Canopy

Synopsis: Jim (Khan Chittenden) is a young Australian pilot shot down over the jungles of Japanese-occupied Singapore in 1942. As he struggles through the jungle he meets a Singaporean resistance fighter,Seng (Mo Tzu-yi) and they forge an unlikely alliance to escape their plight and their enemy.

This Singapore/Australia co-production is touted as a cinematic immersive experience and it is just that, albeit not one that some people will want to have as it is a nail-biting journey from go to whoa. Seldom has a film about war been so immediate, remarkably, with none of the typical epic battle scenes. Rather, it is about the two men and their lonely battle to survive against both nature and their common enemy. 

We first encounter Jim suspended in a tree, gradually coming to an awareness of his surroundings. As he cuts himself free and assembles his few belongings, discovering he has lost his weapon, we are painfully aware that this is going to be a do-or-die situation. As he takes off through deep mud and dense vegetation the sounds of the jungle, interspersed with occasional gunfire and explosions, are forbiddingly all-encompassing. When he meets Seng the mood shifts as the men try to connect although the lack of a common language means that the film is virtually wordless.

Canopy is notable for its stunning and evocative cinematography. In an early scene the camera looks upwards through an enthralling tracery of leaves, a foreshadowing of the many and varied forms of the jungle both fear-inducing and protective, a leafy canopy that both conceals the enemy and shelters the two companions. It is nature at its most grand, a thing of beauty and a thing of implacable destruction. 

Shot in the jungles of Singapore this is director Aaron Wilson’s first film, one which took seven years to make.  He based it on wartime stories he heard as a child growing up in rural Australia. Many of the veterans recalled the fear and disorientation of being in a strange place with one’s life in peril.  The Singaporean/Australian alliance that was so important in World War II is reflected in the two men’s friendship, a connection that is strong and palpable, even without a common language, and the humanity at the heart of the lead performances is moving and believable.

Despite not being an easy film to watch, given that you are willing to lose yourself in the relentless greenery, Canopy should prove to be a rewarding experience.

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