Mat Magic

This is certainly the silliest film at IFFR 2021, and must rank among the weirdest treats the festival screened in its first half-century: a very popular comedy that leaves no cliché unused and delights in earthy and rustic humour. And yet, it is also a milestone in the development of Southeast Asian cinema due to the involvement of magician-actor John Calvert, which makes it Singapore’s first foray into the spheres of international filmmaking.

As usual in his films, Sentol plays a bumpkin in too deep. This time he promised to do a magic show for a young lady’s birthday party but can’t do the most basic sleights of hand. Luckily, he meets Calvert who then performs his signature acts. At the end, this mad concoction of farce and documentary goes all-out accidental avant-garde and becomes a lovely essay on cinema as a magic art itself. You have never seen anything like this!