Happiness is ....(39)

 

The two main actor and actress: Shawn Lee as Chew Kiatg Kun
and Megan Zheng as his sister, Seow Fang

 

Seow Fang is punished for pretending to be hurt so that she could wear
slippers to school instead.

 

Despite initial setbacks, Kiat Kun was determined to win! Close behind him was
Joshua Ang as Tan Beng Soon. Joshua Ang looks like the younger version of popular Media Corp actor, Thomas Ong!

 

Though first in the race, Kiat Kun was unhappy because he won a medal,
and not the coveted pair of shoes which he wanted for his sister!

I had been coughing incessantly, and my cough had woken me up early yesterday morning. I decided to browse through the computer, and came across xin.msn. To my surprise, when I clicked on the "movie", I came across "Homerun". When I clicked again, hey presto, the movie was on the screen.

My neighbours had told me about watching some movies on the computer, and this is my first experience.!

It is a great movie that found me using up some pieces of tissue papers. For those of you who have yet to watch this award winning movie, I would encourage you to watch it. For those who are too busy, below is a summary of the movie. The children acted very well, and I am so proud that Megan Zheng is the first Singaporean to win a Golden Horse Award. Happiness is being able to watch a movie on the computer, free of charge and in the comfort of home!

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Directed by Jack Neo
Produced by Chan Pui Yin
Titus Ho
Written by Jack Neo

Starring Huang Wenyong
Xiang Yun
Shawn Lee
Megan Zheng

Music by Redwan Ali
Li Yi
Cinematography Kane Chen
Editing by Lawrence Ang
Distributed by MediaCorp Raintree Pictures
Release date(s) Singapore:
7 August 2003
Running time 108 minutes
Country Singapore
Language Mandarin

Homerun ((Abbreviated HR) Chinese: 跑吧！孩子 pinyin: pǎo bà háizǐ, lit. Run, Child!) is a 2003 Singaporean Mandarin-language film. A remake of the award-winning Iranian film Children of Heaven, Homerun is a drama about two poor siblings and their adventures over a lost pairs of shoes. Set in 1965, the year Singapore separated from Malaysia, the film satirises political relations between the two countries, leading to its banning in Malaysia.

The film was written and directed by Singaporean filmmaker Jack Neo, and produced by MediaCorp Raintree Pictures. It stars Huang Wenyong, Xiang Yun, Shawn Lee and Megan Zheng. Filming took place in the rural outskirts of Kuala Lumpur during November and December 2002, but post-production delays pushed back the film's release date.

Released in cinemas on 7 August 2003, Homerun grossed over S$2.3 million during its nine-week box office run. It was nominated for two awards at the 2003 Golden Horse Awards; Megan Zheng, then 10, became the first Singaporean to win a Golden Horse. Generally, however, critical reception of the film was mixed.


Plot

In 1965, two poor Singaporean children, Chew Kiat Kun and his younger sister Seow Fang live with their mother who is late in her third pregnancy and their father who is in debt to a local rice merchant. The children make the best of what little they have, while their father works long hours doing odd jobs.

The family's problems are compounded when Kiat Kun accidentally loses Seow Fang's only pair of shoes after taking them to be repaired. The children conduct a frantic search but find nothing; a karung guni man had claimed the shoes as unwanted rubbish. The Chew siblings are frustrated by the situation until their father inspires Kiat Kun to share his shoes with his sister, trading off between classes so they can both attend school. Unfortunately, this plan brings additional problems: Seow Fang is chastised for wearing oversized shoes to school, while Kiat Kun is repeatedly late as he must wait for his sister to exchange shoes with him.

At school, a wealthy schoolmate of Kiat Kun's named Tan Beng Soon runs a football team with his friends. Kiat Kun and his friends strike a bargain with Beng Soon to play on the team using the other boys' football shoes, in exchange for helping them cheat on their homework. However, the boys quarrel, causing an angry Beng Soon to renege on the deal and remove Kiat Kun and his friends from the team.

Without their assistance, Beng Soon and his friends are punished for producing substandard homework. Although the boys try to resolve their differences, they eventually give up on reaching an agreement. Beng Soon's grades continue to fall, and his parents decide to send him away to boarding school in England.

Meanwhile, Seow Fang sees her classmate wearing her lost shoes to school. She and Kiat Kun follow the girl home, but after realising her father is blind and that the family lived in the slums, they decide not to reclaim the shoes. However, a few days later, Seow Fang notices that her classmate is wearing a new pair; upon confronting her, she discovers that the girl has discarded the old pair at the kampung rubbish dump. The Chew siblings frantically search the rubbish dump for her shoes, but only discover them as they are destroyed during a trade unionist riot.


The climax of the film, in which Kiat Kun is pushed to the limit but trips and finishes first — a parallel to Singapore's political history.[1]Kiat Kun is dejected until he learns that the third prize in the 1965 National Primary School Cross Country Competition is a pair of shoes. Because he pretended to be sick on the day his school selected representatives for the race, he pleads with his P.E. teacher to let him enter. The teacher, initially reluctant, relents when Kiat Kun rushes to get his cough medicine, demonstrating his running ability. As the competition begins, Kiat Kun notices that Beng Soon is also participating.

Once the starting gun fires, Kiat Kun pushes himself to the limit and eventually establishes himself among the lead runners. Kiat Kun appears assured of third place, but due to a miracle, unexpectedly trips over a stone which leads him to finish second. Beng Soon ends the race in third place. While Kiat Kun is running, Mrs Chew goes into labour, forcing Seow Fang to run across a long path littered with broken glass to find a midwife. Finally, Mrs Chew gives birth to a baby boy and Beng Soon gives Kiat Kun and Seow Fang new pairs of shoes before departing. After finally obtaining their goal of getting a new pair of shoes, they realize that there are still more problems to be encountered. They then look to a long muddy path before them which they have to cross."