Singapore Dreaming
Singapore Dreaming | ||
---|---|---|
Hanyu Pinyin | Měimǎn Rénshēng |
Singapore Dreaming
The film is inspired by a 2000 Singaporean essay titled Paved with Good Intentions, that the writers of the film had written for the Singapore International Foundation. A concatenation of e-mails Singaporeans sent to writers Colin Goh and Woo Yen Yen on their life stories in relation to the Singaporean dream eventually led them to write, produce and direct Singapore Dreaming.[2][6][7] The film stars Richard Low as Poh Huat, Alice Lim as Siew Luan, Serene Chen as Irene, Yeo Yann Yann as Mei, Lim Yu-Beng as CK and Dick Su as Seng.[1]
The film was theatrically released on 7 September 2006, and at one time ranked fifth on the Singaporean box office.[8] It has been acclaimed as one of the best Singaporean films of the 2000s. It won the Montblanc New Screenwriters Award at the 54th San Sebastián International Film Festival, and was the first such Singaporean film to receive an IFFPA-recognised international feature film award.[5] Owing to its nature as a local film, Singapore Dreaming received much attention from Singaporean viewers, film critics and public figures alike, including S. R. Nathan, the then President of Singapore.[9] It has been praised by local critics as a relatable portrayal of working-class life in Singapore.[9]
Plot
Poh Huat (Richard Low), the father of the Loh family, works as a lawyer's
The family has one son, Seng (Dick Su), and one daughter, Mei (Yeo Yann Yann). Despite Mei's superior academic performance, the family has consistently shown favouritism for Seng. Even though he was ostensibly the academically poorer sibling, dropping out of school in
Mei works as a
Seng returns from the United States. Tensions escalate in the family between Mei and Seng, due to the family's apparent favouritism for Seng. Seng goes for several job interviews, but is unsuccessful. He becomes immensely disappointed, and lies to his family about the sanguinity of his job prospects.
Poh Huat strikes the
Initially thrilled by his sudden elevation to the higher social class, Poh Huat dies suddenly of a
Back at the funeral, Mei realizes that S$500 has gone missing from the pek kim,
A few months later, Chin Keong, Seng and Mei, with her newly-born son, are called to a lawyer's office. It is revealed that Poh Huat's
Cast
A team of local actors composed the cast for Singapore Dreaming. Some casting decisions were made when the producers were penning the script in New York while others were made in Singapore.
The characters of the film were based on the experiences of the people around the writers, that of the writers themselves,[2] and on the e-mail responses that they received to their essay.[6]
- MediaCorp actor Richard Low had a role in one of the MediaCorp productions that was filming during the time Singapore Dreaming was set to film. However, he was not engaged as his character in that production was in coma.[2] In the film, Poh Huat is the patriarch of the Loh family. He persistently favours and sides with his son, Seng over his daughter, Mei. Like the rest of the family, he yearns for a better life and, in particular, for a car and a country clubmembership.
- ever since. She is seen to brew bottles of herbal tea perpetually (for members of the family, who, except for Irene, tend to reject them). She shares part of her life story with the audience as the film concludes.
- Serene Chen as Irene: The producers had a good relationship with Serene Chen from their previous work together on an earlier production, 3Meals. They planned to cast Serene Chen early on, during the initial script-writing.[2] In the film, Serene plays the live-in fiancée of Seng, Irene. Irene is deeply attached to Seng and hankers for a marriage with him in the beginning of the film. She, together with Poh Huat, funded his overseas studies. Irene is also very close to Siew Luan.
- Yeo Yann Yann as Mei: Although the producers were unacquainted with Yann Yann, they used her face as a reference when writing for the character, Mei. Back in Singapore, Yann Yann accepted their offer to cast as Mei.[2] In the film, Mei is the underappreciated daughter of the family, married to CK, whom she occasionally henpecks. Indignant that Seng was sent overseas when she was the one whose academic performance was more distinguished, she bears a patent grudge against Seng.
- Lim Yu-Beng as CK: The part of CK was written for Lim Yu-Beng, who agreed to join the film's production.[2] In the film, CK resigned as an army officer and turned to selling insurance, a career at which he does not appear to be successful.
- Dick Su as Seng: Dick Su was involved in the production only after Serene Chen brought him in.[2] In the film, Seng is the son in the family, who failed in graduating from his overseas studies. There were times when he tries to convince his family, especially his father, that he can succeed in life. Unfortunately, his plans never seem to work out and he ends up disappointing the people around him.
Development
Conception
The development of Singapore Dreaming began in 2000 when New York-based couple Colin Goh and Woo Yen Yen wrote an essay for Singaporeans Exposed, a publication to commemorate the Singapore International Foundation's ten-year anniversary. The 5200-word essay, Paved with Good Intentions, explained the difference between the Singapore Dream and the Singapore Plan, and discussed the source and fashion of many Singaporeans' aspirations. Paved with Good Intentions was later circulated round the Internet, where many Singaporeans read the essay.[2][7][10]
Confessional responses the couple received thereafter reached the hundreds. In a podcast with mrbrown, Woo explained the typical reader response was "How is it that I now have a house, I now have a car, a job, why I am still unhappy?" The couple "felt a responsibility to do something", which inspired them to write the film,[2] the original working title of which was The 5Cs.[11]
Production
The film was a number of firsts in the
Singapore Dreaming was an independent, low-budget production, costing only
Filming began in August 2005,[13] with the scenes in the house shot in an actual 3-room HDB flat in a bid for authenticity. This led to situations in which the cast and crew had to squeeze into the rooms in the small flat for hours on end. The team also had to endure heat and stuffy conditions, especially during the scene in which the family shared steamboat in the living room.[2]
In an attempt at authenticity and realism, the producers allowed the characters speak in a mix of Hokkien, English and Mandarin, in the typical Singaporean manner. The film would later be
Unlike in larger productions, the team of directors had to assume numerous roles during the independent production, some of which included the transportation of furniture and buying drinking water for the crew during the shoot. Colin Goh and Steven Chin, the assistant director, also had to take the unusual step of staging a fight to distract curious passers-by and prevent them from gathering round when they were shooting a certain scene.[2] After the filming was complete, the movie was digitally encoded in New York and digitally projected at a number of select cinemas.[12]
Publicity and release
Premieres
Before being commercially released, Singapore Dreaming was screened at two
The second charity premiere was on 30 August 2006, and the beneficiary was the Association of Women for Action and Research.
Commercial release
Sneak previews began on 1 September 2006 while the film was commercially released on 7 September 2006.[20] The film opened on a total of eighteen screens islandwide, which encompasses all GV and Cathay screens and selected Shaw and Eng Wah screens.[19]
The producers were initially concerned about the small independent film lasting in the cinemas with the influx of American blockbusters. Thus, the producers continually urged on the film's blog for those interested to watch the film as early as possible, in case of a short theatrical run.[21][22][23] However, the film's theatrical run was to continue for eight weeks;[24] it outlasted all other films that opened in the same week.[25] After a hiatus of a few weeks, the film reopened transiently at GV VivoCity.[26]
In October 2007, the film was screened at the Freer Gallery of Art of the Smithsonian, Washington, DC, as part of the ASEAN Film Festival.[27]
Advertising
The directors, with their limited funds, put print advertisements in local newspapers to advertise the film. The last print advertisement appeared in local newspapers on 16 September 2006, the tenth day after the release of the film.[28]
Due to the small advertising budget, however, a large part of the film's advertising took place through the Internet. For instance, the film's directors spoke directly to the viewers through their
As further publicity for the film, Colin Goh uploaded three trailers of the film onto YouTube to raise awareness and interest about the movie. By 15 August 2006, the trailers had 7000 views in total, and one of them had 4000 views.[29] The producers also advertised the film through TalkingCock, a satirical website that they own, by posting articles and updates on the film's development.[30][31][32]
Reception
Awards
Singapore Dreaming competed for two awards in the Zalbaltegi section of the San Sebastián International Film Festival, the first being the Moutblanc New Screenwriter's Award (the third ever awarded in the annual festival),[5] and the second being the Altadis-New Directors Award.[21][33] This film lost the latter award to Fair Play, but bagged the Moutblanc New Screenwriter's Award.[34] There were eighteen films in competition for the screenwriter's award.[33] The directors did not submit the films directly to San Sebastian at first. Instead, they sent preview screeners to solicit comments on the film from their friends in New York. The film was spread around resulting in it being nominated for the film festival.[5]
The feature film is the first Singaporean film to be in competition for the two awards at the IFFPA-recognized[d] San Sebastian International Film Festival. Moreover, while other Singaporean films (like those directed by Eric Khoo and Royston Tan) have won awards at other international film festivals before, those are either not recognized by IFFPA, or are categorized by them as "specialized". The "specialized" tag means that, as The Straits Times explains, "they focus on a particular aspect of film or film-making". The film thus has the added honour of being the first Singaporean film to receive an award at an IFFPA-recognised international feature film festival.[5]
On 28 October 2007, Singapore Dreaming snagged the Best Asian/Middle-Eastern Film Award at the 20th Tokyo International Film Festival, and is the first Singapore feature to win this award.[35]
Box office and rankings
As of 2 October 2006, three and a half weeks after its local commercial release, Singapore Dreaming grossed S$420 000 from the local box office.
Critical reception
The film received mixed reviews from film critics, who praised its technical aspects and relatability, but had reservations regarding its originality.
Soundtrack
The Singapore Dreaming soundtrack was released by BooBao Records in June 2006.[43] It comprises various songs and tunes that were featured in the movie, most of which were composed by the music director for the film, Sydney Tan.[44] Stephen Hough is also listed as one of the soundtrack's composers. The soundtrack album, containing both emotive and entertaining pieces, shows a variation in the mood of the songs.[43]
Of particular prominence in the soundtrack is the 1933 Taiwanese song Bāng Chhun-hong. Lin Wenqi points out that the song's last phrase, "I was fooled, for it was just the wind", paralleled the characters Poh Huat and Seng's fruitless pursuit of material wealth.[41] As the producers were writing the script in New York, Woo Yen Yen called her mother in Singapore to ask her about the most popular song of her time. Her mother's first suggestion was Bāng Chhun-hong, a song which the producers came to like.[41] The song was later adopted as the opening theme, and the character Siew Luan would hum it again as the film concludes, this time more wistfully as she would recount the days when she was young. Four major and three minor variations of the song were included in the soundtrack. As Moviexclusive describes Sydney Tan's score, "the […] use of pianos and strings is complemented by the occasional wistful accompaniments of the traditional erhu, adding the essential 'Asian touch' to the music."[43] According to Woo, during auditions for the film, several young actors teared upon hearing the song, which reminded them of their youth and parents.[41]
The film's soundtrack also includes two songs by the local band Ronin, "Black Maria" and "Memories". It also includes "Mei Man Ren Sheng", a song that shares its title with the film. The tune was rearranged by Sydney Tan and performed by Nicole Lai, with lyrics in Chinese by Ng King Kang. The film's producer, Woffles Wu, did the backing vocals for the recording.[43]
References and footnotes
Footnotes
- ^ The Sunday Times published that the film is 'mostly set in Singlish'. However, Colin Goh, one of the writers, commented that this 'was a very wrong characterization. The script isn't deliberately in Singlish.'[4]
- ^ simplified Chinese: 美满人生; traditional Chinese: 美滿人生; pinyin: Měimǎn Rénshēng
- ^ Pek kim: Condolence money given at a funeral
- ^ IFFPA: International Federation of Film Producers Associations.
References
- ^ a b Colin Goh and Woo Yen Yen, "Full Credits Archived 2006-12-18 at the Wayback Machine", Singapore Dreaming. Retrieved 1 December 2006
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Lee, Kin Mun, Colin Goh, Woo Yen Yen. "Singapore Dreaming[permanent dead link]." [Podcast entry] the mrbrown show. 6 September 2006.
- ^ a b c d Colin Goh and Woo Yen Yen, "About the Film Archived 2006-11-27 at the Wayback Machine", Singapore Dreaming website. Retrieved 1 December 2006.
- ^ Colin Goh and Woo Yen Yen, "Sunday Times: Uniquely, Um", Singapore Dreaming blog, 16 July 2006. Archived from the original Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine on 2007-09-27.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Stephanie Yap, "Dreaming up a surprise", The Straits Times, 7 October 2006.
- ^ a b Ho Lian-Yi, "Are they heartlanders?", The New Paper, 30 August 2006.
- ^ a b c d e Ong Su Bin, "Singapore Dreaming is reality", The Straits Times, 14 April 2006.
- ^ a b "top 10 movies", The Straits Times, 13 September 2006.
- ^ a b c Ramani, Vinita (23 October 2006). "Review: Singapore Dreaming". Criticine. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
- ^ Colin Goh and Woo Yen Yen, "Paved with Good Intentions", Singapore Dreaming blog, 2006-01-31, archived from the original Archived 21 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine on 21 December 2007.
- ^ Colin Goh and Woo Yen Yen, "Have you seen our ZoCard?", 29 August 2006. Archived from the original Archived 6 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine on 2007-08-06.
- ^ a b c Colin Goh, Woo Yen Yen and Woffles Wu, "The dreaming begins", Singapore Dreaming blog, 12 April 2006. Archived from the original Archived 29 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine on 2007-09-27.
- ^ Colin Goh and Woo Yen Yen, "Confessions of a Post-Production Geek", Singapore Dreaming blog, 11 April 2006. Archived from the original Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine on 2007-09-27.
- ^ Colin Goh and Woo Yen Yen, "The Premiere is On! (Unless Someone’s Not Telling Me Something)", Singapore Dreaming blog, 2 March 2006. Archived from the original Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine on 2007-09-27.
- ^ Colin Goh and Woo Yen Yen, "SGD Tix Sold Out on First Day of Release", Singapore Dreaming blog, 24 March 2006. Archived from the original Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine on 2007-09-27.
- ^ Colin Goh and Woo Yen Yen, "SGD in SPH", Singapore Dreaming blog, 14 April 2006. Retrieved 2006-12-01. Archived from the original Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine on 2007-09-27.
- ^ Colin Goh and Woo Yen Yen, "Premiere Benefits AWARE", Singapore Dreaming blog, 4 August 2006. Archived from Singapore Dreaming Charity the original Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine on 2007-09-27.
- ^ Colin Goh and Woo Yen Yen, "Driven up the Wall!", Singapore Dreaming blog, 17 August 2006. Archived from the original Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine on 2007-09-27.
- ^ a b Colin Goh and Woo Yen Yen, "Singapore Dreaming Charity Gala Sold Out", Singapore Dreaming blog, 29 August 2006. Archived from the original Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine on 2007-09-27.
- ^ Colin Goh and Woo Yen Yen, "Singapore Dreaming — In Cinemas 7 September 2006!", Singapore Dreaming blog, 3 July 2006. Archived from the original Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine on 2007-09-27.
- ^ a b c Colin Goh and Woo Yen Yen, "Please Support SINGAPORE DREAMING!"Singapore Dreaming blog, 5 September 2006. Archived from the original Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine on 2007-08-06.
- ^ a b Colin Goh and Woo Yen Yen, "Opening Weekend — Please Keep up the Support!", Singapore Dreaming blog, 11 September 2006. Archived from the original Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine on 2007-09-27.
- ^ a b Colin Goh and Woo Yen Yen, "Singapore Dreaming: The Last Weekend?", Singapore Dreaming blog, 22 September 2006. Archived from the original Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine on 2007-09-27.
- ^ Tan, Kenneth (15 September 2007). "Local no enough". Today. Singapore Press Holdings. p. 48. Retrieved 5 January 2019 – via NewspaperSG.
- ^ a b Colin Goh and Woo Yen Yen, "Thank You: One Dream Ends, Another Begins", Singapore Dreaming blog, 26 October 2006. Archived from the original Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine on 2007-09-27.
- ^ Colin Goh and Woo Yen Yen, "Return of the Dream?!", Singapore Dreaming blog, 9 November 2006. Archived from the original Archived 18 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine on 2007-09-18.
- ^ "Singapore Dreaming" (PDF). Singapore. Embassy of Singapore, Washington, D.C. September 2007. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
- ^ Colin Goh and Woo Yen Yen, "Into Week Two", Singapore Dreaming blog, 15 September 2006. Archived from the original Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine on 2007-09-27.
- ^ Lee Sze Yong, "Here's Looking at You", The Straits Times, 16 August 2006.
- ^ Colin Goh, "Singapore Dreaming Day 3 — Go and Watch!", TalkingCock, 8 September 2006. Retrieved 2006-12-01.
- ^ Colin Goh, "Thank You! A Special Singapore Dreaming Deal", TalkingCock, 29 September 2006. Retrieved 2006-12-01.
- ^ Colin Goh, "TalkingCock: Give us a break... in more ways than one!", TalkingCock, 16 October 2006. Retrieved 1 December 2006
- ^ a b Lee Sze Yong, "Woffles Wu, plastic surgeon and now singer", The Straits Times, 29 August 2006.
- ^ "Altadis New Director's Award", San Sebastian International Film Festival, Mister-i Mobile Solutions S.L., 29 September 2006. Archived from the original Archived 23 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine on 2008-11-23.
- ^ "Sweet Dream", TODAY, 30 October 2007.
- ^ Nazir Keshvani, "Sold-out Sensation", The New Paper, 5 October 2006.
- ^ "top 10 movies", The Straits Times, 20 September 2006.
- ^ "top 10 movies", The Straits Times, 27 September 2006.
- ^ "top 10 movies", The Straits Times (Life), Singapore Press Holdings, over various issues: 2006-10-04, p. 5, 2006-10-11, p. 5, 2006-10-18, p. 6, 2006-10-25, p. 5, 2006-11-01, p. 5, 2006-11-08, p. 5, 2006-11-15, p. 7, 2006-11-22, p. 5, 2006-11-29, p. 6, 2006-12-06, p. 9. Retrieved on 1 December 2006. (in English)
- ^ Humphreys, Neil (8 September 2006). "A brave depiction of social reality on screen". Today. Singapore Press Holdings. Retrieved 5 January 2019 – via NewspaperSG.
- ^ a b c d Lin, Wenqi (9 November 2007). "Review: Singapore Dreaming". Taiwan Film Institute (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 5 January 2019.
- ^ Holland, Jonathan (4 October 2006). "Reviews: Singapore Dreaming". Variety. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
- ^ a b c d John Li, "Singapore Dreaming — Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2006)", movieXclusive.com. Retrieved 1 December 2006.
- ^ Colin Goh and Woo Yen Yen, "Cast and Filmmakers Archived 2007-02-07 at the Wayback Machine", Singapore Dreaming website, 1 December 2006.
External links
- Singapore Dreaming
- Official Singapore Dreaming site
- Singapore Dreaming blog
- Singapore Dreaming at the Internet Movie Database
- Blog of producers Colin Goh and Woo Yen Yen