Director
Djinn
Cast
Kay Tong Lim Harry Lee
Sunny Pang Angry Boy Lee
A. Panneeirchelvam Selva
Stefanie Budiman Maid
DVD Release Date: January 16, 2007
Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 111 Minutes
The Movie
Harry Lee (Lay Tong Lim) didn’t have everything going for him, but he knew what he wanted. Working as a security supervisor for a shipyard by day and earning some extra cash as a taxi driver by night, he was saving money to fulfill his lifelong dream of moving to Perth, Australia. Into his fifties now, Harry had seen it all. Europe, South America, Australia, and many exotic places were destinations he had landed while in the service. He had learned the ways of the world and how it was to fight for what you believe in.
Once out of the service and into the rat race, he knew where he wanted to go and what he wanted to do. Perth was the place Harry had his mind set on retiring too once he had enough money and could emigrate out of Singapore and its overly busy and dangerous streets. His security job was great, paid well, and he was well taken care by a boss that liked him. The taxi job not only got him closer to his money goal faster, but also allowed him to meet some interesting people along the way.
The only problem with having a goal in life is that one never knows what obstacles will jump into your path. Technology, younger men, smarter men, and even just downsizing can take away your livelihood and have your dreams come crushing down in a second. As with happened with Harry Lee, so he had to find some other way to make his goal a reality. But when he goes into business of driving around prostitutes to upper-echelon clients, his past come roaring back to him and everything goes into a downward spiral of violence and rage.
The similarities to Scorsese’s Taxi Driver are there from the beginning of the film to the end, yet the differences keep the movies enjoyable enough to want to see both. Harry delivers a wide range of emotions from sorrow, happiness, hope, contempt, and most of all anger. His rage at the world has developed from his past experiences combined with his lifelong dream being taken away from him and put off until God knows when. It’s enjoyable seeing Harry develop some reason to let go of his rage with almost everyone he comes across in the film but able to contain it most of the time.
Perth has a lot of things going on in it with Harry’s dream, his multiple jobs, and delving into the world of prostitute shuttling; but perhaps the best thing about the movie are the random discussions riddled throughout the film. Harry and his old army buddy Selva (A. Panneeirchelvam) sit many times just discussing what the world used to be like before everything changed to suit the younger, smarter crowd. Throw in some of the comments and hilarious, but mean, actions of Angry Boy Lee (Sunny Pang) and those are truly some of the most intriguing moments in the film.
One of the best scenes is Angry Boy Lee getting pissed off at a guy for flipping him off in traffic. Getting Harry to follow him, Angry Boy gets out at the next light, opens the guy’s door, and just beats the living hell out of him without even thinking twice. Two minutes later there is a conversation about life and just how important it is to not take things for granted. It’s that kind of versatility that makes Perth so enjoyable to watch.
The Video
The film is shown in 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen format and has a real eighties feel to it. It was actually filmed in 2004, but it has this darkness and quality about it that gives it an older feeling which made it even more interesting to watch.
The Audio
Perth is heard in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and comes through very well. In a film where you’re going to be hearing mostly dialogue through its entire duration, it’s extremely important that it comes through clearly and except for a slight gritty background noise, all comes through nicely. I don’t know if it was just me, but I could certainly hear the noise a good bit of the time.
Special Features
Audio Commentary by Director Djinn – The director delivers some nice insight into what he was going for in each scene and how he was able to come the final cut. In depth looks into not only the main characters but why some background people act the way they do make this an informative and interesting extra.
Audio Commentary by Lim Kay Tong – Tong also gives a great look into how things went down in the film. His thoughts on how Harry should be presented and act in certain situations give a nice view into what exactly he was thinking when at different points during the film. My only complaint is that Tong and Djinn really should have done their commentary together so as not having to watch the film over again.
Deleted Scenes – Lim Kay Tong gives commentary during some deleted scenes and explains what is going on in each one. Not many of these scenes would have been needed in the film itself save for one or two of them. The entire thing does seem a bit corny though with some of the commentary Tong delivers.
Set Design Featurette – Djinn takes you through art director’s Andy Heng work on designing all the sets for the film. He explains why Heng chose the colors he did for certain rooms and why particular objects were in each scene. A very interesting watch to see the stories and meanings behind a lot of the things you may notice but take for granted while watching the film.
Theatrical Trailer
Trailers – Lady Vengeance, Oldboy: Special Edition, One Take Only, Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance, and Spider Forest
The Inside Pulse
If you enjoyed Taxi Driver then you are bound to enjoy Perth, no doubt about it. It is enjoyable from start to finish with a great mix of interesting dialogue and some nice and brutal violence. The extra, most notably Djinn’s commentary, make the DVD good for at least four to five hours of some interesting soul searching. Well worth the buy at least to remind you to think twice about flipping someone off on the street again.
