Requiem for Romance (2012 Video) User Reviews

Pretty fine to watch and listen to most of the time

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 30 November 2018]

"Requiem for Romance" is a Canadian english-language animated short film from 2012, so this award-winning movie is already over five years old. It runs for 7.5 minutes as a whole, but 6 minutes of action basically. Writer and director is Jonathan Ng and the female voice we hear in this one is a family member of him I believe. So yeah, this one is a whole lot about tradition vs. modern life. We hear a woman break up with her boyfriend over the phone. At the same time we see two characters from ancient China, fighting, but also being close to each other. These two basically visually reflect the voices we hear and what they are telling us. It works very well together, during the big spectacular moments like when she mentions somebody else and his fire explosion resulting from it, even if this mention feels a bit for the sake of it. It seems obvious she has little interest in the other guy or at least less than in her conversation partner. Sadly, I felt that the film gets a bit worse when the real conflict deescalates, which is a pity and keeps me from giving this one a higher rating. Had it stayed on the samel level quality-wise the way it started, then I probably would have given 4 out of 5. It's still a good watch for animation lovers, maybe not a film to watch with your significant other, maybe for females BFFs a good choice. I also liked the Korean film references because it to some extent fits the Asian touch we see from beginning to end. So yeah go see this one, it definitely deserves a lot more attention and has gone way more under the radar than it should.

Very well constructed across animation and audio to deliver something tender and engaging

[bob the moo · 4 April 2014]

I recently watched a Canadian animation which was a collaborative effort which involved a group of individuals each delivering a short segment to an overall animated short using post-it notes and the scope of "your to- do list" as the basis. I didn't really care for this film but some of the sections caught my eye and made me interested to check out the work of these people. One of these was Jonathon Ng and this film was the one I came to as a follow-up. The film is an odd but effective mix. Visually we have a film which is a water color while also referencing wushu films. In this realm we see a male and female martial artist confront each other on rooftops late at night. Meanwhile, on the audio we have a phone call between Yun and his girlfriend Tsai – a call where Tsai has to break it to Yun that their relationship is coming to an end.

It is an odd juxtaposition to try and pull off and I guess the "easy" way to have done it is to make a very heavy link between the two, with the phone conversation being heavy and melodramatic to tie directly into the swordplay that we are seeing. Instead though Ng has managed to tap into the pain of his visuals, of the honor and "I love you but must fight you" type scenario and this is the link that works best because it also fits with the subtle use of music and of course the visuals. To speak on these, the animation is excellent throughout and it is of course what you will remember but what is also worth nothing is that you will not come away impressing by the acting of the two on the phone. Why not? Well simply because they do not feel like actors but rather come over as natural and convincing – two people reluctantly breaking up.

So while Ng deserves all the credit for the idea, the animation and the delivery of the whole, I did think the clear and natural voice performances from Kook and Ng. Requiem for Romance works very well across all these aspects and while the styling and content of the animation may come over to some as too familiar, its use in the context of the contemporary relationship is very clever and, ultimately, quite tender and moving.