A Yellow Bird

Director of the movie have obviously gone to great length researching into a small but important part of Singapore underground society. The entire story evolve around mostly people who have fallen through the cracks in one of the richest and modern city in the world. There are many scenes in the movie which are spoken in different ethnic dialects which many might missed. Perhaps there is a tad too much mainland Chinese characters in this Singapore based movie. This is a honest movie which focus on people whom many doesn't know they still exist. I must watch for Singaporeans and foreigners who wish to dig deeper into Singapore society and back alley

Overall a great movie, even though it is is a bit grim. It does portrays the plight, of most Indian ethnicity in singapore. A lot of the local Indians are somehow members of secret societies and gets their life ruined. Its literally impossible, to have a thug life in singapore( govt controls and strict laws are un place, to keep criminals at bay). So we understand, what the director trying to convey in this movie. Wonderful direction, great lead cast. Even though just a scene, indra did great. Exceptional acting from her. What disappointed me, was director's inability to use the skills of great seema biswas. I wonder, why she is even there in this movie? Oh man, come on! She is the great bandit queen and she mesmerized world cinema with her dialogue deliveries and acting skills. Director forgot to give her dialogues it seems.. Other than that I liked the movie. Wonderful movie from the little dot country

Despite the slow pace, a great Singaporean film, sad and cold, as it must be the reality of immigrants and the marginalized, not only there but in most underdeveloped countries, an intense drama, somewhat discouraging for its dragging development, gloomy locations, humidity and raw, stupendous performances, the coldness, and sometimes, what seems to us initially the insensitivity of the protagonist, bothers and pity, the ending stretches and the synopsis takes a while to finish, due to the drama, very well produced...

Singapore short film director K Rajagopal's debut full length feature, A Yellow Bird, opens with a big bang in Singapore, since it was one of the two movies to premier in Cannes Film Festival 2016 (the other being Boo Junfeng's Apprentice). Combining his personal experiences and based on actual news, the movie looks into an ex-convict journey to seek redemption while struggling with reality upon release.

Siva (played by Singaporean actor Sivakumar Palakrishnan) was released from eight years of imprisonment due to smuggling contraband goods. Unable to find his wife and daughter who have not seen him during his imprisonment, Siva was struggling to get a stable job while living with his mother (Seema Biswas, as seen in Shehkar Kapur's Bandit Queen). While working as a musician in a Chinese funeral company, he met Chen Chen (China actress Huang Lu), an over-stayer who takes up various odd jobs so as to repay debts back in China. Siva's hot temper not only almost got him into trouble with the law again, but also puts a strain on his relationship with his mother. While working as a odd-job worker, Siva develops affection with Chen Chen, who works as a prostitute in a illegal brothel den at a bush. Hoping to help Chen Chen, Siva was in crossroads between seeking help from his estranged mother and getting money through illegal means.

By no means A Yellow Bird is a sugar-coated version of Victor Hugo's Les Miserable set in modern day Singapore. More rather, it is a view of an individual living in the underbelly of the developed society. To help the audience digest the movie, K Rajagopal and Jeremy Chua (producer) co- wrote the script and presents it in three parts: -The first part looks into Siva seeking for his wife upon his release from the prison and his strain relationship with his mother, who works as a cleaner and rents out the only bedroom in the government apartment to several China workers for survival. Through the different peoples he met, it helps to lay down the development on Siva seeking his wife, with his fury temper getting himself close to bar again. -The second part looks into Siva spending his time with Chen Chen earning a living through illegal ways. This is a unique development in the story, where both communicated through body languages, since Siva doesn't speaks Mandarin and Chen Chen doesn't speaks English. -The last part deals with Siva being mistaken as a rioter and escapes from the police, while trying to find his wife and daughter. This is more of a presentation on how Siva resorting to his old ways after being driven to the corner of the law.

Siva's experience is just one of the ex-convict story, which represents a fraction of ex-convicts who are unable to readjust themselves back to the society upon release. Not only do they undergo an emotional torrent, their love ones are trying to find ways to readjust their lifestyle upon his release. From the jobs Siva take up for survival, not only do we see how an ex-convict were unable to secure a full time job, but also how he was ostracized for being an ex-convict. His lack of understanding on the protocols the civil servants has to adhere when asking for his wife's contact detail not only almost got him into trouble, but also makes him heading to seek his wife aimlessly.

Sivakumar's performance as Siva not only brought the audience the harsh reality, but also makes you empathized with his loss and seeking for redemption. The encounter of Sivakumar's Siva and Huang Lu's Chen Chen is a unique combination of two people living in the underbelly of the society. Chen Chen was taking a risk of being an over-stayer when she is unable to earn enough money to repay debts. Right from the beginning where she quarrel with a funeral service supervisor after she was underpaid to working as a prostitute in a illegal brothel den, Chen Chen's encounter was a reflection of the other kind: illegal immigrants seeking for survival in Singapore.

For Indian actress Seema Biswas, playing Siva's mother is a great challenge. As mentioned by K Rajagopal, Seema Biswas takes up the challenge through blending in the lives of commoners in Singapore. Through observation, speaking with the common folks to making her own sari she wore in the movie, Seema Biswas has not only successfully plays a commoner from Singapore, but has also develops a character that serves as a big contrast to Siva's character in the movie.

A Yellow Bird is not your usual feel-good Singaporean movie that looks into how ex-convicts are able to restart their lives all over again upon their release. More rather, it takes the reality into your face value. At the same time, it looks into the struggle of people who are unable to make ends meet, and resorting to desperate means to meet their basic needs. This is a movie that should be watched by anyone who wants a deeper view of the reality in the developed society.

It's an experimental movie with minimum amount of dialogues. Entire movie is Totally relying on facial expressions.. most of the scenes are silent, too long and drags you to boredom. The same movie can effectively done in 15- 20 minutes length.