NOOB FILM REVIEW - Amazing Spring (2019) by Nick Wong

Official Trailer

SYNOPSIS

A story about a lavished, rich young man, Max (Cedric Loo) being put into a challenge to acquire a piece of land to prove himself worth to take over the business empire of his mother.

He then face challenges as a village full of elderlies is occupying that land. He has 40 days to accomplish the job and he is arrogant enough to be sure he can complete the task before the given time. Otherwise he will lose his share and resign from the business.

REVIEW

The movie draws excellent contrast between life in the city and in an old traditional chinese village. Both in terms of look and feel and the overall screenplay.

In the city, it feels fake and made up while in the village, Max, having been used to city life, everything feels odd and out of place. He then realises that it is actually the village he was born and slowly get into the nostagia of it all.

Having grown soft from his usual arrogance, he is now in a dilemma between what he has grown to love about the village, and a local girl, Joyce (Joey Leong) and his mission to acquire the land for his own career survival.

SPOILER ZONE

This movie excels at exhibiting core moral values that is very much absent in the modern life, ruled by money.

The village full with elderlies is a true reflection of the current cost of development. Most of the young generation is drawn to move to the urban centers in the pursuit for 'better life', while it is actually already there in the villages and towns where they're from.

Like in movies such as 'Jalan Pintas' by Nam Ron, where Najib left his sick mother and sister alone in the suburban to look for a job in the capital city, while visually being shown that the suburban apparently offers opportunities in the form of barren paddy fields

Nick Wong plants the fun into being with the elderlies in the family with dances and music, like how Yee Hwa in his short film, ’Tudung Saji Buah Hati’, where he showcased the same approach in trying to educate the muslim girls to wear the tudung.
The parallel also being drawn in the shot of the Chinese New Year celebration where Max grew up in a cheap flat. It shows seperation and division on different level - comparing it to the charm and union of being in a kampung.

The coldness of the pallete when in the city scenes, and the warmth for the village shots.

And the line;
'2 ringgit in the angpow packet under the pillow will shoo away the monsters' - meaning that money will take away all suffering and sadness is been proven wrong to Max as he himself is being converted into a monster by money.

His mother who left her husband (and Max's father) because the father being potrayed as a clown that cherish happiness instead of money, returns back to the village and redeemed herself in reminding the same lesson about life to Max.

In the end, Max is a totally new character and is now worthy to lead and inherit the mother's business empire after what he has learned about the core values of being human.

This movie stands close if not side-by-side with Guang (2018) in terms of the beauty of how the message being relayed.

And to experience an amazing spring, all you need is love and not cash.

Cash is not king.