Film Review #87: DREAMING & DYING
Film Review #87: DREAMING & DYING
*This film review may contain plot spoilers, reader discretion is advised.*
In a comparatively prolific year in Singapore cinema, especially for non-commercial films, Nelson Yeo’s Dreaming & Dying (好久不见) has caught buzz quite easily. Recently awarded the Golden Leopard for Filmmakers of the Present competition and the Swatch First Feature accolades at the Locarno International Film Festival 2023, it’s not a stretch to say that certain expectations have been set for Yeo’s directorial feature debut.
Dreaming & Dying movie poster. Credit: KawanKawan Film, Momo Film Co, and Lights On
Dreaming & Dying tells the story of three middle-aged individuals who, over the course of a class reunion (in which no one else turned up), grapple with a resurfacing love triangle first formed when they were still classmates decades ago. Starring Kelvin Ho, Doreen Toh, and the face of Singapore cinema in 2023 - Peter Yu, Toh stood out in terms of performance, while Yu’s turn was somewhat underwhelming, although I would attribute that largely to Yeo’s creative decision in regards to Yu’s character, Heng, whom I find the most poorly constructed among the three leads, and this could be due to the director’s far-reaching artistic ideas but more on that later.
As I finished watching and was leaving, I couldn't determine if I liked the movie or not. I am long past the phase as a moviegoer ingrained with the mindset of having to “fully understand” the film that I’m watching, hence I wasn't too bothered by how the film left an enormous portion of it up to audiences’ interpretation. First thoughts on Yeo’s directorial vision and execution - was he ambitious? Definitely. Was he effective? Questionable.
Film still of Doreen Toh and Kelvin Ho in Dreaming & Dying.
Credit: KawanKawan Film, Momo Film Co, and Lights on
Two specific technical elements of Dreaming & Dying caught (and maintained) my attention though - the colour & aspect ratio, and the cinematography. Shot in 4:3 dimensions, the colour grading and cinematography resembled so much of the 1970s and 1980s Hong Kong and Taiwanese cinema. Something about the way the camera zoomed in and out for many shots created an unlikely sense of nostalgia for me. Aesthetically, this was a deeply enjoyable aspect of the movie.
Yeo was incredibly ambitious with the storytelling in Dreaming & Dying - tons of visual metaphor and symbolism lavished throughout the film; I was reminded of the 1986 Hong Kong film Dream Lovers (梦中人) which starred Chow Yun-Fat and Brigitte Lin. Some stylistic and thematic overlaps between the two films were rather apparent. As I missed the 15 December screening with a post-show Q&A with Yeo, I don’t know if any audience member(s) asked Yeo if he had any inspirations or film references for Dreaming & Dying. I certainly would have asked him, perhaps even name-dropping Dream Lovers directly and specifically, if I had been present.
In Yeo’s attempt to explore a range of visual techniques to aid in his storytelling, he might have lost some audiences midway through the film. Specifically, the character Heng, where most of the film's dream sequences and symbolism are found, might have been too sophisticated for Yeo to handle at this stage of his career. Noting the film's ultra-friendly 77-minute runtime, the experience felt more than 90 minutes. This is not to say the film had very significant flaws. I did find the complicated emotions of the three characters well-conveyed, and this is specifically where Doreen Toh’s performance stood out.
Film still of Doreen Toh and Peter Yu in Dreaming & Dying.
Credit: KawanKawan Film, Momo Film Co, and Lights On
Being his first feature film, there is no way one could even guess what Yeo’s style is. However, I dare say he had already crossed the most difficult hurdle in his career as a filmmaker, creatively. Given the filmmaker’s ambitions and vision in this movie, it is hard to imagine if he could make another film more complex and/or abstract than Dreaming & Dying.
Truth to be told, I had no clue what score or rating to give this film. Just as I browsed both IMDb and Letterboxd and saw an average of around 3 stars, I asked myself if this made sense to me, and it did. As such, my rating for Dreaming & Dying is 3 stars on Letterboxd.
Catch Nelson Yeo’s directorial feature debut Dreaming & Dying exclusively at The Projector!
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This review is published as part of *SCAPE’s Film Critics Lab: A Writing Mentorship Programme, with support from Singapore Film Society.
About the Author: Jarrett is a devoted cinephile for over half of his life. Apart from movies, coffee keeps him awake and music keeps him alive. Having studied theatre and performed as an actor before, he's also a sucker for great performances.
Follow Jarrett on Letterboxd: https://boxd.it/2JImT
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