secrets.
In conclusion, families in 12 Storeys all harbor secrets one way or another. More pertinent is the film’s portrayal of the ways secrets, whether personal or household ones, are managed, along with disclosure, discovery and/or concealment. Secrets can adversely impact communication within families and contribute to dysfunctional relations among parents, spouses, children, siblings and neighbors. For Khoo, such widespread, persistent communicational dysfunction within families, between neighbors and among individuals points to a larger level of urban isolation and alienation. These motifs in his films attack the Shared Values national ideology and other state discourses.
In 12 Storeys and Khoo’s other early films, the neighbors avoid each other; the nation-state has not fostered mutual community support and respect for individuals. Individuals in turn are too engrossed with their own secrets to take notice of the world around them or to forge meaningful relations with others, within and/or outside the familial domain. Khoo’s early films create analogies to trace the disparity between the visionary endeavors articulated from the top and the reality of daily doldrums that anchor the everyday people firmly to the ground. By giving privy to the “lived” reality of HDB-dwellers who experience endemic urban alienation, 12 Storeys presents an alternative, albeit gloomy, way of seeing the nation-state: It is a sunny tropical isle high on economic achievements but low on other endeavors, especially human(istic) ones. The alterity of Khoo’s early films bears the mark of an honest and bold filmmaker.
http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/jc46.2003/12storeys/text.html
In 12 Storeys and Khoo’s other early films, the neighbors avoid each other; the nation-state has not fostered mutual community support and respect for individuals. Individuals in turn are too engrossed with their own secrets to take notice of the world around them or to forge meaningful relations with others, within and/or outside the familial domain. Khoo’s early films create analogies to trace the disparity between the visionary endeavors articulated from the top and the reality of daily doldrums that anchor the everyday people firmly to the ground. By giving privy to the “lived” reality of HDB-dwellers who experience endemic urban alienation, 12 Storeys presents an alternative, albeit gloomy, way of seeing the nation-state: It is a sunny tropical isle high on economic achievements but low on other endeavors, especially human(istic) ones. The alterity of Khoo’s early films bears the mark of an honest and bold filmmaker.
http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/jc46.2003/12storeys/text.html
This entry was posted
on Thursday, July 20, 2006 at 1:36 pm.
You can skip to the end and leave a response.
20 July, 2006 23:04.12 stories was the very first time i saw a condom.
and my sis laughed at me when i didn't know what it was. i just kept thinking... what's the big deal if that guy finds that thingyyy in his sister's bag?! HAHAHAHA
22 July, 2006 11:12.
i wonder how you manage to blog, have fun and complete your work at times like this.
i'm stressed, aren't you?
we'll hang out in no time. no time meaning during the school holidays. :D
22 July, 2006 13:10.
what's so hard abt blogging? ive been copy pasting my last few posts la dey.
haha. what fun have i been having that i've not been told of? and i still got tons of work to be done ah.. must procrastinate abit. thats the way of life now.
» Post a Comment