Review: To be completely honest, until this point I had never seen anything in the way of cinema from Singapore. Matter of fact, I had no idea there was a small wave of film coming from the country at all. Before the buzz of this film came along last year, the only other film that came to mind when thinking of Singapore filmmaking was Royston Tan’s 15. Even that I knew very little information about aside from it being hailed as Asia’s answer to Larry Clark’s KIDS. So it was fair to say I went into BE WITH ME with a pretty clean slate with not much hype others than it making some minor waves at Cannes last year.

So when I sat down to watch the film I had no idea what I was getting myself into. What I raveled in was a sensational piece of filmmaking. What director Eric Khoo does so will in this film is creating a remarkably interesting film using minimal to no dialogue in order to move the story along. Not unlike the work of Tsai Ming Liang or Kim Ki Duk, Singapore born Khoo ravishes in the responsibility of creating visually appealing visuals and characters rather than relying heavily on witty dialogue and special effects.

One of the things, I love most about BE WITH ME is Khoo’s choice of actors, or rather non-actors. While the blind woman was the obvious inspiration for the film, I was drawn even more to the older man who is dealing with his dying wife and the obese man living a life of ridicule and abuse. What attracted me most to BE WITH ME is not necessarily their motives and how it is carried out on film, but instead their facial structures and mannerisms. The older man face, so strong and powerful, makes you feel true emotion anytime he is on screen. Each wrinkle is deep and defined and each crevice a distinct part of who he is as a person. The obese man, on the other hand, has such a lovable and caring look that you sincerely feel sorrow for what he must endure because of his unfortunate circumstances.

Director Eric Khoo also has a keen eye for visuals. While at first glance each scene seems rather simple, the way in which he works with time and space is what gives the films its smooth and artistic look and feel. By using dark and melancholy colors as lighting the film unearths a unique vision. Not unlike that of a Tsai Ming Liang film, the cinematography is quite static, however, each shot is set up perfectly to capture the grittiness and passion of its performers. Khoo often uses closes up to capture characters facial gestures in all their true glory. The beauty of his direction lies in the way in which he draws the viewer into the lives of these very real people and their realistic situations. While some directors spend all their time on extravagant set ups with little or no avail, Khoo relies more on making the viewer feel comfortable with the actions of his characters. By using such things as close ups and minimal camera movement, we can spend more time relating with each individual which makes the viewer feeling right at home with the choices they make on screen.

The weak points of the film are certainly outweighed by the greatness but suffice to say they should still be discussed. The story of the teenage girls falling in and out of love drags a bit in relation to the rest of the film, in terms of interest and its attempt to gather true emotion from the viewer. While it’s not that it is a terrible story, it’s just the ashamed it's surrounded by much stronger and more compelling pieces. While you will more likely feel a bit of anguish and sorrow from one of girls you are ultimately drawn astray from her inevitable actions later on in the film. In my opinion, it made me feel nothing for the character by the time the film ends. While I am sure this was Khoo’s intention, it still set me back and made me a tad disappointed by the time the credits roll. The choice of music used during the girls segment was also a bit too melodramatic and felt a little out of place compared to the rest of the film.

With the minor miscalculations set aside, the film is a wonder to watch and these minor setbacks are nothing to write home about. The missteps only make the rest of the film even stronger and more compelling. Khoo manages to get some of the most emotionally gut wrenching performance out of the most unlikely people. Real emotion from real people. Some films work best where fiction and reality collide when typical filmmaking is taken over by a more documentary style of shooting. That is exactly how Eric Khoo succeeds with this film. When you us non-actors you take away the star power, the machismo, the arrogance and all is left is purity and realism.