Synopsis

A depressed man’s struggle to stay alive is mirrored through a game of chess where his soul battles out with the Grim Reaper. Guilt from his past drives him to protect his chess pieces while the reaper is tasked to take away the king chess piece, his soul.

Director's Statement

'Lone King' was adapted from a short screenplay that I have written years ago, a social drama about a depressed man forming a relationship, possibly a romantic connection with a social worker. However, when revisiting this old draft of the script, an idea hit me that the chess game could be a representation of the man's life slowly ebbing away and the game of chess that he plays every day with the 'social worker' is actually with the grim reaper. The story starts out as a social drama before it's revealed that the chess game is a game for his life.

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'Lone King' is based on the theme that our lives are like a game and the king piece is used as symbolism as the soul of the man. The other pieces are used to represent the people that we surround ourselves with and no matter what, father time and death still catches up and takes the pieces away from you.

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The film was a very experimental idea that was executed, and by using the medium of not just only dialogue and action, but also using other film making tools widely available to us such as aspect ratio and colour, it helps to reflect the themes of the film as well as push the story. 

Awards & Recognition

• Winner

  • Semi Finalist, A Rebel Minded Festival

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• Nominated

  • Best Cinematography, Frameworks Fest 2019

  • Best Directing, Frameworks Fest 2019

  • Best Editing, Frameworks Fest 2019

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• Official Selections

  • Out of Competition Viddsee Juree Singapore 2018

  • Frameworks Fest 2019

Crew

Directed & Written & Edit / Jastine Tan

Cinematography / Sean Loo

Coloring & Light / Eugene Voo

Sound Recorded & Mixed / Sumin Li