‘Your husband doesn’t come with you today’
‘He’s busy’
‘I’ve told you to come back earlier’
‘My parents aren’t at home’
‘Do they often go abroad’
The Wet Season tells the story of Ling
A Chinese teacher from Malaysia
She’s almost 40 and faces a crisis in life
And how she finds herself again
And walks out of the dilemma
‘Two eggs mature’
Ling got married with a Singaporean and has been living in Singapore for over a decade
The couple have been longing for a child
And they have been receiving artificial insemination treatment
Actually, if a couple have been doing artificial insemination
For over three years
There’s a 50/50 chance of them facing divorce
When you run into too many setbacks
And feel no happiness in your marriage
‘Do you want it or not’
‘I’m not in the mood today’
You would find that her husband is often away from home
Men, especially men in Chinese society, tend to like being the patriarch of his family
But I realize that no matter it’s in a marriage or a family
When there’s a problem
The man is usually the first one to hide himself
‘Get some sleep if you’re tired’
The woman is always the one who has the strength to move forward
Or face the problem
Weilun and Ling are student and teacher
Are they lovers? You don’t feel that way
Does Weilun take the place of her long-expected child
And she is like the mother that he has been looking forward to
Or maybe a friend he wants
They are seduced by the taste of durian
Which is the forbidden fruit in my film
‘This is wrong too’
Her father in law
Is a semi-paralyzed old man suffering from stroke
Ling has to take care of him after work everyday
But from the way that Ling feeds him in the first scene
You can tell that they’re actually very close
Just like father and daughter
He’s supposed to be her only family in Singapore
‘Smile’
After the student Weilun appears in his life
He’s revitalized
The three become a family
In fact I’m also exploring the definition
Of family
At the very beginning I knew the name of my film would be Wet Season
Rain is a very appropriate word to describe Ling’s inner world
And rain also reflects some of my feelings about Singapore
In the past few years
It’s gray, cold and a little indifferent
There’s sun in the film, but not in Singapore
She chooses to go home in the end
My films are always about family
‘I’m your family’s maid’
‘But I’m not here to be bullied by you’
I was in my 20s when I shot Ilo Ilo
I was inspired by my childhood memories
When we promoted Ilo Ilo
A woman’s figure appeared in my mind
I was obsessed with the 40-year-old woman
All my films are very personal
Ling faces some family problems
And she wants to have a child
In fact, I and my wife have also experienced such problems in recent years
So I can totally feel the sadness and suffering
I don’t wish I could become a master someday
What I ask for myself is really simple
Live my life in a humble way
And always see people from a low and human perspective