Putting the three Cs of children, cancer and comedy together makes you wonder just what you're getting into when starting Wei Te-sheng's “BIG”. And it's one that certainly puts you through the wringer, taking many different approaches from various perspectives. This is a lengthy and tormenting experience, but is the suffering worth it?
BIG is screening at Osaka Asian Film Festival
With the children's ward of a hospital undergoing renovations, six child cancer patients of various ages and stages are put into the same room: Room 816, altered to ‘BIG' on its door. With the parents also staying in the room, it becomes a very chaotic place to be. But also a place of sadness, as each child has to face important, life-defining moments. Pulling together through the trauma, the parents and children look for moments of hope through it all, bringing new life to a world where death is a very real prospect. The treating nurses and doctors struggle to manage the boisterous patients, as well as their emotions.
With a large, ensemble cast, Wei looks at the scenario from three perspectives: the children, the parents and the doctors and nurses. The stresses and strains for each are given time, with animated sequences for the children as they battle their humanized enemy. But theirs is also a world where, hair, music videos and crushes are also important, as with any child.
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For the parents, the emotional toil of dealing with it all is offset with bickering over the smallest things, even suggesting divorce, as stress takes its toll on the relationships. The hospital staff are perhaps the weakest characters, with a moping surgeon who hides behind a stern look, though the nurses who have to take a deep breath as they prepare to gleefully enter the room, rings truer.
With a large cast, each getting an equal share of screentime, this becomes a very long watch. Probably a little too long. Switching from the overly sentimental to the comedic also pulls you in different directions, quite exhausting at times. Though, understandably, that may be the intention. But the length can become problematic. Inconsistency runs throughout, with the sentimental balance being the key. At times, this is executed very well, with some deeply emotional moments. Others, however, can be a little forced, to the point of eliciting no emotion at all. As such, the latter could be removed to both improve the overall experience, but also reduce the runtime.
That said, it is entertaining. The child cast are a mix of adorable to moody teenagers and perform well, executing the comedy and emotional balance better than much of the adult cast. The animated sequences also break things up nicely, making it more relatable to children, and the comedy has its good, as well as bad, moments.
But it is too cluttered and needs to be toned down. Less would have been more here, perhaps focusing more on a single character, favouring quieter moments of emotion over louder explosions. There are some genuinely good moments within this, lost a little along the way. But if you want a rollercoaster, and like a cry, “this”BIG” may be worth your time.
