Be with Me explained

Be with Me
Director:Eric Khoo
Producer:Brian Hong
Starring:Theresa Poh Lin Chan
Samantha Tan
Ezann Lee
Seet Keng Yew
Music:Kevin Mathews
Christine Sham
Cinematography:Adrian Tan
Editing:Low Hwee-Ling
Studio:Zhao Wei Films
Distributor:Warner Bros. (USA)
Peccadillo Pictures (UK)
Runtime:93 minutes
Country:Singapore

Be with Me is a 2005 Singaporean drama film directed by Eric Khoo. The film is inspired by the life of deafblind teacher Theresa Poh Lin Chan. It premiered as the Director's Fortnight selection in the 2005 Cannes Film Festival. It was also the official entry from Singapore for the 78th Academy Awards in the foreign language category. In December 2005, the academy body disqualified the film on grounds that the dialogue is mainly in English. Out of 93 minutes, the film only has two and a half minutes of dialogue.

Be with Me is the first film in Singapore to explicitly feature a lesbian relationship.[1]

Cast

Release

Be with Me premiered at the Director’s Fortnight selection of the 2005 Festival de Cannes.

Reception

Ong Sor Fern of The Straits Times rated the film 4 stars out of 5 and wrote, "The way Khoo has marshalled his technical skills in the service of more characterisation and story marks a new stage in his development."[3]

Geoffrey Eu of The Business Times gave the film a rating of "B-" and wrote that "Chan's story overwhelms everything else around it and the result is a film that is elegant but uneven in tempo - the soft-edged style is there in abundance, but the movie's progress is perhaps not as smooth as it could be."[4]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Anomalilly . 2019-04-19 . Film Review: Be With Me (2005) by Eric Khoo . 2022-09-08 . Asian Movie Pulse . en-US.
  2. News: Holden . Stephen . 2006-09-29 . Three Tales Revolving Around a Real Life . en-US . The New York Times . 2022-09-08 . 0362-4331.
  3. News: Ong. Sor Fern. 7 September 2005. A life less ordinary. The Straits Times. Singapore.
  4. News: Eu. Geoffrey. 9 September 2005. Tales of love, lovingly told. The Business Times. Singapore.