The Home Song Stories

The Home Song Stories

103 mins | Drama | Feb. 9, 2007

Tom, now in his 40s, begins to write the memoirs of his 1960s childhood, as the little boy whose mother Rose was a glamorous Shanghai nightclub singer. When Rose meets Aussie sailor Bill, they are quickly married, and she packs up Tom and his older sister May to head for Melbourne. The marriage just as quickly breaks up and Rose moves with the kids to Sydney. After a succession of male friends and little success, in 1971 Rose moves back to Melbourne, in an uncomfortable arrangement living again with Bill – and his mother. With Bill called away to sea, Rose takes up with young Chinese cook Joe, but despair and conflicts over May's relationship with Joe tear the family further apart. Little Tom is deeply hurt, but May's ongoing conflict with her mother takes a respite when Rose tells her daughter about her traumatic teenage years.

The Home Song Stories

103 mins | Drama | Feb. 9, 2007

The Home Song Stories
Tom, now in his 40s, begins to write the memoirs of his 1960s childhood, as the little boy whose mother Rose was a glamorous Shanghai nightclub singer. When Rose meets Aussie sailor Bill, they are quickly married, and she packs up Tom and his older sister May to head for Melbourne. The marriage just as quickly breaks up and Rose moves with the kids to Sydney. After a succession of male friends and little success, in 1971 Rose moves back to Melbourne, in an uncomfortable arrangement living again with Bill – and his mother. With Bill called away to sea, Rose takes up with young Chinese cook Joe, but despair and conflicts over May's relationship with Joe tear the family further apart. Little Tom is deeply hurt, but May's ongoing conflict with her mother takes a respite when Rose tells her daughter about her traumatic teenage years.
IMDb rating 7.2
Producers New South Wales Film & Television Office, Australian Film Finance Corporation, Fortissimo Films, SBS Independent, MediaCorp Raintree Pictures, Porchlight Films, ScreenWest, Film Victoria, Spark Script Workshop, Big & Little Films Pty. Ltd., Lotterywest, Australian Film Board
Original title The Home Song Stories
Directors Paul Kiely, Tony Ayres
Writers Tony Ayres

Cast

Joan Chen

as Rose Hong / Hong Meigui

Qi Yuwu

as Joe

Joel Lok

as Tom

Irene Chen

as May

Steven Vidler

as Bill

Kerry Walker

as Norma

Gabrielle Chan

as Winnie

Guang Qiao Fenh

as Young May

Leo Fong

as Wen Xuan

Ferdinand Hoang

as Bing Guo

Philip Lau

as Chan

Fred Lee

as Slick Chinese Man

Yang Li

as Mr. Sun

Ivy Mak

as Kim

Annette Shun Wah

as Adult May

Jesse Rowles

as Nameless foe