I have never been an advocate for local production but this movie, "The Kid From The Big Apple" ( 我来自纽约),directed by Jess Teong, blew me away ! Instead of rolling my eyes and cringe at subpar acting and the flimsy plot of locally produced flicks as I always do, my eyes were fixated on the silver screen for two hours straight. Hats off to Jess Teong ! I am seriously impressed by her talent and she wears many hats. Jess is not only the director, she's the set designer, wrote the screen play and the lyricist for the theme song ! The thing that won me over is that she's so darn good in every area ! Those who are unaware, northern born and raised Jess used to be a model-cum-singer in her younger days. For a debut effort, I think she deserved a best new director accolade for pulling-off this movie in style !
Not sure if Jess is involved in the casting but they did an excellent job in this aspect. Veteran actor, Ti Lung (aka Tommy Tam) is perfect as the strict but enduring grand daddy. Jessica Hester Hsuen who seldom appears in movies is certainly in her element. The spunky child stars (who were mostly newbies) were simply spectacular. Although the story line sounds simple when you read the synopsis, the rock solid acting from Ti Lung, Jessica Hsuen, Jason Tan and Sarah Tan Qin Lin turned this award-winning movie into an awesome heart tugging feel-good fare. The executive producer of this movie is none other than Taiwan actress-cum-singer, Vivian Hsu. "The Kid from New York" has snagged four awards at the Macau Movie festival last December- Best Screenplay (Jess Teong), Best Actor (Ti Lung), Best Supporting Actress (Jessica Hester Hsuan) and Best Newcomer (Tan Qin Lin). Hopefully, more are in the pipeline !
Sometimes a song just creeps into your head and you could not shake it off. Well, that's Bell Yu Tian's soothing theme song - 小天地. Trust me, you will be humming to this sweet beautiful song after a few listen. BTW, the word in the chorus - "ser feliz" means "be happy" in Spanish. Again, Jess did a marvelous job in penning the simple yet meaningful lyrics and cleverly adding "ser feliz" to the catchy chorus. I bet even Jessica Hsuan loves this song. Jessica was so engrossed singing along with Bell during the meet and greet. It has been awhile since I last Jessica and surprisingly, she speaks respectable Mandarin. Watching Jessica and Ti Lung's interactions with the crowd during the promo tour, both HK artistes were clearly having fun throughout the sessions. Jessica mentioned that she has now slimmed down compared to a year ago during the movie shoot. It's also the first local production to partner with fast food giant, Mc Donald's. Sporting Jessica also obligingly took picture with fan and signed on the placard. I wholeheartedly concur with Jessica when she said that viewers will definitely be satisfied with this movie. Don't forget to bring your tissues when you watch "The Kid From The Big Apple" during public screening in the local and Singapore cinemas on 10th of March.
It is scheduled to hit the Taiwan cinema circuits on 11th March, followed by Hong Kong on April 21st (distributed by Emperor Entertainment Group - EEG).
Synopsis from "The Film Catalogue":-
Sarah, a 12-year girl was born and raised in New York City. As Sarah's mother has to relocate to China for a few months on a work assignment, she has no choice but to turn to her estranged father back in Malaysia for help in looking after her daughter for these few months. To a contemporary youngster like Sarah, raised in the Big Apple since birth, Malaysia seems like all her worst nightmares come true.
To begin with, Sarah feels isolated and lonely in this strange, new place. Living in one of the group apartments with her grandfather, initially Sarah hides her insecurities underneath a cloak of bravado and treats her new neighbours as though they are truly beneath her.
Influence from a group of friendly neighbours around her age and a period of time living under the same roof as her grandfather, slowly opens Sarah's heart to those around her. The once stuck-up Sarah comes to learn and understand the reasons why her mother and grandfather care so much about their cultural traditions.
