|
Stealing the scenes: In September-October
2002, James Lee shot his third
feature film, Room To Let, at an old bungalow on Jalan Delima, between
Jalan Imbi and Jalan Tun Razak in Kuala Lumpur. The house was rented
by a group of youths very similar to the occupants of the house
in the film. I was asked to photograph the promo pix and the poster
for the film. Here are the highlights:
 |
Executive Producer Sylvia Tan Producer Rogayah Shahariman Written and directed by James Lee [doghouse73@yahoo.com] Assistant Director David Ngui Cast Berg Lee, Kiew Suet Kim, Andrew Low, Ling Tan, Koh Choon Eiow, Chong Sheon Wei, Bernard Chauly, Loh Bok Lai, Amy Len, Gan Hui Yee, Goh You Peng, Loh Kok Mun Technical Crew Ee Chee Wei, Meng Hou Music Jerome Kugan Length Estimated 2 hours 15 mins Language Mandarin with English subtitles Format MiniDV Screening dates Dec 6-8 at The Actors Studio Box, KL Dec 20-22 at The Actors Studio Greenhall, Penang Sypnosis Berg and Andrew has just moved into a bachelor house. As Berg comes to know more about his fellow tenants, he unravels a mysterious incident about a missing painter and how it affected the entire household. Blurb James Lee's new full length feature film Room to Let is a lingering study of the strangely humdrum existence of a group of listless youths who share an innercity house. The tight confines of the house cause frequent intrusions of privacy and intimate encounters, but the static mood of the film hints at a kind of entropy, a sort of emotional detachment which the characters also share. Yet the beautifully shot sequences portray the film's aloofness and give it unexpected lushness. Room To Let is what reality tv show Big Brother would be like if Tsai Ming-Liang had directed it. Of course only the intrepid James Lee has the gall to actually do it. [by Jerome Kugan] Influences Pier Paolo Pasolini's Theorem, Tsai Ming-Liang Official website http://welcome.to/doghouse73 |
