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Short Film Review: Inhalation (2010) by Edmund Yeo

A short feature about unspoken truths in a relationship, as well as the significance of inevitability in life.

In 2010, Malaysian filmmaker directed two features, “” and “Exhalation”, which can be considered as two stories complimenting each other. While especially both of them tackle global themes, such as economic immigration and the chasm between rural and urban life, they also deal with life and death, as the titles seems to already suggest. The first of the pair, “Inhalation”, was screened at Busan International Film Festival, where it was awarded Best Asian Short, and through its story of two people and their troubled relationship, deals with inevitability and coincidence as defining factors in our lives.

Inhalation is streaming on MUBI

After years of working at a pig farm and also at the nearby meat market, Mei () has finally had enough and has decided to try her luck overseas in Japan. Since she does not have enough money for the trip, she asks her boyfriend Seng () for support, who not only obliges, but also accompanies her on her last day. Realizing he will probably never see her again, he wants to cherish these last moments, while Mei tells him to find another girlfriend.

However, 38 days later, Mei's dreams of starting over in Japan are destroyed as she has been deported and forced to return home. With all her money gone and no place to stay for the night, she again asks Seng to take her in, but since he has been dating someone else he does not want to and confronts his ex about her decision to leave in the first place.

On the surface, “Inhalation” deals with an economy which has failed to offer young people a vision for the future. Feeling left out as someone who does not want to follow a more academic career like Seng, Mei sees no perspective in her home country. Her job in the meat market and the pig farm is established as a dead end for the young girl, a workplace defined by the same routines and offering very little money for what is undoubtedly tough work. The realization of one's goal in life, as well as the opposing views on that topic represented by Seng and Mei results in something unspoken as they say their goodbyes, an uncomfortable silence and many gestures which can be understood in more than one way, such as Mei telling Seng to look for another girlfriend.

At the same time, especially in the second half of the short, Yeo seems to focus more on philosophical themes, viewing what Mei perceives as a personal failure within the grander scheme of things. Finally, what has been an uncomfortable silence before is now a confrontation between the two characters about their problems, their perceived insufficiency, but also how this argument as well as Mei being deported may have been inevitable rather than a streak of bad luck. The image of rose petals falling on a riverbed may shed some light into this rather cryptic concept, perhaps hinting at the possibility of certain events being pre-ordained or following a certain scheme, which seems like coincidence to the outside, but in fact is not.

In the end, “Inhalation” is an interesting short feature about themes such as inevitability in life. While perhaps its core metaphor does not necessarily convince its viewer, its cast and the cinematography certainly make this short movie by Edmund Yeo still a fitting entry into his filmography.

About the author

Rouven Linnarz

Ever since I watched Takeshi Kitano's "Hana-Bi" for the first time (and many times after that) I have been a cinephile. While much can be said about the technical aspects of film, coming from a small town in Germany, I cherish the notion of art showing its audience something which one does normally avoid, neglect or is unable to see for many different reasons. Often the stories told in films have helped me understand, discover and connect to something new which is a concept I would like to convey in the way I talk and write about films. Thus, I try to include some info on the background of each film as well as a short analysis (without spoilers, of course), an approach which should reflect the context of a work of art no matter what genre, director or cast. In the end, I hope to pass on my joy of watching film and talking about it.

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