The Plastic House at Sydney Film Festival
Sydney Film Festival has just wrapped for another year, after 2020’s virtual edition. They’ll be back next year. Addy Fong checked out The Plastic House at the festival:
As the child of migrant parents, watching Allison’s Chhorn’s The Plastic House felt like a story that is uncomfortably familiar and deeply personal. Growing up in an Asian-Australian household, where trying to understand my identity within Australian culture, has often felt foreign and unfamiliar, perhaps due to the lack of representation of Asian-Australian voices on screen. There is no doubt that the lack of diversity in film and television is something that we are all aware of and is a major aspect as to why we need to address the need for better representation in film both on-screen and off, in order for us to understand the differing perspectives that make up our richly diverse society.
As an Asian-Australian seeking comfort amongst the shared collective experience of Asian-Australian voices within the Arts sector and trying my best to understand my place within it, whether it be writing or filmmaking or other forms of creative expression, having the opportunity to see stories shown on screen like as Chhorn’s The Plastic House is a deeply comforting experience. Despite the film’s subject matter which addresses the topic of grief and Chhorn’s experience in coming to terms with the supposed loss of her parents the fact that the narrative is given the opportunity to be seen and told is something that I treasure. The Plastic House feels like a source of much needed comfort in such uncertain times, banishing the isolation felt whilst watching an individual’s experience of dealing with grief, which is such an isolating and personal experience, and instead echoing the desire we all have in reaching out to others and connecting.
The limited dialogue and curation of shots contained within it’s mere 46 minute run-time means The Plastic House is a film that just barely passes as a feature, and one, which feels confronting through the use of long takes, lingering silences, point of view shots, and home video intertwined with footage shot to help piece together the narrative. Chhorn fixes the tripod, placing herself in scenes through a series of fixed wides, in the places she inhibits as if observing moments around her, the camera rarely showing her face, which is hidden amongst the greenery grown within her plastic covered green house. Close-ups of her hands, the use of home video of her parents working within the plastic house, the inclusion of mundane items such as the seatbelt in a Toyota branded car, snippets of her parents cutting up fruits for consumption and the transporting of snow peas in clear plastic bags feel all too familiar to me.
Chhorn’s parents in the The Plastic House show a keen interest in gardening, which seems to parallel the experience of many migrant families including mine who often struggle trying to settle into a new country whose customs feel foreign to them. Gardening is a sense of comfort and an opportunity for many to bond within cultural groups whose roots are barely established in a new country many children of migrant parents grow up in, a place where roots are planted both literally and figuratively in the hope that things will grow.
Despite her turned back and thus supposed lack of connection with her audience, the lack of voice-over, lack of shots framing Chhorn’s face, and the inclusion of mundane shots often intended for the cutting room floor leave space for the film to breathe, allowing me to feel connected to the narrative told on screen. There is a sense of familiarity when observing what is mundane but feels deeply personal. Throughout my viewing of the film I often had to do a double-take, as it often felt like I was watching myself inhibit the spaces within the frame, which is something that felt deeply personal and uncomfortable to confront – the need for female Asian-Australian voices and filmmakers in the Australian screen industry in order to shed light towards the ever growing need for diverse representation in film. The importance of showcasing diversity on-screen does not necessarily equate to having the loudest voice in the room as many might come to believe. Chhorn’s The Plastic House tells us that through the lack of dialogue which is often only shown in snippets of carefully curated home footage and moments of silence, that stories can be told in unconventional ways.
The Plastic House, which was all filmed, edited, written, and produced by Chhorn is a film that feels inspiring to me, someone who shares in the Asian-Australian experience growing up in Australia, whose attempts at creative expression have been met with self-doubt and hesitation.
To me the film represents much more than what is showcased in its 46 minute run-time, reassuring me that telling stories through the medium of film or any other creative form of expression I wish to express myself is not only possible, but liberating and deserves to be heard.
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Find out about the Sydney Film Festival here. https://www.sff.org.au/
Review by Addy Fong.
