Canopy (film)

Last updated

Canopy
Directed by Aaron Wilson
Written byAaron Wilson
Produced byKatrina Fleming, Aaron Wilson
Starring Khan Chittenden
Tzu-yi Mo
CinematographyStefan Duscio
Edited byCindy Clarkson
Music byNic Buchanan
Rodney Lowe
Production
companies
Finer Films
Chuan Pictures
Distributed byOdin's Eye Entertainment (Australia)
monterey media (USA)
Release dates
Running time
84 minutes
CountryAustralia/Singapore
LanguagesMandarin, Hokkien, Japanese. English

Canopy is a 2013 Australian/Singaporean psychological suspense war film, written and directed by Aaron Wilson and starring Khan Chittenden and Mo Tzu-yi. Set against the backdrop of the Battle of Singapore in World War II, the film is nearly wordless.

Contents

Plot

In 1942, during war between the Allies and the Japanese rages in the jungles of Singapore. Jim (Khan Chittenden), a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Australian Air Force, awakens to find himself hanging from a tree by his parachute, after having been shot down. Disentangling himself he realises that he has lost his pistol, his only form of defence but manages to salvage his survival gear and sets off into the jungle, narrowly avoiding a Japanese patrol.

Making his way through mud, swamp and a field full of Japanese propaganda leaflets, he eventually runs into Chinese Dalforce guerrilla fighter Seng (Morning Mo Tzu-Yi), who had been separated from his unit behind enemy lines. They have another close encounter with a Japanese patrol and elect to set off together to aid each other in reaching friendly territory, despite not being able to speak the other's language.

Early on in their travels Seng is aggrieved to find the body of a comrade he was close to. They are briefly separated when Jim is left to contemplate the scene but he is alerted to Seng's location by the sound of gunfire. Jim is forced to rush to Seng's aid as the guerrilla collapses from a gunshot sustained to the abdomen, the Australian being forced to perform emergency surgery to retrieve the bullet with only bare hands and his sparse survival kit while simultaneously having to keep Seng silent to avoid the attention of the Japanese patrol. Jim rips off part of his pants and wraps it around Seng's waist and wound.

Later in the night, flashbacks of his hours in the jungle are interrupted as Seng wakes Jim to alert him to another Japanese patrol walking right by them, before the pair are briefly forced to fight off venomous insects from the tree which they had been sleeping under. As they settle back under the tree for the night, Seng pulls out an item from Jim's pant leg pocket tied around his waist. It's a photo of Jim's family, causing him to drift into a reverie remembering his wife back home. Jim awakens from his memories to find it is the next morning. He and Seng share a moment together in which they finally learn each other's names before Japanese soldiers find and separate them. As Seng is killed in cold blood by the patrol's officer, the Japanese drag Jim away to a truck and he is driven off to the Japanese base. He watches helplessly out of the back of the truck, knowing that his bid for freedom has finally failed. A time skip then shows Jim back home in Australia, standing motionless in a field of wheat, as the sounds of the Singapore creep back in again.

Cast

Production

Director Aaron Wilson developed the script while he was undertaking a filmmaker residency program with Objectifs Centre for Filmmaking and Photography in Singapore. [1]

Filming took place over a period of two weeks in Singapore, in and around locations where actual fighting took place during the Japanese invasion of February 1942. These areas included Sungei Buloh wetlands, Bukit Brown Chinese Cemetery and Macritchie Reservoir. Additional filming was carried out in Australia in New South Wales, close to the township of Tocumwal.[ citation needed ]

Post-production of the film was partly financed using crowdfunding through Pozible. [2]

Release

Canopy had its world premiere at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival, and was selected for screening at other major film festivals, including Busan International Film Festival, Shanghai International Film Festival and International Film Festival Rotterdam. [1]

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, the film has a score of 75% based on 33 reviews. [3]

Accolades

Soundtrack

Soundtrack Album

A soundtrack album was released comprising atmospheric music from and inspired by the film and its tropical jungle setting, composed by Melbourne musical artist Auromaya.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baloo</span> Fictional sloth bear

Baloo is a main fictional character featured in Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book from 1894 and The Second Jungle Book from 1895. Baloo, a sloth bear, is the strict teacher of the cubs of the Seeonee wolf pack. His most challenging pupil is the "man-cub" Mowgli. Baloo and Bagheera, a panther, save Mowgli from Shere Khan the tiger, and endeavor to teach Mowgli the Law of the Jungle in many of The Jungle Book stories.

<i>The Jungle Book 2</i> 2003 Disney animated film directed by Steve Trenbirth

The Jungle Book 2 is a 2003 animated adventure film produced by the Australian office at DisneyToon Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution. The theatrical version of the film was released in France on February 5, 2003, and released in the United States on February 14. The film is a sequel to Walt Disney's 1967 film The Jungle Book, and stars Haley Joel Osment as the voice of Mowgli and John Goodman as the voice of Baloo.

<i>Jungle Cubs</i> American animated television series

Disney's Jungle Cubs is an American animated series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation for ABC in 1996, serving as the prequel to the 1967 film The Jungle Book as it's set in the youth of the animal characters years before the events of the film. The show was a hit, running for two seasons on ABC from 1996 to 1998 before its syndication in re-runs on the Disney Channel. The show was broadcast on Toon Disney, but was taken off the schedule in 2001. Re-runs aired on Disney Junior in the US from 2012 to 2013. The show also aired in the United Kingdom on Disney Cinemagic and in Latin America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lim Bo Seng</span> Chinese resistance fighter (1909–1944)

Lim Bo Seng was a Chinese resistance fighter based in Singapore and Malaya during World War II. Prior to the outbreak of World War II, he was a prominent businessman among the overseas Chinese community in Singapore and Malaya. Following the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, he participated in fund-raising activities to assist the war effort in China and boycott Japanese goods. After Singapore fell to the Japanese in 1942, Lim fled to India, where he joined Force 136, a Sino-British guerrilla task force backed by the Special Operations Executive, to carry out espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance operations in Japanese-occupied Malaya. In 1944, he was captured by Japanese forces in Malaya and ultimately died in prison due to torture and ill-treatment. After the war, his remains were transported back to Singapore and buried near MacRitchie Reservoir. He is remembered as a war hero in contemporary Singapore and the Lim Bo Seng Memorial at Esplanade Park was constructed in 1954 to commemorate him.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hathi</span> Jungle Book character

Hathi is a fictional character created by Rudyard Kipling for the Mowgli stories collected in The Jungle Book (1894) and The Second Jungle Book (1895). Hathi is an elephant that lives in the Seeoni jungle. Kipling named him after hāthī (हाथी), the Hindi word for "elephant".

The literature of Singapore comprises a collection of literary works by Singaporeans. It is written chiefly in the country's four official languages: English, Malay, Standard Mandarin and Tamil.

<i>Kokoda</i> (film) 2006 Australian film

Kokoda is a 2006 Australian war film directed by Alister Grierson and is based on the experiences of Australian troops fighting Japanese forces during the 1942 Kokoda Track campaign.

<i>Clubland</i> (2007 film) 2007 Australian film

Clubland, internationally known as Introducing the Dwights, is a 2007 Australian comedy-drama film, directed by Cherie Nowlan, written by Keith Thompson, and starring Oscar nominee Brenda Blethyn and Emma Booth. The film was nominated for eleven AFI awards, winning the award for best supporting actress for Emma Booth. It sold to Warner Independent Pictures for $4.1 million, after debuting at Sundance Film Festival, where it gained standing ovations. The film opened in the U.S. on 4 July holiday weekend, the first Australian film ever to do so.

<i>Singapore Dreaming</i> 2006 film

Singapore Dreaming is a 2006 Singaporean drama film. It follows the Loh family, a typical Singaporean working-class family, through their aspirations and dreams for a better and affluent life and the reality that would make it difficult for them to fulfill these aspirations.

Dalforce, officially the Singapore Overseas Chinese Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army was an irregular forces/guerrilla unit within the British Straits Settlements Volunteer Force during World War II. Its members were recruited among the ethnic Chinese people of Singapore. It was created on 25 December 1941 by Lieutenant Colonel John Dalley of the Federated Malay States Police Force. The unit was known to the British colonial administration as Dalforce, after its chief instructor and commanding officer, John Dalley, whereas the Chinese in Singapore only knew it as the Singapore Overseas Chinese Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army. This formation took part in the Battle of Singapore and some members conducted a guerrilla campaign against Japanese forces during the Japanese occupation. The British noted how ferociously the Chinese volunteers in Dalforce fought, earning them the nickname Dalley's Desperadoes.

<i>The Good, the Bad, the Weird</i> 2008 South Korean film

The Good, the Bad, the Weird is a 2008 South Korean Western action film directed by Kim Jee-woon and starring Song Kang-ho, Lee Byung-hun, and Jung Woo-sung. The film is inspired by the 1966 Italian Spaghetti Western The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

<i>Samson and Delilah</i> (2009 film) 2009 Australian film

Samson and Delilah is a 2009 Australian drama film directed by Warwick Thornton and starring Rowan McNamara and Marissa Gibson, both young first-time actors. The film depicts two Indigenous Australian 14-year-olds living in a remote Aboriginal community who steal a car and escape their difficult lives by going to Alice Springs. It won many awards, including the Caméra d'Or at Cannes for best first feature.

Seng Han Thong is a Singaporean former politician. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he was a Member of Parliament representing the Yio Chu Kang ward of Ang Mo Kio GRC from 1997 to 2006, and Yio Chu Kang SMC from 2006 to 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yasuhiro Morinaga</span> Musical artist

Yasuhiro Morinaga is a sound artist, sound designer, and independent filmmaker. He is a director of the ethnographic media production label Concrete. Morinaga specializes in recording and documenting the music of different parts of the world and has published a number of recordings. By using the recording materials, Morinaga creates and produces installations, audiovisual works and the performances.

<i>The Lost Tribe</i> (1949 film) 1949 film by William A. Berke

The Lost Tribe (1949) is the second Jungle Jim film produced by Columbia Pictures. The film features Johnny Weissmuller in his second performance as the adventurer Jungle Jim, co-starring Myrna Dell and Elena Verdugo, along with Joseph Vitale and George J. Lewis as the film's antagonists. It was directed by William Berke and written by Don Martin and Arthur Hoerl.

<i>HIStory</i> (web series) Taiwanese boys love anthology series

HIStory is a Taiwanese anthology streaming television series created by Chang Ting-fei for Choco TV and Line TV. Each season presents stand-alone stories with different plots and main characters focusing on the theme of boys' love, also known as BL. The first season premiered on February 14, 2017.

Ho Tzu Nyen is a Singaporean contemporary artist and filmmaker whose works involve film, video, performance, and immersive multimedia installations. His work brings together fact and myth to mobilise different understandings of Southeast Asia's history, politics, and religion, often premised upon a complex set of references from art history, to theatre, cinema, and philosophy. Ho has shown internationally at major exhibitions such as the Aichi Triennale, Japan (2019), the Sharjah Biennial 14, United Arab Emirates (2019), and the Gwangju Biennale, South Korea (2018). In 2011, Ho represented Singapore at the 54th Venice Biennale at the Singapore Pavilion, presenting the work The Cloud of Unknowing.

The Antipodean Film Festival, variously referred to as Festival des Antipodes, Antipodes International Film Festival, Antipodes Film Festival Saint Tropez, Saint Tropez Film Festival and other variations, is a film festival showcasing New Zealand and Australian films, held annually in St Tropez in France since 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aaron Wilson (director)</span> Australian filmmaker

Aaron Wilson is an Australian film director and screenwriter, known for the 2013 suspense war drama Canopy and the 2021 period drama Little Tornadoes.

Little Tornadoes is a 2021 Australian period drama directed by Aaron Wilson and co-written by Christos Tsiolkas. It stars Mark Leonard Winter and Silvia Colloca, and was filmed along the Murray River in and around the towns of Tocumwal, Cobram, and Mulwala.

References

  1. 1 2 "Aaron Wilson". RGM. 11 April 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  2. ↑ Peter Galvin, "Aaron Wilson - Canopy", SBS Films 24 Apr 2014 accessed 5 June 2014
  3. ↑ {{cite web | title=Canopy | website=Rotten Tomatoes | url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/canopy
  4. ↑ "All the Awards from Festival des Antipodes". Rencontres Internationales du Cinéma des Antipodes. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.