Archive for June 2009

Imagine a film that could stir you up and make you lose your sense of a framework in terms of appreciating it. ‘Mu Dan’ is a audacious attempt by Lincoln to explore and even exploit what his actors have and where they will bring him (rather than the other way round). I guess this is why despite the fact that his characters are near-theatrical, I was in full suspension of disbelief. To be blunt, it’s like porn – we forgive all the inconsequential stories and dialogue. We just sway along.

I can imagine ‘Mu Dan’, with its subversion, is hidden somewhere in the fantasies of any imaginative director. But Lincoln has taken it a step further to play it out, in good taste though. A middle-aged mother is driven on the brink of loneliness and starts getting cranky. It does not help that her mildly rebellious son brings home his object of affection, a blonde-wigged Chinese girlfriend, to her disliking. This is where Lincoln defies the rules of behaviour and explores what we really want deep down inside as humans. After having a wig hurled at her by the enraged girlfriend, the mother makes a 180 degree turn, delighting the audience.

Not all have the magnetism of Li Xie, a seasoned stage actress. Actually, there is only one Li Xie. Slithery and seductive, the mother unleashes a new persona to the outside world……in that blonde wig. While Li Xie’s been anchor for the plot before this, now she actually drives it. Every action counts, it seems. They are performed with such intensity (and it felt like every muscle was clenched) that it was easy to read the nuances. They have been many ways local directors have justified camp (read : Hock Hiap Leong by Royston Tan) and in this case, Li Xie justifies it single-handedly. This is not to discredit Lincoln the director. After all, we did move away from Li Xie to the son’e girlfriend who is actually a lingerie model. In a single flutter of her glitter-dusted eyelids, she looks up at something, drawing my attention to uncanny parallel with the born-again mother, widening the reference in the film’s title.

Written by Jeremy Sing

Written by “达人”

With a strong, award winning background in television documentaries, Ang Aik Heng has quite a bit under his belt when it comes to documentaries. This Too Shall Pass has the air of a well thought out and planned documentation of an elderly gentleman's soon-to-be demise from nose cancer and his family's struggles through his dying days.

Mr Lee is diagnosed with nose cancer and his daughter Ellen Lee and himself, make the decision to allow this documentary to be shot in order for Mr Lee's story to be told, as well his family's. Through the documentary we see the relationships he has with his various family members, especially his eldest daughter- the aforementioned Ellen Lee- and the torment he faces with his estranged son, all in the face of death.

What do you do, when death comes knocking at your door? For the Lees, a means of peace was the document their fathers' dying wishes. This means the documentary lays it all out on the table. Nothing is left to your imagination. The one thing that struck me about this film was Mr Lee's liberal and unabashed behaviour, even in front of the camera. Lee seemed more reserved at the beginning of the film and the audience can see him beginning to open up towards the end of th film.

Lee was an odd choice for a character, risky even, I believe. At first the film resembled something of a home movie, with great technical skill. This was mainly due to the fact that the characters, especially the character the story was centered around, Mr Lee, was mainly sullen and quiet. However, with a bit of clever editing and placement of Mr Lee's lively and honest eldest daughter, (who has one of the most approachable demeanors I have seen for a woman being followed around by a camera everyday) the beginning of the film became far less drawn out than I had feared. Lee seems more reserved at the beginning of the film but begins to open up towards the end of th film.

As the film progresses, Mr Lee becomes more candid and at ease with the camera. Death is universal and watching the demise of a fellow human being is never easy. In a gut wrenching scene, Mr Lee shows the audience the quality of his life by showing us an everyday activity of his, that being eating. As the audience watches on in horror, bits of food fall out his nose,into a bucket he places at his feet while he eats. He tells the camera he is in pain while he swallows. If the beginning of the movie hadn't solidified this enough, you get it now. This man is going to die.

The film focuses on other parts of Lee's life as well, like his wife and his estranged son, both of whom he has an extremely rocky relationship with. His son never appears in the movie, not even once but is mentioned as a cause of conflict throughout the entire movie. At certain points in the film I did wonder about the credibility of the son's atrocities but he seemed to be a common "villain" in the family that made them bond. A documentary is a story, and every story must have a villain. Part of the success of the documentary was the "villain" aspect. Unfortunately, this was fulfilled by his son.

Death is an easy issue to deal with in films. It is easy to evoke an emotion from the death of a fellow human being. This is especially so if the character is undeserving of the pain and suffering he or she has to go through. In the documentary genre however, it is amplified more so. Ang was able to make use of this emotion to create and honest piece of work that was in no way egoistic. Although it did play on the cliche of human emotion to send its message across, it did so effectively. Ang was the vessel through which the Lees told their story and his ability to let go of a directors control and build a rapport with a family he barely knew and allow them to tell their story is definitely commendable.

Written by The Sinvasion

Written by “达人”

Written by GRA.C

Written by Jeremy Sing

Old ('birds') and New ('birds') all together at the Babylon Theatre in Berlin for the Berlin Asian Hot Shots '09

Left to right : Me(Jeremy), Royston (Tan), Leon (Cheo), (Chen)Junbin, Wesley (L Aroozoo), Shaun (Koh)

Trip was made possible with the help of the SFC Overseas Travel Grant.

From (Tan) Pin Pin, Victric (Thng), Leonard (Lai) and (Tay) Bee Pin :

You must have heard by now that the SFC overseas travel grant has been cancelled and replaced with an Inspire grant that kicks in only if a director/producer has a "market" meeting set up overseas. A bunch of us met informally and decided that we would like to ask MDA/SFC to reconsider this decision to cancel the grant.

We feel that this cancellation is particularly harsh on the new generation of short filmmakers (Since there is hardly a market for short films) or filmmakers that aren’t making work for “markets”. It means filmmakers are unlikely to get to see their films seen before an unfamiliar audience, meet others like themselves, or travel to a strange land, all important for a filmmakers’ growth.

As we chatted, we realised that we could form ourselves into a group that could give feedback to MDA/SFC about their policies. This group could also be useful for MDA/SFC to consult with (we hope!) when they make changes to their schemes. Its also useful if they want to inform us of new events and meetings.

In short, there is a good reason for us to come together to help MDA help us and vice versa.
More importantly we could come together for networking and mutual support: Sharing crew info, intelligence on lenses, camera chips, censorship strategies, distribution strategies, supporting SIFF etc. Someone was suggesting organising drinks once a quarter. I suggested a talk on insurance coverage since most of us aren’t covered for accidents, being self-employed.

If any of this resonates with you, let's meet
Thurs 25 June, 7-9pm, Substation Theatre
Bring friends if you like, I don't have everyone's contacts

Discussion points
1 Do we have enough similiarities to be part of a collective which has common aims and objectives. What would they be?
2 Would we want to be consulted by MDA or represent "our" views to MDA?
3 What is the best way to do that ? (Options: form an indie film version of AIPRO, join AIPRO, or, as a loose collective seek out regular roundtables with SFC, form a yahoo/Facebook group etc etc, we can discuss different ways)
4 What issues would we like MDA to consider ?
5 Most importantly, what can we do to help ourselves and each other.
6 Finally, what is the best way to get them to reconsider their OTG decision!!!

See you!

Electric memories of Berlin in Jan 2009

Written by Jeremy Sing

I had a funny thought that ‘Love Laws’ could be renamed ‘Love Claws’. This is an Indian version of Romeo and Juliet with more pain. ‘Love Laws’, the term refers to traditional Indian rules that govern love and marriage in Indian society. Once breached, get prepared to be ‘clawed’ (in some real-life cases, torched by relatives). The film runs along a very conventional narrative and a rather trite theme. This made the film very predictable. At its best, it appeared to be a relatively well-produced drama made for television – clear and bright visuals (none of that shadowy, atmospheric look); black and white characters; and idiot-proof establishment of the narrative.

Ammu Kochamma is a widow who is about to undergo another arranged marriage to a wealthier man. She lives under an iiron-fisted woman who appears to be her foster mother or guardian. One of the derived joys of watching such Cinderella stories is to see how malovelent the stepmothers can get. This one gets a 7 out of 10 from me for lack of creativity. Ammu (sound like a man’s name) is secretly in love with Velutha, a labourer-type man. In fact, they plan to flee. They devise a plan but are outsmarted by the people we love to hate. And in an almost closed-ended fashion, it drives home a rather dismal message about life – that we have to submit to the system.

For all the eye-popping, human-rights violating news we hear about injustices towards women and especially pertaining to marriages, this seems like just a scratch on the ice-berg. It deserves some credit for authenticity though. The team has certainly gone out of the way to make this (in India). Unless you tell me, the thing was staged somewhere ulu (remote) along the Singapore-Malaysia railway track. To add to its excellent production values, a cultural dance provided some spectacle (oh, those cylindrical boobies).

On a side note, I made an observation about the casting. I wonder if it is meant to reflect the caste system in India. The leads, or rather the eloping pair were darker-skinned than the villains – the stepmother and the ‘arranged’ husband. So unlike Cinderella, even when she transforms, she may never be highly regarded enough in her society.

Written by Jeremy Sing

A foreign audience watching ‘National Day’ would be wondering what kind of a spectacle Singapore puts up annually to make NDP tickets such a family-binding issue. Wei, a young army boy returns home from the final NDP rehearsal with freebies to offer in place of unfavourable news that he has given away the free NDP tickets. It’s the 7th day after his father’s death anyway. For a typical Chinese family, they should be home to play host to his wandering spirit for the last time.

Like the film itself, home is mish-mash of issues. Everyone has their own sphere of thought about managing affairs and somehow everyone’s at a mentally independent age or state. Mum’s obviously the head of home affairs and will somehow get a near-final say. Wei, is at the cusp of adulthood and would wish to find his own way around things (he smells of apathy towards the army as well). Lam, his sister, tries very hard to control her evangelistic touch to family affairs but gets her say to her supposed husband in the bedroom. Her supposed husband, Joe, well, talks too much and impresses too little. If you put it all together, religion mixes with home affairs, politics (read: continuous blasting of NDP commentary from the TV), the supernatural (Mum’s spooky act of folding dad’s clothes and singing in Hainanese) and even the social (the NDP ticket issue).

In the middle of the film, it was easy to get lost and wonder where’s thrust in all this. Certainly, it reflected the director’s keen observation of life. I mean, there were those moments that tingled that sense of dejavu in me – Ma’s ‘quality testing’ of fruits in the kitchen and the random pocket Christian book strewn in Dad’s car compartment. Somehow, the interjecting of National Day Parade footages seemed more distracting than additive towards its thematic texture. Perhaps, because there are so many issues, little time was left to establish the significance of National Day to this family and how it poses an opposing pull of attention away from the issue of Dad’s passing. Or a juxtaposition.

Most of the film’s best portions can be found at the end when the direction is clear. All that murky understanding of what’s been happening resolves itself as the family members resolve their feelings towards his death individually. Particularly haunting is Ma’s little moment. Though bordering in the theatrical, it gives her something beyond how many local films would commonly portray a traditional mother.

Written by Jeremy Sing

I bet there must be a thousand and one ways to tell this story. ‘STAR’ is a semi-fantastical story about a regular office worker who meets a stranger and discovers a ‘new’ side to himself. Aren’t all love stories like that? Well, this is not exactly a love story, it is more like an urban fairytale about ‘coming-out’ of our concrete confines. The film is very much a free-spirited stroll in the park without too much narrative confinement. This is also its Achilles heel because after repeated dancing and revelry, we already get the point of the importance of setting yourself free. At least it had a proper ending that closes the lid on the story’s development.

Keith is a regular office worker who drags his feet to work. Workplace is a ‘Orwellean’ office where the boss is on stand-by to catch latecomers. Keith who is late escapes the bosses’ surveillance. In the unusually cramped and restrained environment, Keith is suffocating and eventually sneaks his way out for some fresh air. This is when ‘Star’, a mysterious gypsy-like Indian girl bumps into him and proclaims her ‘love’ for him – an unconditional love that smells like its from another galaxy or dimension. So she takes Keith on a stroll down the Singapore River, like a tourist, doing touristy things like watching buskers, taking the bumboat and sitting on the ‘bungee’ swing thingey at Clarket Quay. So I have 2 interpretations here – the point of it is either to teach Keith to smell the roses that always been blooming in his own soil, so the makers of this film are pretty fresh to Singapore and still have a sense of novelty about these acitivities. I was watching the film in the middle of one of the hottest periods in Singapore and I wondered how sweaty the shoot must have been. I mean, I have never seen anyone dance to busking music like they did under the punishing afternoon sun!

A good 5 minutes could really be cut from the film because of the repetitiveness of the motifs. It was not long before my wide-eyed, innocent appreciation of this god-sent cheerleader turned sour. Either that, the film could explore the emotional and ideological shifts within Keith more to make its point clearer. Or tell us more about Star beyond her colorful rags…. Oops drapes. Incidentally, ‘STAR’ was a good respite from the other films that were droning in a common tone about family and its usual issues.

Written by Jeremy Sing

Very often, turning a screenplay into a film may not need too much dramatization to bring out the essence. A moment of silence, a short exchange of glances, a wordless utterance could do the job better for that is often how we operate in the comfort zone of family life. In order words, ‘Family Lies’, could have been more digestible if we let the characters speak for themselves more than their lines.

‘Family Lies’ is about how a father and son break down their mutual barriers over the father’s contraction of a disease. Chet, the son is the typical polished, dashing, idealistic gem of an young man you would usually see in telco ads where mum makes long distance calls to her precious son studying overseas. The Dad is physically typical but has a laughable streak in all that crankiness. Mother is just another concerned, tender-looking figure of comfort who has the unfortunate job of trying to bridge the two.

From the point of his return, he is concerned yet feels handicapped by the thorny state of communication between father and son. Over a quiet family dinner, little is exchanged except for what is necessary. Poor mothers, they always get stuck in between everyone else, trying to soften the blows. Then, a sudden stimulus is introduced – the family cat goes missing. It galvanizes the family into unified action. As expected, it gives father and son a chance to join hands. Before it slips into another family-themed cliché, the plot actually meanders to keep the audience’s minds busy.

Anyone who has a typically stubborn, old-fashioned, authoritative father would know how hard it is to remove his leopard spots. It thus needs more convincing of how the father could suddenly lower his crusty defences. Mum is also a bit of a surprise depending on whether she intentionally set up the two men in the house. It reminds me of TV ads in which mums always fish out magical household tricks. So in the end, it turns out that the cat came back and father and son buried some stray cat that died on their car journey. So dad, mum and son finish off happy and the audience finally gets to enjoy the jazz that’s been piped in right from the start – honestly an odd combination with the narrative.

Written by Jeremy Sing

Written by GRA.C

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