The Bird House

April 13th, 2007

i recently went to watch The Bird House, a local film directed and written by Khoo Eng Yow.

set in Malacca, The Bird House explores a disagreement between two brothers over what is to become of their home, a quaint and small Peranakan-style house that sits on a quiet Malaccan street. the older brother Keat (played by Lee Kiat Lee), who moved to Singapore to work, is now back home in Malacca and is appalled at the indifference and recklessness of his younger brother Hua in maintaining their relic house. Keat strongly believes that their old house, with its beautiful pre-war architecture and antiquated elements, should be prized and treated with respect; hence he wants to turn their old house into an antique shop (yes exactly like those you see along Jonker’s Walk) to preserve its history and novelty.

his brother Hua (played by Loh Bok Lai) on the other hand, a lowly mechanic, is not concerned with old-fashioned ideas of preserving heritage. all he wants to do is take advantage of what he has (ie the heritage house) and turn that into a money-making opportunity. so not only has he already rented out his living room to a stranger who uses the space as a driving school, he also harbours ideas of breaking down the walls in the house so he can rent out rooms for quick cash. his schemes dont end there – after witnessing the financial success of a friend who turned his own heritage house into a swallow-breeding ground to collect valuable birdnests that are highly-priced in the market, Hua is enthralled with the prospect of doing the same with his house.

this is the platform for the movie – two brothers who have different ideas of what to do with one house. but amidst all the dinner table quarrels and petty arguments, sits a quiet and docile old man who seems oblivious to all the animosity going on around him. frail and white-singleted, Keat and Hua’s aging father (played wonderfully by Lim Eng Beng) is a blur thing who seems to accept his fading and obsolete presence, as his two grown-up sons wrestle to become the decision-makers now.

it is obvious to the audience that the old father loves his two sons (perhaps one more than the other) very much and just wants them to be happy. he doesnt give any input or take any sides in the brothers’ argument, but he pleads with them to stop fighting, especially at the dinner table, where families typically get together and put behind all differences. it’s also clear that the brothers arent going to ask their father what HE wants to do with the house anytime soon, even though he’s very much a part of the house.

i like the issue addressed by The Bird House; this whole debate on cultural preservation versus economical development. however, The Bird House takes no side in this matter. instead, it highlights the world’s fixation on making money at the expense of wiping out history and culture, as well as the hypocrisy of heritage-touting preservation advocates. in regards to the latter, one might think this movie’s good guy is big brother Keat, who is very noble in his intent to preserve the heritage house by turning it into an antique shop. but herein lies the hypocrisy – while Keat berates his brother for being greedy enough to turn their home into a birdnest farm, he doesnt realize that his own choice of converting the house into an antique shop to do business isnt very different from his brother’s idea after all. it’s ultimately money-making as well, but hidden behind the valiant guise of heritage conservation.

and isnt this what a lot of preservation programmes are all about? there is all this hoohah about not demolishing old buildings and gazetting historical sites, so much fervor and love for heritage and all; but let’s face it, a lot of the time the reason behind this is to boost tourism figures. at the end of the day, tourists bring in money, and if we can all sound like virtuous pro-preservation heritage cherishers while collecting their US dollars and euros, why the hell not eh.

at one point, two caucasian tourists walk into the house to have a looksee. they spot a traditional mortar and pestle in the kitchen, and so the elderly father eagerly shows them how he uses it to mash food. both tourists ooh and ahh and are thrilled that little malaysian people still use such archaic things in their everyday life! the tourists then take their token photographs with the mortar and pestle. but as they leave, the old man goes back to mashing his food using an electric blender. this goes to show that people need a little bit of progress in today’s world. we cant all be stuck using mortars and pestles when our neighbours are using electric blenders. ladies and gents, development is not a bad thing. also, balance between preservation and progress is not inevitable.

i loved that such a macro debate is captured so beautifully in the microcosm of Keat and Hua’s family. in this big bad world of skyscrapers and million-dollar apartments with views, we dont think about what we had to give up in order to get such things. in fact, when things like Kampung Berembang happen, we go, “aiyah those people are illegal squatters wat”. we dont even spare a thought for the people who used to live on that land and called it home. where will they go? where will they sleep? but we dont care.. all we’re interested in is the hip and happening new club or high-rise condo that will be built on that plot of land. you know, any structure that actually has something to do with ‘actual people’. so it was nice to see this issue addressed by The Bird House, and brought to a more personal and individual level that everyone can relate to.

there is also an underlying theme of irony throughout the whole movie. Keat when returning home from Singapore, brings his father a box of birdnest as a gift, while later we are introduced to Hua’s idea of turning their home into a birdnest farm. Keat tells his brother off for not consulting their sister about demolishing her room’s walls, but he doesnt inform his sister either about his plans of turning her room into a storeroom or something like that in the event that his antique shop materializes. he also constantly makes digs at his brother for ‘knowing nothing about heritage’, but who is the one who left his family behind for money? also, for malaysian chinese, where are your real roots; Malaysia or China?

the idea of turning a house into a birdnest farm where swallows will come in and build nests is perhaps one of the most creative metaphors i’ve seen in malaysian cinema. it was the coolest part of the whole movie, i thought. as for the movie’s aesthetics, nothing short of beautiful; a lot of the time, the scenes looked like they would make some very breathtaking photographs. the opening sequence of stills were simply amazing. the use of some very beautiful piano music was a perfect supplement. oh and the sets and props were all so REAL! i mean, when i was young, the refridgerator in my home was propped up on bricks as well, haha. loved the fact that the house in the movie was so typically Malaccan – air hole in the ceiling and all.

as for pace, yup i’m sorry to disappoint, but The Bird House moves at a painfully slow pace. they are guilty of long static takes as well (surprise surprise), something that unfortunately seems to be fast defining Malaysian indie cinema. but the difference between The Bird House and most of our local indie flicks is that there is actually lot of dialogue in TBH. i’m not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing, because i feel that subtlety is always good when it comes to cinematic messages, but then again a lot of our indie filmmakers tend to get a bit too caught up in the supposed complexity and mysteriousness of their scripts, and that’s when they end up saying too little. so at least TBH managed to keep their audience involved and attentive.

the best part of TBH besides the metaphorical birdnest is most definitely the execution of dialogue. while it was difficult to connect with the characters in the movie (mostly due to bad lighting and lack of close ups), i absolutely loved how naturally they spoke. no fake accents anywhere or apparent memorization. it was all very fluid and lovingly colloquial. props to the actors!

all in all, i would say that this is one of the better written works we’ve seen lately in local cinema. the budget for this film was fairly small, and i’m always amazed at how people with so little money for production can make such good films, compared to those who have a few million dollars behind them but come up with such crappy ass horror shit.

please go and watch The Bird House! it’s worth it. i’m so proud that Malaysia has filmmakers capable of making touching films like these.

The Bird House is showing at GSC International Screens at Mid Valley, 1 Utama and Gurney Plaza Penang. no i dont understand either why our own movies are screened under the international screens.

Entry Filed under: Reviews