A female is speaking on the phone in the beginning of the movie and she expresses her displeasure on the tire of her car getting punctured. Shortly thereafter, some mechanics show up to fix her vehicle. Berg Lee Seng Wan and Cheong Wai Loon portray the two mechanics, Yun Ding and Long Chai, who happen to be great friends. They often hurl pointed metal scraps on a road, which guarantees that any vehicle traveling on that road gets a flat tire. Until a certain day and point in time, when the sea recedes, they keep doing this. Then there are fish left over on the beaches which are dead. Whoever eats the fish ends up dying within hours.
Long Chai loses his life to his fish and in the end is reminiscent of the Rather wonderful family, consisting of a mother and a sister. Yun, the friend, is also grieving for his late friend. Next another character Ah Ngau, played by Chung Kok Keung, is introduced. Ngau is a fisherman, he gets back home to find his house cordoned off and his wife of 8 years dead. He spends the next couple of days in a tent. Meanwhile, Yun goes around looking for ways to make quick money, even working as a ‘fish’ body reader as he is told the fish is lucky. Then, he gets contracts as a driver ferrying clients to and from a brothel, and motivated by the desire to make a quick buck, sells Long Chai’s sister to the brothel. Being haunted by the memories of his wife, Ah seeks solace in the arms of prostitutes. When he goes to the brothel, he has to tell the man, “I wish to see X” only to be told that she has not been available.
This movie has so much that needs to be discussed. The emotionless expression of the characters is perhaps what stood out the most. It almost seems as though they are simply existing in this sham of a universe. There is no sense of romance or dreaming in their minds. The only goal they have is to try and live. When Yun Chai wins the lottery, the entire film can be easily summed up in this context. He first purchases a new dress for Long Chai’s sister and invites her out to watch a movie.
Rather than taking the girl out for a movie, he takes her to the brothel, where the brothel owner tells him that if she is good and agrees to stay there, he will pay $500 a month for her. But soon he feels bad about what he has done and takes her back. They are on the beach where Yun tries to kiss her, but she slaps him away. She promises to do everything he wants if he can swim with a huge rock to an island and return, but he is unable to do it because he is too sick and beaten down from being on the beach.
From a symbolic point of view, this scene is crucial in helping comprehend the individual’s attempt to overcome the coordinates of the world they are situated in, as they have been born into.
The direction is adequate I would say in a slightly more clinical sense. The cinematography seems to have an almost niece look but that’s how the raw movie functions. The dull shades presented leads the viewer in the correct direction in terms of messages the movie tries to convey. The Acting is subpar in my opinion. The deficiency of sentiments that were necessary in certain parts of the film must have limited the emotions of the actors.
Woo Ming Jin has a great connection with the bones that exist under the sea and the big waters, he has a strong bonding in fishing that explains his minig ponds upbringing; its no wonder the river plays such a vital role in this narrative. What makes the film fascinating is the way it makes the viewers deep think. To ponder how blessed they are and even if the movie does not purposefully implement it, there is an ideology of socialism. The absence of money and unrealized dreams, these are difficult subjects of discussion. The fact remains that the spectators have an acute sense of hopelessness. It is in short a wonderfully entertaining film, and a good introduction to the world of Malaysian cinema.
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