A young man of Chinese-Cambodian descent dies, leaving behind his isolated mother and his 4-year male lover, who grieve but don't speak a lick of each other's language.A young man of Chinese-Cambodian descent dies, leaving behind his isolated mother and his 4-year male lover, who grieve but don't speak a lick of each other's language.A young man of Chinese-Cambodian descent dies, leaving behind his isolated mother and his 4-year male lover, who grieve but don't speak a lick of each other's language.
- Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
- 4 wins & 7 nominations total
- Junn
- (as Cheng Pei Pei)
- Vann
- (as Naomi Christie)
- Waiter
- (uncredited)
- Cafe customer
- (uncredited)
- Elderly Resident
- (uncredited)
- Café Customer
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaFilmed in 3 weeks.
- GoofsAt the scene when Ben Whishaw and Andrew Leung were on bed, Ben says "You're really gonna do that?", but his lips don't move.
- Quotes
Junn: Through plenty of crying, I've learnt to be content that I won't always be happy, secure in my loneliness, hopeful that I will be able to cope. Every year on Christmas Day I get very lonely. An incredible feeling of solitude. On this day, everything has stood still, even the trees have stopped rustling, but I'm still moving, I want to move, but I have nothing to move to, and nowhere to go. The scars beneath my skin suddenly surface and I get scared. Scared of being alone.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Lilting: Deleted Scene (2014)
- SoundtracksYe Lai Xiang
Performed by Xiang Lan Li
"Lilting" is an ambitious attempt to portray the cultural differences at play in a modern relationship. The story places a lot of emphasis on the filial duties of a Chinese child, and the anger of the mother whose son does not fulfill the supposed filial duties. This is surely mystifying to Western viewers, and the film does not really explain it that clearly. As I do understand this cultural context, I empathise with the story.
Two things that bug me though, is that Kai looks so Caucasian. I have huge trouble in believing that he is only a quarter English. The second thing is that the mother says he feels lonely during Christmas, which is clearly a line aimed at Western viewers because she would the most likely not be celebrating Christmas. She would be way more likely to feel lonely during Chinese New Year.
Overall, "Lilting" is not for everyone. The pacing is slow, but if you understand the cultural subtext then you will empathise with the story a lot.
- Gordon-11
- Jan 30, 2015
- How long is Lilting?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $27,054
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $1,567
- Sep 28, 2014
- Gross worldwide
- $247,377
- Runtime1 hour 31 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1