Review: Lilting

Simple and modest, aching and powerful, Lilting is a moving piece that uses the divides of age, culture, sexuality, and language to tell the story of a Chinese-Cambodian mother and a young English man united and separated by their grief.

Junn (Cheng Pei-pei) is visited by her son Kai (Andrew Leung) at the start of the film. He smells the hydrangeas on the table, she wonders why he took the bus instead of driving. He invites her to dinner, she asks if his friend will be there. She tells her son how unhappy she is in the retirement home he's placed her in, she feels locked up and discarded. She's his mother, she should be the most important person in his life.

Mother and son clearly love each other though their exchanges veer from affection to testiness. Kai is clearly conflicted but hesitant to reveal that his friend Richard (Ben Whishaw), whose name Junn avoids mentioning, is actually his lover. Kai has never revealed his homosexuality to his mother. He never gets a chance to - it's soon revealed that he is actually dead and Junn has been keeping the memory of his last visit alive.

Kai remains an equally strong presence in his lover Richard's life; his memories shed further light on Kai's struggle to take care of his mother, who has never fully assimilated into the ways of their adopted country; to be a traditional son whilst finding the best way to live his own life. Richard goes to visit Junn, careful to maintain the charade, and enlists the aid of Vann (Naomi Christie) to serve as translator for Junn and Alan (Peter Bowles), the English retiree who's been courting her.

There's a need in Richard to connect with Junn, to achieve what he hoped Kai would - to integrate her into his life. Junn is initially wary and one is never sure if she truly didn't know the extent of her son's relationship with Richard, or is she was in complete denial of it. Richard is mindful of Junn, often directing Vann from translating sentiments that may give away the pretence. One particular scene has Junn laying claim on Kai's ashes; Richard refuses. "He was my only child," Junn exclaims. "He was my life," Richard chokes out, composing himself enough to tell Vann not to translate. "She didn't know we were together."

Cheng, best known for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, is wonderful, capturing Junn's pettiness and prickliness as well as her warmth and kindheartedness. Whishaw, with his slender wisp of a frame already telegraphing sensitivity, delivers a remarkable portrayal of a man completely shrouded in grief, yet intent on doing the right and decent thing. It's obvious how much he loved Kai - he crumples when he looks around Junn's room, remembering how Kai described it to him - and how important Junn's acceptance is to him. Whishaw's emotional nakedness is in every frame in which he appears, and he is shattering.

Written and directed with enormous restraint and delicacy by Hong Khaou, Lilting is an impressive debut. For all the differences that separate the characters, Khaou demonstrates that sometimes words are unnecessary - that understanding can be achieved with unspoken feeling. Simply sublime.

Lilting

Directed by: Hong Khaou

Written by: Hong Khaou

Starring: Cheng Pei-pei, Ben Whishaw, Andrew Leung, Naomi Christie, Peter Bowles