Should you watch this at weekday movie ticket prices? OK.
Should you watch this at weekend movie ticket prices? No.
Score: 3.0/5
Secret ending? No.
Running time: 104 minutes (~1.75 hours)
“In The Room” is a Singapore film anthology of six erotic dramas set inside Room 27 of the fictional Hotel Singapura. It traces six different stories of love as they occur over the course of Singapore’s history. It stars Koh Boon Pin (Kong), Daniel Jenkins (Kong’s lover), Josie Ho (Orchid), Ian Tan (Damien), Nadia Ar (Imrah), Netnaphad Pulsavad (Noi), Wasurat Unaprom (Noi’s lover), Lawrence Wong (Boon), Show Nishino (Mariko), Choi Woo-shik (Min Jun), and Kkobbi Kim (Seo Yun). It is rated R-21.
“In The Room” features six different stories, in the following order: “Rubber,” “Pussy,” “Listen,” “Change,” “Search” and “First Time.” Of the stories, “Listen” and “Search” transcend multiple time periods, and help to tie the entire film together (besides the fact that it’s all set in a hotel room). Its emotional scenes resonate strongly, but what prevents it from being a classic are the over-lengthy sex scenes, which drag down the story’s pacing.
Highlights
Clear and unified themes
While the unifying theme in the anthology might appear to be sex, it’s actually about love and power. It’s a subtle exploration of dominance and longing, and how love and sex are used in varying degrees to depict the power struggle between the couples (and genders) in the film. It’s this introspective look at the imbalance of power leads you to muse over the earlier stories in the movie, which in turn helps you to construct your own meaning by the film’s end.
Overarching love story
Damien and Imrah’s love story ties the later half of the film together as a love that can never be. They act as a baseline for which to compare the later love stories, and enrich the individual tales because theirs is a tragedy that cannot be overcome (unlike the situations depicted later). It’s also sweet to see how their feelings for each other endure through the passing years (and hairstyles), even as they head towards an inescapable conclusion.
Style changes with each story
Each story takes place about 10 years after the next, and the shooting style and colours follow the norms of each era. It’s not just the sets and costumes that follow suit, but even the pacing and treatment evoke their respective zeitgeists. It might start off as rather hokey, but the film gradually evolves to signal the passage of time.
Letdowns
Gratuitous depictions of sex
The whole point of the film is about sex, yes, but many of the sequences simply linger for far too long. It doesn’t serve much of a purpose beyond the first few minutes, and the scenes don’t go to such extremes as to warrant the amount of focus on them. While it’s done tastefully, the sheer length of some of the scenes defies belief.
Artificial dialogue
Each story is only so long, so it’s necessary to be direct about the message of each tale. Yet the dialogue is so on the nose as to be excruciating at times, sounding as if they were taken directly from the script outline. It serves its purpose mechanically and creates conflict inelegantly, clashing with the otherwise graceful visuals of the film.
“In The Room” touches with raw drama, but stumbles with the execution of its premise. Nevertheless, it’s still a carefully thought out film that excels in visual storytelling.
“In The Room” opens in cinemas 25 February, 2016 (Thursday).
Showing in Singapore theatres ?
Yep!
Looking at those lives contained in a capsule, one realises how intimate the relationship is and it definitely sends you back to the memories of your childhood, moments that still collect themselves when you are scared of the world, when you really need that strength and inspiration to get up and walk after you have fallen.
:/