Movie: Child actor caned for real in Ilo Ilo
Jia Ler, the
12-year-old actor in the 2013 movie Ilo Ilo,
was caned for real to add authenticity to a scene.
He
was caned several times in two takes.
Director
Anthony Chen said he wanted everything in his award-winning film as real as possible.
Her World website reported, “Jia Ler, 12, whose mother was fine with the caning since she used to cane him when he was younger said: ‘Anthony talked to me about it and I was fine with it. It was painful, but it’s okay, because I know he wants everything as real as possible. The caning is just a small thing to me’.”
Jia says: “I was much more scared of the
chicken,” referring to another scene where he had to carry a live
chicken in his arms.
“I am
really very, very scared of chickens, but Anthony told me to overcome my fear
and just try my best to do the scene. Whenever I could not do a scene, he would
come over and teach me.”
The film which won the Camera
d’Or for best debut feature film at Cannes Film Festival is set in 1990s Singapore and depicts the friendship
between Filipino nursemaid Teresa and her charge, nine-year-old Jiale.
Although Jiale is a poor student and
constantly in trouble, he shows high intellect and cunning in his obsessive
calculation of past winning lottery numbers, which he catalogues in his
schoolbook during class. One day, after being taunted by another boy that his
maid only loves him because she is paid to, he pushes the boy into the bathroom
wall, causing him to injure his head and bleed. Threatened with expulsion, and
the school's administration unable to contact his parents, Terry arrives to
plead for mercy on his behalf. As a punishment for injuring his classmate,
Jiale is caned in front of the school assembly while Terry shows up,
powerless to save him.
Ilo Ilo is available to buy on DVD and is available on streaming services.
Picture and video credits: Golden Village Pictures.
For more Movie Clips, click here
Traditional School Discipline
Traditionalschooldiscipline@gmail.com
Comments
Post a Comment