Homerun (Chinese: 跑吧！孩子 pinyin: pǎo bà háizǐ, lit. Run, Child!), a 2003 Singaporean film by Jack Neo, is an adaptation of Children of Heaven. Jack Neo adapts Children of Heaven to a 1960s Singaporean kampung setting, to emphasise the messages of friendship and kinship.
Homerun is a drama about two poor siblings and their adventures over a lost pairs of shoes. Set in 1965, the year Singapore separated from Malaysia, the film satirises political relations between the two countries, leading to its banning in Malaysia.
In 1965, two poor Singaporean children, Chew Kiat Kun and his younger sister Seow Fang live with their mother who is late in her third pregnancy and their father who is in debt to a local rice merchant. The family's problems are compounded when Kiat Kun accidentally loses Seow Fang's only pair of shoes after taking them to be repaired.
In today's life, it might just be a small matter. Buying another pair of new school shoes is not a big deal.
However to this poor Chew family, Kiat Kun has to share his shoes with his sister because he knew that his parents cannot afford to buy a new one. Seow Fang is chastised for wearing oversized shoes to school, while Kiat Kun is repeatedly late as he must wait for his sister to exchange shoes with him.
Another of my favourite scene is at school, a wealthy schoolmate of Kiat Kun's named Tan Beng Soon runs a football team with his friends. Kiat Kun and his friends strike a bargain with Beng Soon to play on the team using the other boys' football shoes, in exchange for helping them cheat on their homework. However, the boys quarrel, causing an angry Beng Soon to renege on the deal and remove Kiat Kun and his friends from the team.
What I can see here is that if we want something, we must work for it.
Do not depends on others. The best weapon is yourself.
No matter what, do not ever start a fight.
The final scene in the film shows the Chew siblings standing before a long muddy path with their new pair of shoes.
For me, if I imagine the shoes represents money, then the interpretation will goes like this:
Having no money it is a definitely a problem, when you have money, there will also be problem. However, have money of course, is always better than being poor. Thus, be wise to utilise what we own. Appreciate it!
When you do not have money, you cannot buy the things that you want.
When you have money, you worry that your money is gone (stolen, lose, etc).
This movie requires the audience to use their imaginations to interpret in a few scenes.
Different view, different outcome.
Enjoy!
p/s: And yes, after watching this, I won't simply buy unnecessary shoes.
