Singapore
Starring: Theresa Poh Lin Chan, Ng Sway Ah, Samantha Tan, Ezann Lee


Singapore-born Eric Khoo's Be With Me is a film comprised of three stories all documenting scenarios of love in different stages of life. With a fractured narrative structure, similar to films like Crash or Babel, the film skips around between the conflicts of the different characters, comparing them through juxtaposition and eventually revealing the ties that connect them all. Khoo approached this work after spending a lot of time with deaf and blind teacher Theresa Poh Lin Chan, who plays herself in the film. Be With Me is shot with a very minimalist tone, dwelling on specific shots for long periods of time and carefully examining the faces of the actors. Out of the 98 minutes in the film, there are only two and a half minutes of spoken dialogue. All of the information is either communicated by the character's actions or by way of sign language or cell phone. This very cooling approach made the film seem like it was being shot or told by a person with disabilities similar to Chan's. The long, contemplative shots accentuated the beauty of the cinematography and the gravity, as well as the simplicity, of each of the character's situations. Every story was human. No elements in Be With Me were glorified or dramatized. Khoo, like So Yong Kim in Treeless Mountain, went out of his way to stress the amount of ordinary that  the situations possessed. In this, Be With Me is a truly relatable and moving film.

Shop-owner "Pa" preparing one of his meals

The three stories seemed to be interesting enough, focusing on an enamored security guard, a complicated young lesbian couple, and a lonely widower who finds inspiration in Theresa Chan's autobiography. Khoo did a satisfying job of connecting the three and transitioning between them in a fashion that didn't confuse me. Personally, I think the lesbian's story seemed lackluster next to the other two. It started off with a sense of immaturity and lightheartedness that the others didn't possess. The girls are shown getting their picture taken, watching a movie in the theater, and feeding each other ice cream. All of this is done to establish the chemistry that had spawned between them, but frankly it all felt very cliche, even down to the story's more serious end. Despite this, there were elements in the plot that seemed to shine with possibility, yet were never touched upon. Each of the girls had very interesting relationships with their parents, and despite small gestures and reactions highlighted briefly, they were never fully addressed. As a whole, that story felt like something I'd seen before. It was beautifully framed and edited, but ultimately there was never a sufficient amount of closure. But for this instance being Singapore's first ever explicitly released lesbian story, Be With Me does a notable job. In contrast, the film's other two stories were very mature and striking. In particular, the narrative of old man "Pa", a widower and shop-owner, has significant weight and becomes the obvious anchor story of the film. The only word the man says in the entire film is "eat", and throughout he is shown cooking various meals and spending time with his ailing wife. The stoic stare that occupies his face does not shift until the film's end, and when the film's climax is realized, and an outpour of emotion finally finds him, it is absolutely heartbreaking. Seeing this elderly, lonely man whom the audience has been empathizing with begin to silently weep and then realizing exactly what has been going on is the film's obvious strong point. It was indeed very moving, and here minimalist director Khoo succeeds. Taking a step back, Be With Me feels very much like a student film, in that the story and composition is simple and the stories all end with a certain lacking amount of closure. To some, this may feel like something of a cop-out, learning about these characters, getting to know them, and then being left unsatisfied. But this seems to fit the film's agenda in highlighting love and its affect on people. There are parts that seem unpolished or verging on experimental, with lengthy, seemingly unnecessary type-writer scenes. But as a whole, Be With Me is a beautiful, moving piece. It definitely lacks a happy ending, and I definitely didn't leave with dry eyes. This simple film struck me, to say the least.

***1/2 / *****