Director Tunku Mona Riza (centre) discuss a scene with Tan (left) and Susan (right) on set of 'Rain Town'. Photo: Handout
The four actors of Rain Town arrive one after another at the Star Media Group office in Petaling Jaya for a photoshoot and interview session to talk about their new film, now showing at cinemas nationwide.
As they greet one another on the premises, the younger cast – Pauline Tan, 32, and Wilson Lee, 31 – automatically address Susan Lankester, 61, and Chew Kin Wah, 59, as “mum” and “dad” in a Chinese dialect.
During our chat, Tan and Lee also sometimes refer to Lankester and Chew as “their parents”.
A few times during the photoshoot, Lankester excitedly points to Tan’s stomach to tell the photographer that her grandchild will be featured as well. (Tan, who is married to actor Henley Hii, is pregnant with their first child.)
Susan Lankester and Pauline Tan play mother and daughter in the film. Photo: WILLIAM GARY/The StarTan reveals: “We created a WhatsApp group during filming with the director and producer. It’s still very active although it’s been like a year since we finished production.
“Once in a while, we get together for a meal ... I would say this is a very special close-knit production team.”
Their closeness was forged as the cast prepared to play a family in the film directed by Tunku Mona Riza (Redha).
In the duration of rehearsal and filming – which went on for over two months – these actors naturally spent a lot of time together in figuring out their respective characters.
Lankester says that the rehearsals especially helped them find their individual rhythm to portray family members, which in turn allowed the actors to “not just deliver lines without thinking”.
The theatre actress adds: “As a unit, we were really thinking about what we had to do during rehearsals.”
Making the connection
Rain Town is a Cantonese-language film centred on a Malaysian Chinese family living in Taiping, aka Rain Town, due to the volume of rainfall it gets.
There’s dad Choo (Chew), mum Aileen (Lankester), as well as their three adult children – Isaac (Fabian Loo), Alex (Lee) and Ruby (Tan).
The story explores what happens when a father perpetually meddles in his children’s lives even though they are all grown up and have their own dreams and aspirations.
His interference results in a strained relationship within the family, which gets worse when a tragedy befalls the mum, the person who’s holding the family together.
The actors agree that Rain Town touches on relatable subjects for audience members from all walks of life.
“I feel like you can find these characters in a lot of families and not just a Chinese family,” says Tan.
“Mums – they sacrifice a lot for their children. The eldest child bears the burden and the responsibility of being the firstborn. The middle one tends to rebel, and the youngest is the more pampered one.
“You can see reflections of your family members, no matter where you are in the world,” she continues.
Lee, who also played Chew’s son in the 2022 movie Kongsi Raya, adds: “Even I could relate with Kin Wah’s character in how stubborn he is. I am like that too. So I think we can see some parts of ourselves in these characters.”
Choo (Chew) trying to figure out how to fix all the problems he created within his family. Photo: Handout
Referring to his role, Chew – who began his acting career in theatre at age 20 – says: “The Asian father, I’ve experienced it. I’ve seen my friends experience fathers like that.
“Asian fathers think the next generation have to be better than their generation, so they force their children to be doctors, lawyers or engineers.”
The relatability factor was apparent when Rain Town debuted at the Silk Road International Film Festival in September, where the audience responded positively to the film.
“They connected with the characters individually, depending on the age, which was lovely to find out,” Lankester remembers.
“It showed that Mona’s direction and our portrayal resonated with the audience. Viewers who approached us during Q&A expressed how they connected with specific scenes, sharing that they’ve had similar experiences (in their lives).”
Chew Kin Wah and Susan Lankester both became mentors for the younger actors. Photo: WILLIAM GARY/The Star
Breaking the norm
While the film’s story of a family crumbling in the face of hardship may be in a familiar territory, the fact that the Cantonese film is directed by a Malay filmmaker who does not understand the language is something totally new.
In the film’s production notes, the director says she was interested in helming a Cantonese-language film for the first time as it would offer a whole new set of challenges to her as a filmmaker.
“As a director, I need to do something different for myself, and I always enjoy hearing different languages,” Tunku Mona is quoted in the notes.
Lankester tells StarLifestyle that she believes it’s a good thing that Tunku Mona decided to make a multicultural, multi- generational film like Rain Town, even though it’s not in her mother tongue.
“We should be able to do other films, stories with different languages, as it shows the appreciation of each other – to recognise each other’s religions, dialects, ways of life.
“Mona had to learn a lot about how a simple Chinese family lives because it’s different to how a Malay family lives.
“And she needed to learn that through the art, through our sharing, our information on how our grandparents lived, or our parents lived, for her to understand,” Lankester, who starred in the popular 1990s sitcom 2+1, says.
The gang is back together for the photoshoot at The Star. Photo: AZMAN GHANI/The Star
Lee adds: “Tunku Mona was very receptive to our suggestions and she would allow us to make those changes in the script to make our set or action more like a Chinese family.”
An example Tan offers is when a Malay family members comes home, they will usually “salam” one another. But that’s not the case in a Chinese family.
“We just announce we are home and go about doing our own thing.
“Another example is at dinner time, we don’t pair our bowls with our plates. Whatever is there in the kitchen is what we will use.
“But apparently, in Kak Mona’s family, they do have the same set of bowls, the same set of dishes that they use for meals.
“These are small things, but it was interesting to learn about those differences,” says Tan, who was the 2015 Miss Universe Malaysia first runner-up and has starred in a number of local dramas like Love At First Swipe.
Wilson Lee, Susan Lankester, Chew Kin Wah and Pauline Tan make a very good-looking family. Photo: WILLIAM GARY/The StarOne significant discussion the cast and crew had was a scene involving fresh eggs; the debate lasted 30 minutes.
Tan recalls: “After buying eggs, I usually just leave them in the carton and only wash before (cooking) it. But (Tunku Mona was) like, ‘No, we wash it first, then put it in the refrigerator.’
“I wouldn’t say this is a totally cultural thing, but more of a personal preference or the habit you have at home.
“But the point is, it all comes back to us discussing during rehearsals and on set, which I think Tunku Mona did a really good job of because she really listened to the cast.”
Not a barrier
Besides allowing the actors to share their opinions, Tunku Mona also had a Chinese-language expert on set as not all the Rain Town actors speak Cantonese fluently.
Lankester, who is of Chinese-British descent, learned the language as a child because her late mother’s family conversed in Cantonese.
She recalls she wanted to at least understand what her relatives were saying to her, even if she couldn’t reply fluently.
Today, she can understand well enough, but replying still takes a moment.
“So when Rain Town came along, I had to study the script.
“And then we had a dialogue coach that would listen to all of us to make sure that we were saying our lines correctly,” says Lankester.
“Cantonese is one of the dialects that if you say one word and you get the inflection wrong, it would have a different meaning.
“So, we have to be very careful. Also, Cantonese is one of the dying dialects. So, I’m glad that we chose to speak Cantonese as the family language in the film,” she adds.
Aileen prepares food with her daughter Ruby. Photo: Handout
Lankester is also thankful that the director trusted her entirely when it came to portraying the maternal character in the film.
For this role, the actress accessed something personal.
“I lost my mum five years ago. When Mona pitched me the role, Aileen reminded me a lot of my mum in certain scenes.
“l’ve never played a proper mother role like this. And I thought this would be a great homage to my mum; to be able to recall my memories of her and use those memories to portray her in certain scenes where it’s fitting.
“I know Mona was very happy with my range of emotions. I did certain things and behaved in certain ways. When Mona asked me, ‘why did you do that?’ I said, I’m channelling my mum. And she went ‘OK’,” Lankester says.
Wilson Lee and Pauline Tan found it interesting of the differences between a Chinese family and a Malay family. Photo: AZMAN GHANI/The StarRain Town may not sound like a typical Chinese New Year offering at the cinemas, but the actors say it is still a movie to catch during the festive season.
“It’s true that the usual CNY movies are comedies or lighthearted fare. But Rain Town is a movie you can watch with your family members and cry together,” says Tan.
“It is a movie that hopefully will help children to understand their parents a little better – why parents do the things they do for their children. And likewise, for the parents to understand the kids’ point of view as well.”
Lankester adds: “No one is perfect. And there’s definitely never a perfect family. We all need to understand that there are always the rights and the wrongs, and the ups and downs within a family.
“But if done correctly, that family will hold together. And I think Rain Town explains that in its own way.”
Susan Lankester wears Khoon Hooi outfits during this photoshoot.
