I’m sure somehow the future for low budget films is in the on-demand market and Lilting is the latest example of a film being released simultaneously on-demand and in cinemas. These movies need the cinema release to gain the surrounding publicity with reviews printed in all the serious newspapers, and in Lilting’s case, an extensive piece on BBC Radio 4’s Film Programme. What makes less sense to me is the cost of renting it from the BFI’s website was almost twice as much as a ticket in my local art house cinema. Still, circumstances were such this week I ended up viewing this on my iPad rather than on a big screen.
In this case, the few confined settings and intimate story lent themselves to the home viewing experience. An impressive Ben Whishaw stars as Richard, an English gay man whose Chinese partner (Kai – Andrew Leung) is suddenly killed in a car accident. He tries to connect with Kai’s Mother (Junn – Pei Pei Cheng) who speaks no English and is living a lonely life in a care home. She was unaware of her son’s sexuality and is initially cold towards Richard as she always felt their close friendship prevented Kai from spending more time with her. That burgeoning, faltering, relationship is at the heart of the film and is the best part of it.
Much less successful is Junn’s romance with another resident, Alan. It is always a pleasure to see Peter Bowles on screen and though he brings his usual roguish charm to the role, there is no chemistry between them. In addition, when they are able to communicate through an interpreter, they appear to find each other physically repellent, which does not help with the believability of that story line.
There is another mis-step towards the end of the film when Richard and Junn’s relationship breaks down suddenly and unconvincingly, but fortunately that is rectified with the following scenes. Pei Pei Cheng is receiving a lot of plaudits for her performance, but I found it to be one of the weaker elements of the film, lacking the depth that Whishaw brings to his character. Naomi Christie adds some zip as the interpreter.
This could have been one of the films of the year, but the problems with it overshadow the central relationship and left me feeling a little underwhelmed.
Rating: 6 out of 10