Ilo Ilo Film Difficulty Ranking: 2
Follow a 28 year old Filipino maid as she starts work for a dysfunctional family in Singapore. They all have their problems and bad habits, but they’re all human, just like us. Ilo Ilo perfectly captures the up and down emotions of everyday life in this family’s home and the immigrant experience in Singapore.
From: Singapore, Asia
Watch: Trailer, Tubi, Kanopy, Rent on Amazon, Buy on Amazon
Next: Roma, Scent of Green Papaya, Shoplifters
Why Watch Ilo Ilo?
- To experience a slice of life with a typical Singaporean family.
- Sympathize with this lonely Filipino maid.
- See Dad’s hilarious last minute birthday present (and it’s inspiration).
- For great character development – so much depth in such a short time.
The Breakdown
Ilo Ilo starts with 10 year old Jiale being punished at school. The headmaster walks in and tries to discipline him verbally, but Jiale threatens to call his mother about how he has been treated (spoiled kid alert). Cut to an office where a worker takes a phone call and passes it over to Jiale’s mum. She seems used to receiving calls from Jiale’s school judging by the way she reluctantly picks up the call and checks to see if her boss is around before she leaves the office.
Each character in this family has their faults. Jiale is naughty and refuses to listen to his mum and dad, Hwee Leng (the mum) is bossy and jealous, and her husband Teck smokes and gambles secretly. The director, Anthony Chen, seems to intentionally point out the negative qualities of the family first, as if he’s testing us. Will we quickly form negative images of each of the family members before we get to know them? Because, as the film progresses and exposes more to each of the characters, we start to sympathize with them despite their faults.
The catalyst for the change in how we view the characters is Terry, a single mother that has just arrived from the Philippines to support her family back home. Upon her arrival she’s immediately faced with prejudice from the family she’s just joined to help and some of the people she encounters. However, her positive spirit and willingness to work through the prejudice is what allows us to see the positive side in Jiale, and to an smaller extent, his mother and father. They’re all just human, and they all have their own flaws.
What to Watch Next
The narrative of Ilo Ilo shares a lot of similarities with that of Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma. Both films feature a maid from a different class that helps out at a more wealthy family’s home to bring up their children. Both maids face prejudice but grow to become a second mother to the children they look after. If you haven’t already seen it, go check out Roma if you like this film.
For another film which features a maid in a South East Asian home, check out The Scent of Green Papaya. It’s set in the 1950s and is a bit more arty than Ilo Ilo, so if you’re a fan of beautiful cinematography and little dialogue, it might be for you.
Or if you want to dive into more films featuring dysfunctional family’s, check out Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Shoplifters or Nobody Knows. Both films feature kids and parents with very strange families.
You could also watch Takeshi Kitano’s Kikujiro if you want to watch a happy adventure with a lonely young boy and his grumpy ‘uncle’.
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