Movie Marathon

Met up with Derrick and Edwin for movie at The Cathay. We had our dinner at Sushi Don before watching The Italian, a Russian film about a young child pending to be adopted by an Italian couple.

Vanya is the young boy picked by the Italian couple at an orphanage. He gets to know a friend's mother who came to the orphanage to look for the child she abandoned years ago. Unfortunately, his friend had already been adopted by another couple. Too late and full of regrets, the mother commits suicide. As a result, Vanya begins to ponder about the whereabouts of his real parents. He escapes the orphanage to flee from the pending adoption so that he can find his biological parents.

The show is sympathetic towards the plight of the young orphans in Russia. It is a touching story of a child wanting to find his parents and the sacrifices that he made to try to achieve his goal. The show paints a bleak picture of suburban Russia where people mind their own business and hooligans roam the dark alleys. It is a treacherous world for the unprotected and we hold our breath when the pint-sized Vanya is exposed to the dark side of humanity.

The story is convincing and the score is haunting with its slow icy piano score. The bleak realism and the stark cinematography that the movie portrays is captivating yet sombre in tone. Gritty and well-acted, this movie is powerful in its message to discourage child abandonment.

We enjoyed the show thoroughly and decided to catch another show. We decided on Death at A Funeral, a British comedy about a funeral gone wrong. Firstly, the boyfriend of a relative accidentally consumes some drugs and acts insanely. Secondly, an extremely irritating and impatient old uncle is present and chides anyone in his way. Thirdly, a shortie shows up and claims to be the dead man's lover. There are many other insanely funny things that happen and the British cast executes and dispatches the wit, jokes and farce with efficiency and effectiveness.

I had a rolling good time in the theatre laughing from start to end of the show. The storyline is outrageous but the show is really hilarious. Kudos to the impeccably talented British ensemble for making the show a totally entertaining and comedic experience. The funniest show i watched this year.