WONDERLAND 《乐园》 | 《相思河畔》- Joi Chua 蔡淳佳 M/V — In Cinemas 8 August, Sneaks 2 - 4 August

Release Date: 8 August 2024 in Singapore Cinemas
Director: Chai Yee Wei 蔡於位
Cast: Mark Lee 李国煌, Peter Yu 余宏荣, Xenia Tan 陈雯诗
Genre: Drama

An amusement park that’s closing. A man that’s dying. A choir director who’s hiding. Loke has just sold his house to finance his daughter’s education in America and moved into government housing, where he meets a group of older oddballs.

The housing is fine, actually. Just...there is a sense that the characters won’t have much of a future here. But that does not mean the place is barren. Lies, for instance, flourish in WONDERLAND. Loke is lying to his daughter. His daughter lies to him. Tan, the choir director, lies to Loke (and his own daughter...). But when Loke needs help translating correspondence with his daughter and vice versa, Tan and Loke form a reluctant friendship. This puts Tan in the unfortunate position of deciding how, or even if, he should relay bad news from abroad. For lies in a place without much of a future are not cowardly nor malicious. They are, in fact, an offering of love, a way to create a version of a world that’s just a little nicer.

As the film progresses, Tan recruits the elderly oddballs to help create an elaborate lie for Loke. And in the process, these people, these forgotten relics, come to life, their skills on display like the amusement park – lit up, colourful, happy to offer some fleeting alternative to reality.

为了供女儿到纽约负笈留学, 老陆卖掉了他的祖传甘榜屋,卑屈搬进了一房式的租赁组屋。在新的居住环境中, 内敛深沉的老陆结识了看似吊儿郎当, 又八面玲珑的老陈。老陈没受过什么教育, 得依靠老陈帮自己写信和远在他乡的女儿通信。因此, 原本性格南辕北辙的两人就渐渐成为了
知心好友。老陆对女儿的无私付出,以及深厚的感情, 老陈看在眼里,羡慕不已, 因为他自己也有一个因离异而疏远的女儿, 他一直渴望和过去的自己和解。《乐园》是一个由善意的谎言引发的故事, 而这个善意的谎言却牵引着两人的友情与缘分的发展,娓娓道来一个关于真相与谎言纠葛; 自我救赎和寻求宽恕的动人故事。

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