One way of looking at history is to perceive it as a multitude of narratives. While the way it is sometimes taught, for example, in school, suggests it is a linear narrative based on cause and effect, a more detailed look confirms the over-simplified notion of this approach or understanding. Especially when it comes to a culture that has been dealing with oppression, persecution and in general an authoritarian regime, it is not only recommended but necessary to reject any simplified approaches. At least, this is probably what any viewer will take away from Singaporean director Daniel Hui's latest work “Small Hours of the Night”, which, even though it centers around two performers, weaves a complex web of stories and timelines presenting a view on his home country's past, especially its handling of dissent and resistance.
Small Hours of the Night is screening at International Film Festival Rotterdam
The story, which is set “somewhere in the late 1960s”, revolves around a man and a woman (Irfan Kasban and Yang Yanxuan Vicki). At the beginning it seems as if she has been held prisoner for quite some time, having lost her sense of time and place, and also suffering from hallucinations. The man in front of her is her interrogator at the start, although his role and persona shifts through the course of the feature. As she demands to know about the new detainee in the cell next to her, he insists she has been hallucinating again, referring to tapes of previous interrogations suggesting she hears and sees things which are not there. However, as the woman talks about the person she had thought would be the new detainee, we get to know her full story, of her family and friends, with the man in front of her ultimately becoming someone else.
In his latest project, director Daniel Hui focuses on the dark chapters of his home country's past and present. Given the sheer amount of stories and people he assembles in “Small Hours of Night”, he could have easily made several features with this material, the fates described in each recollection and the themes of resistance and the personal struggles presented. However, the approach to direct what is essentially a collection of voices, stories and fates, results in an at times, very powerful representation of the political and social struggle in Singapore.
In order to achieve this effect, Hui relies on elements which viewers of his other features may be familiar with. The first aspect is the performances by Irfan Kasban and Yang Yanxuan Vicki, who has also starred in his 2018 feature “Demons”, presenting the changes in the character they are playing, especially the emotions, quite well. While it is at certain points tough to keep track of the stories and characters we are confronted with, their emotions often bring us back into what is happening, and ultimately the fates being described. This is also due to the second aspect of “Small Hours of the Night”, which is the sound design by Akritchalerm Kayalanamitr and the music by Cheryl Ong, adding another layer to each segment or story, highlighting the hope, the grief and the confusion of the characters. Especially the use of sound brings an almost eerie quality to some scenes, or highlights the glimmer of hope of the person telling the story at that point.
“Small Hours of the Night” is a powerful feature about political persecution, oppression and the story of resistance in Singapore. Daniel Hui allocates a number of characters and fates to a choir of voices, emphasizing the past and the present of his home country, while also looking at a hopefully brighter future.
