At the End of Daybreak Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

At the End of Daybreak Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 23, 2010

Winner of the NETPAC (Network for Promotion of Asian Cinema) prize for best Asian film at the 62nd Locarno International Film Festival, Malaysian director Ho Yuhang's "At the End of Daybreak" (2009) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Hong Kong-based distributors Panorama. The supplemental features on the disc include deleted scenes, making of featurette, and trailers. In Cantonese and Malay, with optional English and Traditional Chinese subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Mother and son

At the End of Daybreak is a quiet yet at the same time intense Malaysian film about a mother (Kara Hui, Lady Hunter) and her 23-year-old son (Chui Tien-you, The Haunted School) whose lives suddenly spin out of control. Both attempt to restore a sense of order – in the beginning, consoling and encouraging each other to face adversity and deal with it and later on simply blindly defending each other in front of others – but fail miserably, causing a string of unfortunate events.

At the End of Daybreak is formally divided into two parts. During the first part, we learn that the mother has a drinking problem and a part-time lover who dislikes her son even though he has never met him. We also learn that she is seriously hurt. She does not talk about her past, but as the story progresses, it becomes clear that her husband left her for her wealthier sister.

The woman’s son hates seeing his mother getting drunk but understands perfectly well why she does it. Occasionally, he reminds her that she still has him, and that it is not worth wasting her life thinking about what could have been. When he gets frustrated with his mother, he spends time with an underage girl (Ng Meng Hui) from a middle class family.

During the second part, the underage girl’s parents discover that she has had sex with the boy. They immediately contact his mother and demand a large amount of money. If she pays them off, they would forget about the incident; if she does not, her son will be charged with statutory rape. This is where everything begins to fall apart. The mother and her son collapse emotionally and quickly find themselves in the middle of events they can no longer control.

What makes At the End of Daybreak a fascinating film is its subversive nature. Each of the main characters is deeply flawed, producing one terrible decision after another, and in the beginning of the film we are convinced that we understand perfectly why. Then things suddenly change, and we become confused because we are unsure we have the main characters figured out. Strange words are spoken, and even stranger accusations are thrown around.

The key scene in At the End of Daybreak is the one where the underage girl’s parents meet the boy’s mother. This is a very important litmus test that reveals the true colors of each of the main characters in the film, as well as those of the system that has fostered them.

Director Ho Yahang's style is very similar to that of Hou Hsiao-hsien. His camera moves slowly, often as if determined to study the actors rather than observe their actions. Silence is also effectively used, especially during the second half of the film, where its tone changes dramatically.

The acting is excellent. Veteran Hong Kong actress Kara Hui is outstanding as the struggling alcoholic mother who faces an impossible dilemma. The young Chui Tien-you also delivers a surprisingly nuanced and moving performance. A few of the supporting actors, however, are not terribly convincing.

Note: Earlier this year, At the End of Daybreak won Best Actress award (Kara Hui) at the Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards. The film also won Best Newcomer (Ng Meng Hui) and Best Supporting Actress (Kara Hui) at the Asian Film Awards.

At the End of Daybreak Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Ho Yuhang's At the End of Daybreak arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Hong-Kong based distributors Panorama.

This is a pleasing high-definition transfer. Fine object detail is very good, and clarity and contrast levels consistent throughout the entire film. The color-scheme is also convincing; greens, blues, reds, yellows, browns and blacks look lush and well saturated. Furthermore, there are no serious compression artifacts or traces of excessive noise filtering. Macroblocking is not a serious issue of concern either. I noticed some extremely mild edge-enhancement creeping in during a couple of scenes (see the interrogation scene during the second half of the film), but this isn't something that would affect your viewing experience. There are no stability issues to report in this review. When blown through a digital projector, the film looks fresh and healthy. Finally, I did not see any disturbing scratches, cuts, debris, or stains. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you will be able to watch it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location).

At the End of Daybreak Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: Cantonese LPCM 2.0 (with portions of Malay) and Putonghua LPCM 2.0. For the record, Panorama have provided optional English and Traditional Chinese subtitles for the main feature.

At the End of Daybreak is primarily a dialog-driven feature, and the Cantonese LPCM 2.0 track serves it well. It's dynamic amplitude is rather limited, but again, this isn't surprising considering the fact that silence is actually a lot more important to the film than Pete Teo's music score. Finally, the dialog is clean, stable and easy to follow. The English translation is well done.

In addition to the Cantonese LPCM 2.0 track, Panorama have also provided a Putonghua/Malay dub. As far as I am concerned, its dynamic characteristics appear identical to those of the Cantonese LPCM 2.0 track.

At the End of Daybreak Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Note: All of the supplemental features on this Blu-ray disc are perfectly playable on North American PS3s and SAs.

Making of - a standard faturette containing footage from the Locarno International Film Festival, as well as comments from the director Ho Yuhang. In Cantonese, with optional English and Traditional Chinese subtitles. (22 min, 480/60i).

Deleted scenes - three deleted scenes: "Dream Girl", "Daniel" and "Haircut". In Cantonese, with optional English and Traditional Chinese subtitles. (5 min, 480/60i).

Trailers - seven trailers for the film. In Cantonese, with optional English and Traditional Chinese subtitles. (10 min, 480/60i).

At the End of Daybreak Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Finely crafted and well acted, Malaysian director Ho Yuhang's At the End of Daybreak should not be missed by fans of Asian arthouse cinema. Kara Hui is simply terrific! The Blu-ray disc herein reviewed, courtesy of Hong Kong-based distributors Panorama, looks and sounds great. It is also Region-Free. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.