Riceboy Sleeps * * * *

So-Young and Kim, keeping their heads without knowing what's just about to come.

First off a complaint.  Not about the film, but about the projection. I am really sick of this.  You see it too often. The thing is, it's all robotically done these days. and if anything is wrong no one seems to notice.  There is little doubt that the projector would need to be set up a particular way to show this film, but no one has bothered.  

Riceboy Sleeps is a film that is shot in a square format for the first two thirds.  In the final third it is in full screen, but the projector seems to think it is still in square format so that in the final third, heads are cut off in many scenes.  It's a slovenly pity and an insult to the audience and the films creators. The projector can do it, but it has to be programmed.  

Back to the movie (what I saw of it).  Riceboy Sleeps is a Canadian film which tells the story of a Korean immigrant single mum and her son. Much of the dialogue is in Korean with English subtitles. It's from first time director Anthony Shim who also wrote it.  I'm thinking it might be somewhat autobiographical.

The story begins in the early nineties. Her background in Korea is given to us in VO at the beginning. - and it is tragic!

Coming to Canada she gets a job at a factory.  Her son must attend the local primary school.  It's not easy for little Dong who is subject to bullying.  "Riceboy", they taunt him.  His mother, So-Young, is  tough and reminds Dong there is no room for tears.  

He doesn't  like his Korean name anymore than he likes his Korean lunch pack. He wants white bread sandwiches and wants to be called Michael Jackson; they settle for Kim. 

We skip forward to Kim being a teenager and now he is well settled with groups of friends who are both good and bad with their influences.

So-Young is still at the factory. It's hardly a job with career opportunities. But now she has a good circle of friends and she is flirting with Simon, a Korean who was born in Canada.

As in keeping with her life, further tragedy is bestowed upon So-Young, but her stoicism remains. Kim is  now a young man in his mid to late teens.  

The lives of So-Young and Kim centre around an absent figure, who So-Young is reticent to speak of but in the final third, when they return to Korea, much is resolved.  At least I think it is, but a few heads were missing in some critical scenes. (Thank heavens for the subtitles)

Riceboy Sleeps might be melancholic at times, but it can also be very funny.  The acting is outstanding.  It's a modest but deeply human and beautifully constructed film where our sympathy for the characters never waivers; nor does our interest and empathy.