What an amazing trick director Tan pulled off with obvious student-project Ciao: turning a 13-minute short into an hour and a half.
In what felt like a first draft, Tan needed to go back and edit some more. There were far too many "mood" scenes with utter silence, like the overlong "typing" only sound intro, or close-ups and faraway shots. Too many, in fact, we saw a lot of the backs of the actor's heads for periods of time. But, heck, we all learn.
If that were all the movie was, surely (not Shirley, as in Airplane! – I know, that was lame, but I have to amuse myself while writing about this mediocre film) this would've received one star. The actors, namely the Italian, Andrea (Calza), had their heart invested. And it was deeply emotional.
Furthermore, this has happened to me one more than one occasion. No I won't name names, but I guess I should give the synopsis to clarify.
Before the 13-minute movie turned 87 minutes begins, the off-screen (for the most part) character Mark (Blaum) dies, unexpectedly and it's up to best friend/roommate, Jeff (Smith) to snoop around in order to inform those close to Mark of the incident. Andrea's on his way from Italy in order to meet (or is that meat) Mark, but is intercepted by Jeff and they spend a good couple of days reminiscing about the late Mark.
Now, when I say this has occurred in my life, I'm not referring to the snooping or someone died. I've just had people in my life that I loved and they were "just a friend." In fact, as much as I tried to cover it up – ha ha, fruitless – everyone, including my friend knew of this love. But, he didn't feel the same way, though wanted to stay friends. This movie captured these feelings, emotions and scenarios perfectly and personally. So, naturally, I rate this higher for the personal aspects.
Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be watching this movie again anytime soon. Every scene dragged on 1-2 minutes too long, too many objects/props were off the screen, yet talked about a lot and 80% of the acting was just wrong.
That said, I would recommend for those in the mood for a slow-moving, emotion-driven gay themed movie night. I loved the guitar scene and I was pleased with the finale. I can't spoil, and I'm referring to the "bed" scene, but I kept dreading them going to the obvious, but kept true to what would really happen.
In what felt like a first draft, Tan needed to go back and edit some more. There were far too many "mood" scenes with utter silence, like the overlong "typing" only sound intro, or close-ups and faraway shots. Too many, in fact, we saw a lot of the backs of the actor's heads for periods of time. But, heck, we all learn.
If that were all the movie was, surely (not Shirley, as in Airplane! – I know, that was lame, but I have to amuse myself while writing about this mediocre film) this would've received one star. The actors, namely the Italian, Andrea (Calza), had their heart invested. And it was deeply emotional.
Furthermore, this has happened to me one more than one occasion. No I won't name names, but I guess I should give the synopsis to clarify.
Before the 13-minute movie turned 87 minutes begins, the off-screen (for the most part) character Mark (Blaum) dies, unexpectedly and it's up to best friend/roommate, Jeff (Smith) to snoop around in order to inform those close to Mark of the incident. Andrea's on his way from Italy in order to meet (or is that meat) Mark, but is intercepted by Jeff and they spend a good couple of days reminiscing about the late Mark.
Now, when I say this has occurred in my life, I'm not referring to the snooping or someone died. I've just had people in my life that I loved and they were "just a friend." In fact, as much as I tried to cover it up – ha ha, fruitless – everyone, including my friend knew of this love. But, he didn't feel the same way, though wanted to stay friends. This movie captured these feelings, emotions and scenarios perfectly and personally. So, naturally, I rate this higher for the personal aspects.
Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be watching this movie again anytime soon. Every scene dragged on 1-2 minutes too long, too many objects/props were off the screen, yet talked about a lot and 80% of the acting was just wrong.
That said, I would recommend for those in the mood for a slow-moving, emotion-driven gay themed movie night. I loved the guitar scene and I was pleased with the finale. I can't spoil, and I'm referring to the "bed" scene, but I kept dreading them going to the obvious, but kept true to what would really happen.