Film review: Ilo Ilo

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Film review: Ilo Ilo

Ilo Ilo (www.iloilomovie.com) is a 2013 Singaporean film about local family life. The film has received global recognition, winning the Camera d'Or award at Cannes 2013 and is nominated for other awards (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilo_Ilo).

It is not the best film technically, which may be partly a product of the low budget ($500,000) and local inexperience in filmmaking. However, it is still worth a watch.

The film is set in the 1997 Asian financial crisis and features a family of mother, father and son who are under external pressure (lost jobs, school problems etc) and who also face issues internal to the family (parental tension and a wayward son). This stressed family life is changed when a Pilipino maid (Teresa) is hired to help manage the son.

The film explores themes of HDB life in the period and the complex family dynamics between husband and wife, parents and child and, especially, between Teresa and the initially hostile son.

My interest is in the worldviews displayed in the film.

Several worldviews are on view.

The host family is quite godless, as evidenced in an early scene when a neighbouring maid tells Teresa that ‘God is not here’ and that she should forget her rosary. This represents the rejection of theism.

In one scene the family goes to an ancestor’s grave for prayers and offerings and even Teresa is pushed into the rituals. This however seems to have little impact of their daily behaviour and functional worldview. This represents irrelevant traditional religion.

Meanwhile the mother’s desperation prompts her to attend a promo night by a motivational speaker whose credo is ‘hope is within you’. This is the gospel of self-reliance. Even this turns out to be deceptive when the speaker proves to be a con artist who collects fees and then tries to disappear.

What is the family left with? The son tries to manipulate and improve his world by carefully tracking and betting on winning lottery numbers. This enables him to ameliorate a school punishment in an amusing scene, but ultimately it fails as he tries to win the lottery to save the family finances and keep Teresa in Singapore. This pairing shows worldview of cosmic randomness or capriciousness.

Finally the family are left with themselves. There is some irony as the scammer’s message comes true among them. They do find some hope and comfort among themselves as truth, forgiveness and generosity arise within this tortured family. The film ends with Teresa’s forced repatriation due to poverty, but each family member has been changed for the better.

This is a warm ending, but a question that extends beyond the movie remains for me. Are our internal resources sufficient to cope with, and rise above life’s challenges?