Sometimes, less is more. While the world of film reviews are filled with mouthy longform articles — some a hit (RIP The Dissolve), some a miss (pfffft, Insing) — to capture the minds of the attention deficit generation, it’s usually better to keep it concise and fun-sized.
Just like what Singapore-based copywriter Abhinav Ullal has done on his curated Instagram account, @haikviews. It’s exactly what the name is: movie reviews in haiku form. He’s made Boyhood sound deeper that what it already was, took on the crappy but awesome Kung Fury, succinctly described Se7en, and more. While it’s actually more of a sypnosis of the film, Ullal still loosely follows the structure of the age-old Japanese form of poetry, integrating key quotes or scenes from the cinematic piece. A masterpiece.
While some of the spoilers are thinly veiled, you kinda get the gist of the movie — it’s even accompanied with a visual prompt. And yes, they may look simple but without the luxury of the longform medium, it is quite hard to squeeze 90 cinematic minutes into the 5-7-5 format of a haiku. We dare you to try some!
We tried our hand with some local flicks:
Ah! I intended
to never, never grow old
Liang Po Po’s revenge
(Liang Po Po)
Rise from sleep, old man
Exile is a funny word
Sleep our noons away
(To Singapore With Love)
Strange friends in strange times
He did not know anything
About the adults
(Ilo Ilo)
Yeah well, maybe we’ll leave it to the experts.
Read also: Banned S’pore Film Available On DVD & Streaming — But Not In Its Home Country