Singapore Short Film Awards - Death Chess by Ng Guo Rong

Yet another tale about revenge, with a suggestion of violence. The coupling of that with it being a  'first film' usually offers a jarring visual experience for the audience. I may be wrong in saying that it is a first film but its whole 'fan-boy' feel about it from its visual cliches to the 'seen-it-somewhere-before' title (Sounds like 'Death Note') seems to suggest it. It centres around a 'life-and-death' chess game between a tormentor and his captive. The is a act of revenge by the tormentor for losing out to his victim years ago in school. Most of the mise-en-scene is a yawn, all attention is focussed on the electric drill that is driven closer and closer to the victim as the game progresses. But that is all before we turned our eyes to the tormentor. It a while to confirm an initial suspicion that the tormentor is really quite a camp queen - the exaggerated chin lifts and the poses, nevermind the fact that he had been mentally debilitated by past events. So distracting was his theatrics that it was easy to lose the storyline.

Perhaps its website will speak more fairly for the film. Check out Death Chess at www.deathchess.webs.com