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What makes this short film interesting was the story itself. It will pierce right through your heart most especially if you know someone who is experiencing such thing. There are things where we really cannot control but I do believe that love knows no gender. I don't agree that being homosexual is a sin.
Anyways, the characters did a good job. Though it was just a short film they were able to deliver the message that they wanted to say to the audience or the viewers. I like the English music that they have used by the way. Story wise, this film was amazing. If you are not just going to watch it but empathize with the characters and you can better appreciate the beauty of this film.
Worth my time and highly recommended.
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ACTING/CAST: Ming is cute. The cast generally did a decent job.
MUSIC: A couple songs, in English no less, were OK.
REWATCH VALUE: If I found a HD version, I'd probably watch it again.
OVERALL: A quick story that does a decent job of building the relationship between Ming and Hei, and shows the struggle of being gay in a Christian school.
SIDE NOTE: I have NO idea what this movie's title is about or why. Maybe it's an idiom that is lost in translation.
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This review may contain spoilers
I Go To School Not By Bus (2015), directed by Morris Ng, is basically about being who you are or what you want to be in an environment with people that may be toxic. The cinematography plus the choice of music makes the film feel really cozy. I'm not really that familiar with the language so I don't really know how good the main casts are in delivering their lines but there were some moments where the acting looks kinda awkward. The characters look cute together and their characters itself were great. It felt fresh seeing Hei Cheung (Vincent Leung) an openly gay character that is masc and athletic. The side characters' acting were also good, the teachers who care about you but they just really have this personality that's unlikable, the two fujoshis...The ending was heartwarming; they did what they were preaching in the film which is to follow your dreams. The credit scene was also adorable. However, the post-credit scene, aka the real ending for me, was heartbreaking even though the fujoshis were there and Ming Wong (Zene Koo) said his parting words with a smile— which is what made it heartbreaking for me. Ming was gonna be away with the one he loves yet he was still happy because Hei taught him that way of thinking. Hei wasn't shown in the post-credit but he was probably happy too. It's a shame because we (I, at least) wanted this cute couple to be together even though it wasn't really confirmed that they were actually a couple.
The story overall was easy to digest but the title, which was the reason why I watched this film, wasn't explained. It probably does make sense for a native speaker. Unfortunately, the highest definition of this film available as I'm typing this is 360p, bearable but not at parts where the white subtitles are on top of something bright.
Highly recommend if you want something warm to fill up your boring 35-minute free time.
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This review may contain spoilers
TENDER LITTLE SHORT FILM
With only 35 minutes, you cannot expect too much from this film, but it delivers everything at a high level and leaves you satisfied, if a little heartsick.Issues of Christian attitudes towards homosexuality, societal expectations and most prominently, coming to terms with your sexuality are all included, but with the short run time, none get too much attention. I do wish there was a bit more time to explore all of these themes in greater depth.
The romance develops naturally, though there are really no conflicts until they are outed as a couple in school. Even that feels a little unsatisfactory, since Hei is openly gay and the boys have been hanging out exclusively for a while. Surely everyone knows.
There is good chemistry between the two leads, and Zeno is adorable. His innocent, yet open and endearing smile really draws you in. You feel like you know this character from his easy portrayal.
The end is a bit rushed and I'm not certain how much time has passed. Did they never speak again until the last day? It would have been nice to see how Hei dealt with the separation, and not just the little we see of Ming. You leave hoping that they will reunite and fulfill the promise of this sweet, first love relationship, but that's up to the viewer to fill in the blanks. Ahhh a boy can dream, can't he?
I'd watch it again, since it's a short sweet film. But would probably look for something a bit happier first.
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A sweet, slice of life high school story
Overall: a nice, short (35min) realistic movie about two high schoolers, one of whom is trying to figure out who he is and what he wantsContent Warning: homophobia (mainly from 1 teacher, bleh)
What I Liked
- the theme of being true to yourself and pursuing your dreams
- a confident, out gay guy (and his friends were fine with his sexual orientation)
- the pairing of a goofy extrovert and a quiet introvert (this reminds me of MODC)
- how both apologize for pushing each other (both physically and mentally)
Room For Improvement
- no sense of how much time passed when they were getting to know each other or after the incident
- the night scenes are too dark and need a bit more lighting
- the two female students were intrusive and were not being as supportive as they thought
- the female teacher telling him not to pursue art and then being terrible at classroom management
- the male teacher for being homophobic (slight redemption after the incident)
- the ending was fine, but it would have been nice to have a super short scene (or even pics) during/after the credits with them meeting up later
- having both small hard coded and soft coded English subs, they were actually a bit different but I couldn't tell which was better (watched on gagaoolala)
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