Release Date – TBC, Cert – TBC, Run-time – 1 hour 43 minutes, Director – Daniel Hui
On opposite sides of a desk in an almost empty room, a woman (Yang Yanxuan Vicki) and her interrogator (Irfan Kasban) exchange details uncovering and linking to Singapore’s political history.
Small Hours Of The Night is a film to sit with its ideas for extended periods of time. As the camera focuses on one of the two figures sat in an almost empty room – shot in black and white to increase the darkness and shadows which fill the frame – there’s often one key idea running for sometimes ten or more minutes to accompany the monologue that’s unfolding. Whether it be a drum solo over a still shot or an alarm ringing with a bright light rotating around the room such details are as stripped back as the cell in which the central interrogation unfolds in, often starting to feel drawn-out the longer they go on for.
On opposite sides of an organised, yet cramped, desk sit a woman (Yang Yanxuan Vicki) and her interrogator (Irfan Kasban). Over the course of a stormy night they begin to unfold details of Singapore’s political, and legal, history. Set in the 60s the film apparently links to the 1980s Tan Chay Wa tombstone trial, the film has been effectively banned from public screenings and distribution in Singapore after being refused a certificate after being deemed “prejudicial to national interest”.
The back and forth of the conversation is largely in monologue form with details gradually leaked out with each new stylistic element. The execution of the film certainly won’t be for everyone, including myself, with its very slow pacing and minimalist style it may come across, despite its possible intentions and what it’s dealing with, as if it would work and hold attention better as a short film. Instead, the jumps back and forth between the characters and the views and realities they uncover together grow a staggered feeling with the lengthy speeches beginning to feel like individual segments with the start and end simply being the sudden jump to the next.
It causes a knock on effect that leads the run-time to also feel drawn out, with much of it being filled by disconnect between the viewer and the film. This is a slow burn drama where the focus from writer-director Daniel Hui appears to be on the detail of the dialogue as it unravels the history at hand, however the dominating factor in the final product are the various stylistic elements which crop up at each stage of the interrogation.
Small Hours Of The Night won’t be for everyone as its style often dominates the filmmaker’s focal dialogue and the central interrogation, creating a drawn-out and segmented feeling which creates increasing disconnect over the slow burn drama.
Just A Little Bit Random 