Reviewed by Arel Koh
To the general population, if you asked them what they think about ‘slow cinema’ most of them would probably say something along the lines of “boring”, “too artsy” or “hard to stay awake and hold my attention” but Pham Thien An’s directorial feature debut, Inside The Yellow Cocoon Shell, is anything but.
The film had its world premiere at the Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival and won the Camera d’Or which is awarded to the best first feature film. One interesting aspect to note is that it is a co-production between Vietnam, Singapore, France and Spain which seems to be the current trend of Singapore’s film industry, collaborating with other nations rather than purely producing films ourselves.
Were there some parts that I felt were too meandering? Were there parts where I was struggling to stay awake? Did I find Cocoon Shell to be very “inaccessible” to the general audience? Yes, yes and yes. But somehow, it still manages to captivate me throughout its unusually long runtime of 182 minutes.
As you can tell from my bipolar review, one can imagine how much I have been wrestling with myself to deem Cocoon Shell a masterpiece or not. With long takes that are quite reminiscent of Kaili Blues (2015) by Mainland Chinese filmmaker Bi Gan (another directorial debut effort), Pham holds the audience captive to the dialogue that is being spoken rather than the events unfolding on screen, enticing the viewer to lean into this world that he has created.
Cocoon Shell also dives deep into the concept of spirituality which comes as no surprise as Pham is a devout Christian himself, exploring similar themes in his past short film, Stay Awake, Be Ready (2019). One criticism I hear often about Cocoon Shell is that it prioritises its spiritual themes and plots while foregoing the narrative or the characters. Although I can see where this is coming from, I believe that the spiritual elements lend Cocoon Shell a very interesting “vibe”. It is rare to see a South-East Asian film evoke the Christian dogma so explicitly that I feel really made this film stand out from that of his counterparts.
The long takes and meandering actions of the characters in Cocoon Shell create this spiritually meditative nature that entrances you and lulls you into the world that Pham created. An example would be a sequence that sees the protagonist riding a motorbike to visit a war veteran in real time. Another would be the protagonist waking up in the middle of a storm and absurdly deciding to walk in the rain, only to be greeted by butterflies on a tree at the end of his “journey”. However, I personally feel that the scenes might just be an indulgence to show off the technical flair on the part of Pham Thien An.
Overall, I would say I did not know what to expect going in (other than its awards buzz) but was pleasantly surprised by a film that is thematically intriguing combined with a director who is confident about his shots, opting to let things play out in almost single, static long takes. I would highly recommend anyone to watch it and form their own opinions. As for myself, I look forward to tracking this young director’s burgeoning career with a particular interest in what he might come up next.
Arel loves people, including all the messy parts that come with it. He believes that everyone has a story to share and strives to share them meaningfully on the big screen. Other things Arel loves are his guitar, his blu-ray collection and his bed. You can catch more of him at bio.site/arelkoh.
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This review is also published on Singapore Film Society as part of *SCAPE’s Film Critics Lab: A Writing Mentorship Programme.
