User Reviews

This film didn't entirely appeal to me. I had (perhaps wrongly) thought/hoped it would be an uplifting film about a maid who strikes a friendship with the seemingly dysfunctional 'challenged' young son. Its quite a sad film in terms of showing the clear strains the family have and I couldn't see much in the way of particular themes or messages this film brings across, until the very end. It was somewhat touching, what happens right at the very end but for the most part this film is rather bleak in tone and doesn't have a whole lot going for it, although the acting is decent and perhaps it is a little insightful, it was just a bit bleak and without much of a solid, gripping plotline, I didn't think it was too good overall. All in all, its ok but no more really.

"Ilo Ilo" is truly remarkable for the way it leads you right up to an intersection where you think a movie cliche is coming, but then turns in a different direction. It also lets you experience the characters in a way that's similar to how you might actually get to know them ... encountering feelings of hesitation, distrust, a dispassionate response, eventually an empathy of sorts. And that's true for each one: mother, father, the Filipino maid, even the bratty son. I felt a lot of tension while watching -- partly because I related so strongly with the stress of life during an economic downturn -- and I really, really wish I knew what happened to these people.

This flyweight Singaporean film is the surprising winner of Golden Horse Award in 2013, snatches 4 awards including BEST FILM honour from its stiff competitors, Johnny To’s DRUG WAR (2012), Zhangke Jia’s A TOUCH OF SIN (2013), Ming-liang Tsai’s STRAY DOGS (2013) and the frontrunner Kar Wai Wong’s THE GRANDMASTER (2013, 8/10). First-timer director Anthony Chen wins BEST NEW DIRECTOR and ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY, while Yann Yann Yeo stands out in BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS race. Under the curtains of Asian financial crisis in the mid-90s, Anthony’s first feature closely examines an ordinary Singaporean nuclear family’s happenings when a new Philippine maid Terry (Bayani) is arranged to help out with the chores and take care of the 10-year-old brat Jialer (Koh) as his mother Hwee Leng (Yeo) is pregnant with a second child and is swamped by her daily office work, whereas the father Teck (Chen), a salesman, is on the brink of losing his job due to the unhealthy market. keep reading my review on my blog, google: cinema omnivore, thanks

A great, understated film, natural in every way: in its writing, its acting, its lighting, its camerawork. An organic family drama that flows loosely from one anecdotal stop to the next, perhaps what is Ilo Ilo's best quality is how each small drama feels both incredibly detailed and specific but also broadly relatable as well. Small gestures and glances inform this coming-of-age story with rich nuance; while the friendship between nanny Terry and 10-year old Jianle takes center stage, elements of class struggle, cultural differences, the secrets between husbands and wives, religion, are all espoused in extraordinarily fair ways. There are no villains here, only downtrodden, frustrated individuals, all deserving, all engendering our sympathy.