The Home Song Stories

Name: The Home Song Stories
Genre: Drama
Released: 2007-08-01T02:18:06-07:00

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79%

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User Ratings: 2,457

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The Home Song Stories Photos

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Movie Info

A combination of circumstance and poor life choices turn to young children into the caretakers for their unstable mother in writer/director Tony Ayres' semi-autobiographical family drama. As aging writer Tom (Darren Yap) sits down to pen a screenplay detailing his life story, memories quickly transport him to the Shanghai nightclub where his single mother Rose (Joan Chen) would captivate Western servicemen. A beautiful thrush with a magnificent voice, Rose eventually packed up children Tom (Joel Lok) and May (Irene Chen) and set off for Australia after accepting a marriage proposal from Melbourne sailor Bill (Steven Vidler). When the relationship between Rose and Bill withered after just one week, the mother set her sights on Sydney. In the following seven years, Rose and her two young children would bounce between a series of "uncles" as stability continued to elude the trio. Though desperate Rose would eventually return to Melbourne with her children and attempt to rekindle her relationship with Bill, that too would eventually result in failure when the impulsive woman entered into a heated affair with local restaurant employee Joe (Qi Yuwu). Enraged when younger lover Joe takes note of May's blossoming beauty, Rose once again begs Bill's forgiveness though his generosity finally seems to have been exhausted. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Rating:

NR
Genre:

Drama
Directed By:

Tony Ayres
Written By:

Tony Ayres
In Theaters:

Feb 9, 2007 wide
Runtime:

103 minutes
Studio:

Dendy Films

Cast

Joan Chen
as Rose

Joel Lok
as Young Tom

Irene Chen
as May

Yuwu Qi
as Joe

Steven Vidler
as Bill

Darren Yap
as Tom

Kerry Walker

Gabrielle Chan

Ferdinand Hoang

Tony Ayres

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Critic Reviews for The Home Song Stories

All Critics (4) | Top Critics (1) | Fresh (4)

A finely chiseled drama about an unstable Chinese mother struggling to reconcile her desires with her children's needs in early '70s Australia, The Home Song Stories speaks bittersweet truths about life in the Chinese diaspora.

August 25, 2007 | Rating: 3.5/5 | Full Review…

Richard Kuipers
Variety
Top Critic
Whether you walk out of the theater hating, loving, or sympathizing for the director's mother, Stories succeeds in enabling you to see through the eyes of an angry, confused little boy

May 27, 2008 | Rating: 4.5/5 | Full Review…

Brian Chen
Filmcritic.com
At its core, The Home Song Stories evokes painful memories, but also brings about the notion of forgiveness, remembering and honouring those memories.

September 15, 2007 | Rating: 3.5/5 | Full Review…

ScreenAnarchy
My favourite Australian film of the year so far ... a cathartic memoir, a love story and a tribute to his unfathomable butterfly mother.

August 20, 2007 | Full Review…

Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile

View All Critic Reviews (4)

Audience Reviews for The Home Song Stories

Aug 01, 2007

I went to the premiere of this film and it was possibly one of the best Australian films I've ever seen. It was extremely well acted - Joan Chen is a dream. At the start we were all laughing our heads off, and by the end there was not a dry eye in the house. A very moving and sad true story.

Robert F Super Reviewer