The Home Song Stories

2007

1h 43m

Drama

List

100%

5 Reviews

Tomatometer

79%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Rose Hong (Joan Chen) is a Hong Kong nightclub singer who emigrates to Australia with her sailor husband, Bill (Steven Vidler), and her two children, May (Irene Chen) and Tom (Joel Lok). The couple's relationship is doesn't last long, but they attempt to reconcile after several years, and Rose and the kids move into Bill's home outside Melbourne. The volatile and needy Rose has affairs and attempts suicide, and though her children stick around, they can't get back their innocence.

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Audience Member

A stunning and engrossing drama, occasionally slows down more than it should. Joan Chen's virtuoso performance in her own language shows western audiences the watered-down version they've been getting all tehse years.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A finely chiseled drama about an unstable Chinese mother struggling to reconcile her desires with her children's needs in early '70s Australia, The Home Song Stories speaks bittersweet truths about life in the Chinese diaspora.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A very fine work, well produced and acted, telling an important set of stories.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/23/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Such a touching movie based on a real story!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/15/23

Full Review

Audience Member

For me it's all about the story, if a film has a flimsy script it's only a matter of time before it begins to fall apart no matter how many amazing actors you have in it. That said, I fell in love with this screenplay. Yes it's depressing at times and the outcome is far from a fairytale ending but its raw, honest, heartbreaking and completely memorable. It's a haunting film in a way and a fresh approach to Australian film making. It's a confronting experience for the audience and takes you out of your comfort zone at times, but it is also a window into a completely different culture one that touched a nerve with me; having an immigrant background on one side of my family. The glimpse into mental illness is also an intriguing one and whilst it doesn't offer many answers it is in the final scene of the film in which the grown up Tom is writing as his mother's ghost approaches that it becomes clear we don't understand or appreciate everything our loved ones do but that we still love them unconditionally. It really is a beautiful movie and a stand apart for me in Australian film.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/09/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A little too contrived at times but all in all, still watchable. Brilliant performances by Joan Chen, Qi Yuwu (aaahhhh <3) and her 'children'.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/12/23

Full Review

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Tony Ayres

Director

Joan Chen

Actor

Joel Lok

Tom

Irene Chen

May

Yuwu Qi

Joe

Steven Vidler

Bill

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Richard Kuipers

Variety

A finely chiseled drama about an unstable Chinese mother struggling to reconcile her desires with her children's needs in early '70s Australia, The Home Song Stories speaks bittersweet truths about life in the Chinese diaspora.

Rated: 3.5/5

Aug 25, 2007

Full Review

David Lamble

Bay Area Reporter

Joan Chen gives a harrowing performance...

Jun 2, 2020

Full Review

Brian Chen

Filmcritic.com

Whether you walk out of the theater hating, loving, or sympathizing for the director's mother, Stories succeeds in enabling you to see through the eyes of an angry, confused little boy

Rated: 4.5/5

May 27, 2008

Full Review

ScreenAnarchy

At its core, The Home Song Stories evokes painful memories, but also brings about the notion of forgiveness, remembering and honouring those memories.

Rated: 3.5/5

Sep 15, 2007

Full Review

Urban Cinefile Critics

Urban Cinefile

My favourite Australian film of the year so far ... a cathartic memoir, a love story and a tribute to his unfathomable butterfly mother.

Aug 20, 2007

Full Review

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Synopsis

Rose Hong (Joan Chen) is a Hong Kong nightclub singer who emigrates to Australia with her sailor husband, Bill (Steven Vidler), and her two children, May (Irene Chen) and Tom (Joel Lok). The couple's relationship is doesn't last long, but they attempt to reconcile after several years, and Rose and the kids move into Bill's home outside Melbourne. The volatile and needy Rose has affairs and attempts suicide, and though her children stick around, they can't get back their innocence.

Director: Tony Ayres
Producer: Wouter Barendrecht, Michael J. Werner
Screenwriter: Tony Ayres
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Chinese
Release Date (DVD): Nov 24, 2009
Runtime: 1h 43m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital