FilmWrapped

I was lucky to catch a screening of Mousse a couple of weeks ago at the Thessaloniki International Short Film Festival, in Greece. Mousse is quite long - for a short film - but it doesn’t feel too long. The cinematography and direction are of great quality but what really stands out is the script and the acting. The writing is awkwardly humorous, brilliantly phrased and with good pace. Each performance is a gem, a fact which was both refreshing and suprising, since we’re talking about a short film and short films, interesting and original as they can be, they sometimes lose a point or two due to amateur acting.

To sum up, director John Hellberg brought to life a fresh story that manages to jump very quickly from funny to serious, from weird to relieving, from light to dark.

But what is Mousse actually about? Well…There is a horse race, quite a big event. There is Maggan (Marienette Dahlin) who goes into Washington’s Tobacco store determined to get the most out of the bet she has placed. And finally there’s a French guy (Stepháne Bertola) who thinks it’s high time he robbed a little store and regained his pride, making a list of demands to the Swedish police. He is not your friend , he is Mousse. From that point and on, it’s all about …jokes. And timing. 

Junn is a Campodian Chinese, middle-aged woman, who has been living in London for nearly thirty years, yet never really tried to fully understand and become part of the English culture. There has always been a silent barrier between her and her son, Kai, regarding that fact. Now, following Kai’s recent death in a car accident, she is left to mourn and restructure her world without him there. How will she react when she finds herself sharing that world with Richard, a young man with whom she has only one thing in common: They both miss the man they loved the most.

“Lilting” is neither the story of a troubled gay couple, nor the mere dramatization of how one deals with loss. It is a realistic, respectful account of love trying to fill generation and character gaps, while it joins threads of trust and understanding under awkward and painful circumstances. The direction and cinematography ensure that Kai’s presence in the film is constant and haunting as it comes from the emotional needs of the characters but also affects their emotions and reactions. The burden Kai was carrying, his worries and thoughts have now been transferred to Richard, who will have to make the right decisions while he struggles to hold himself together.

Even though the plot is engaging, this is hardly a case of suspense, conflicts or twists holding the viewer’s attention. In his debut feature film, the director (Hong Khaou) is playing with two aces up his sleeve; great acting and an excellent script. Pei-Pei Cheng and Ben Whishaw deliver beautifully all those shades of pressure, heartbreak and fragility the characters circle around, with each line sounding delicate and strikingly honest at the same time.