

Director: Patrick Tam
Cast: Aaron Kwok, Charlie Yeung, Ng King-to

The film has recently garnered the Best Film, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor in the Golden Horse Award 2006 .

The official website
see
http://www.afterthisourexile.com/

Synopsis:
The Chinese title literally translates to "Father And Son". So, predictably, it is a film that revolves around the happenings of a father and his son (mainly in the second half) ... the first quarter or so primarily focuses on the couple ... and not the son ...

My thoughts:

-- The ending ... It has to be the ending ... Not to set your expectations too high, but I think it is one of those films that will linger in you becos of the ending ... Despite feeling occasionally long, the script does have some selling points ...

(i) definitely the realism of the lines delivered by aaron kwok (i.e., the father) ... it is so credible that we (at least asians) have heard our parents/adults uttered those lines before, sometimes it is so ironical, sometimes it is so paradoxical, sometimes it is so contradictory ... but they are all so real ... 

(ii) characterization ... despite the existence of a "lousy" father ... he is not "totally" bad ... all the characters have "depth/realism" written to them ... in essence, humans are contradictory/complex/weird ... we may not always do what we mean ... and we may not always choose what we know is correct ...

with regards to acting, not only are the two award winners compelling, i thought charlie (i.e., the mother) also did a good job, or at least departs from her past roles ...

aaron (i.e., the father) ... great acting (also in part credited to the great lines given to him ... "great" means full of humanistic irony, but realistic)

Ng King-to (i.e., the kid) ... he only has more screen time in the second half ... in most scenes, he may come across as "plain" but that makes it realistic and highly credible as a typical kid (with little exaggerated expressions ... unlike many films that insist on kids exaggerated expressions) ... yup, he does have a few great scenes that may wrench your heart ... 

(iii) despite some predictability, there are some "surprises" in the script ...

(iv) For those who are not aware, although it is a HK film, it is filmed in Malaysia ... 

What could be better ...

-- some editing to improve the pacing ...
-- some scenes/soundtrack changes too abruptly
-- pardon my insolence, but in my very humble opinion, one or two of the really "minor/supporting cast" could be better ...

Conclusion:
Highly Recommended. This is a film whereby watching till the end does pay off ... Occasionally it does feel a bit long ... and I am not sure whether "mainstream" audience will like it as much ... nonetheless, it does script human nature and human relationship very well and very realistically (esp. those lines delivered by aaron, so part of the credit shld go to the script writer ... ha ha ha) ...

As usual, dont expect too much, and you will like it more ...