A W!ldrice production
I love the intro with the echo of different words in English, Mandarin and Teochew. It begins with pronouns and moves to verbs which I remember vaguely that my maternal grandmother used to say, my dua yi still says and the cleaning aunty at my office still asks "jiak Pak bueh?" or "Have You Eaten?"
It's a common in Teochew culture to ask that. Or the love which the Grandma lavishes on the grandson by cooking way more than enough rice and dishes.
This play is narrated through the eyes of the grandson who is taken care of by his grandma till he was seven. He reminisces the habits of his grandma, who puts porridge into her mouth to cool it. He questions about the meaning of Mother Tongue in school. If we were to speak Mother Tongue to better communicate with our mothers, grandmothers and great-grandmothers, would they not be unable to understand since they only understand dialects? Mine are gone and my mom is the new breed who speaks English, Mandarin and bits of other dialects.
It skims across the Speak Good Mandarin campaign and the government's attempts to wipe out dialects and unify the Chinese with Mandarin.
Tuesday, October 17, 2017
Sunday, October 15, 2017
The Space in Between - Marina Abramovic in Brazil
Painting with Light series at National Gallery Singapore
This documentary about Marina seeking to find herself and get rid of some baggage in life sheds light on how artists work as a conduit in their creative process.
Marina observes the surgical process of John the God, a self proclaimed healer in Brazil. His home is littered with statues of many religions and there's Jesus iconography everywhere and Catholic saints. Sacrilegious to me. Everyone wears white here and people come from afar to receive healing. He stuck a scissors into a guy's nose, use a blade to scrape the eyeball of another dude (think LASIK without forceps) and incised a woman's tummy and stuck his fingers in.
Next she goes to another place with Star of David forming a cross, with Celtic symbols, Marian statues, Muslim iconography and they are being led around this maze. Children and adults sit down and get "prayed over".
She goes to a rural area when this old lady speaks about her intuition for the healing properties of plants. She first found out about this when she was nine when asked to create medicine for her aunt who just suffered an epileptic attack. This amazing woman is so old and fathered many children, gave her milk to many more and delivered many babies.
Next we head to the forests and waterfall where she poses in white with the beautiful and powerful waterfall at the back. She speaks about her remedy for sickness - eat a slice of garlic and bite into fresh onion to boost one's immunity.
She goes to this home where this amazing woman whips up the most amazing dish of fish with gravy made of tomatoes, onions, garlic, coriander, coconut, coconut milk and fresh white fish.
She was heartbroken twice and wants to start 2014 on a fresh start in a confession on 31 Dec 2013.
Marina drinks the Ayuthasca, a hallucinogen, and stripes naked, pukes, shit and pee all at once when it kicked in. This helps her get rid of her negative energy and true enough the next time she took it, there was no effect.
This documentary about Marina seeking to find herself and get rid of some baggage in life sheds light on how artists work as a conduit in their creative process.
Marina observes the surgical process of John the God, a self proclaimed healer in Brazil. His home is littered with statues of many religions and there's Jesus iconography everywhere and Catholic saints. Sacrilegious to me. Everyone wears white here and people come from afar to receive healing. He stuck a scissors into a guy's nose, use a blade to scrape the eyeball of another dude (think LASIK without forceps) and incised a woman's tummy and stuck his fingers in.
Next she goes to another place with Star of David forming a cross, with Celtic symbols, Marian statues, Muslim iconography and they are being led around this maze. Children and adults sit down and get "prayed over".
She goes to a rural area when this old lady speaks about her intuition for the healing properties of plants. She first found out about this when she was nine when asked to create medicine for her aunt who just suffered an epileptic attack. This amazing woman is so old and fathered many children, gave her milk to many more and delivered many babies.
Next we head to the forests and waterfall where she poses in white with the beautiful and powerful waterfall at the back. She speaks about her remedy for sickness - eat a slice of garlic and bite into fresh onion to boost one's immunity.
She goes to this home where this amazing woman whips up the most amazing dish of fish with gravy made of tomatoes, onions, garlic, coriander, coconut, coconut milk and fresh white fish.
She was heartbroken twice and wants to start 2014 on a fresh start in a confession on 31 Dec 2013.
Marina drinks the Ayuthasca, a hallucinogen, and stripes naked, pukes, shit and pee all at once when it kicked in. This helps her get rid of her negative energy and true enough the next time she took it, there was no effect.
Saturday, October 14, 2017
China's Van Goghs
One of the films in the inaugural Painting With Light series at National Gallery Singapore
13 Oct 2017 Friday the Thirteen
Through the lens of Zhao Xiaoyong, a peasant who moved to Dafen, Shenzhen, China, to reproduce Van Goghs as his means of livelihood, this film explores the nature of consumerist art market, celebrates the tenacity of the human spirit and documents the loss of innocence with the revelation of the market system.
We see the claustrophobic room where Zhao and his fellow workers replicates Van Gogh's self portrait, Sunflowers, the cafe, the fields, and how they work tirelessly to meet the demands for 500, 800 pieces of paintings in a few months. They sleep, make love, eat in the same space and rush to finish the job. The scene pans out and we see just how many display of artworks there are in Dafen. How many people have abandoned agricultural skills to pick up art skills. The place is packed with craftsmen.
They are paid so little that only his wife, brother in law and family are the only ones left working for him. They truly admire Van Gogh's art for art sake spirit and tear up when they watch this rare film on the life of Van Gogh. Zhao dreams of going Amsterdam to see Van Gogh's original and manages to after 20 years of barely getting by with this means of work.
He meets his "collector" in Amsterdam and is disappointed to find out they're selling his works in a souvenir store for 500 euros which is 9x the amount he was paid. He is only paid 450 rmb. He treats his collector like god but he's merely a businessman.
Zhao recounts his excitement in seeing Van Gogh's paintings. How different they were from his. He described how well protected the museum is - three layers of doors with a final bullet proof door. He finally realises how he is merely a craftsman and his entire 20 years worth of paintings is never going to be worth Van Gogh's one painting. He starts painting the scene from Van Gogh's Cafe and when passers-by asked if he has any of his own, he couldn't answer. Stun like vegetable.
I like how he expresses his emotions without inhibitions. He cried after seeing Van Gogh's paintings, how little his works are sold for, how his friends encourage him to stay in Amsterdam. They drink a lot and smoke damn a lot. They bring their cultures of Joss sticks over by offering oranges and cigarettes for Vincent Van Gogh and Theodore his brother.
He is truly a teacher if not an artist. He is optimistic that with the opening of China market, he is capable of painting his own originals. Even if they do not get recognition now they may get it after death just like Van Gogh. He begins the first painting of his studio. He paints his grandma when he visited his hometown Hubei (I think). That's a moving picture. He painted the street scenes of his hometown and someone told him to take a picture instead. Art vs those who can't appreciate art.
Although his wife discouraged him from traveling to Amsterdam due to finances he still went for passion sake. They're definitely better off now. He didn't even finish first grade due to poverty. But now his daughter goes to boarding school in Shenzhen and complains that she doesn't understand and may not go into Uni. His son in elementary school is constantly oblivious to their family's plight.
They work hard, drink a lot, have celebrations like group dinners and ktv, find love and he remains true to Art even if he does not sell. Not so with the younger generation.
13 Oct 2017 Friday the Thirteen
Through the lens of Zhao Xiaoyong, a peasant who moved to Dafen, Shenzhen, China, to reproduce Van Goghs as his means of livelihood, this film explores the nature of consumerist art market, celebrates the tenacity of the human spirit and documents the loss of innocence with the revelation of the market system.
We see the claustrophobic room where Zhao and his fellow workers replicates Van Gogh's self portrait, Sunflowers, the cafe, the fields, and how they work tirelessly to meet the demands for 500, 800 pieces of paintings in a few months. They sleep, make love, eat in the same space and rush to finish the job. The scene pans out and we see just how many display of artworks there are in Dafen. How many people have abandoned agricultural skills to pick up art skills. The place is packed with craftsmen.
They are paid so little that only his wife, brother in law and family are the only ones left working for him. They truly admire Van Gogh's art for art sake spirit and tear up when they watch this rare film on the life of Van Gogh. Zhao dreams of going Amsterdam to see Van Gogh's original and manages to after 20 years of barely getting by with this means of work.
He meets his "collector" in Amsterdam and is disappointed to find out they're selling his works in a souvenir store for 500 euros which is 9x the amount he was paid. He is only paid 450 rmb. He treats his collector like god but he's merely a businessman.
Zhao recounts his excitement in seeing Van Gogh's paintings. How different they were from his. He described how well protected the museum is - three layers of doors with a final bullet proof door. He finally realises how he is merely a craftsman and his entire 20 years worth of paintings is never going to be worth Van Gogh's one painting. He starts painting the scene from Van Gogh's Cafe and when passers-by asked if he has any of his own, he couldn't answer. Stun like vegetable.
I like how he expresses his emotions without inhibitions. He cried after seeing Van Gogh's paintings, how little his works are sold for, how his friends encourage him to stay in Amsterdam. They drink a lot and smoke damn a lot. They bring their cultures of Joss sticks over by offering oranges and cigarettes for Vincent Van Gogh and Theodore his brother.
He is truly a teacher if not an artist. He is optimistic that with the opening of China market, he is capable of painting his own originals. Even if they do not get recognition now they may get it after death just like Van Gogh. He begins the first painting of his studio. He paints his grandma when he visited his hometown Hubei (I think). That's a moving picture. He painted the street scenes of his hometown and someone told him to take a picture instead. Art vs those who can't appreciate art.
Although his wife discouraged him from traveling to Amsterdam due to finances he still went for passion sake. They're definitely better off now. He didn't even finish first grade due to poverty. But now his daughter goes to boarding school in Shenzhen and complains that she doesn't understand and may not go into Uni. His son in elementary school is constantly oblivious to their family's plight.
They work hard, drink a lot, have celebrations like group dinners and ktv, find love and he remains true to Art even if he does not sell. Not so with the younger generation.
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
[mother!]
Directed by Aaron Aronofsky
Upon reflection, my house (boundaries, things I hold dear, things I spend years building and pruning, things I love and give my heart to) is also constantly being invaded & trampled upon. Shit dished on me and sometimes I've no guts to stand out to them.
Mother! might be a muse which a creator has to constantly create and is the source of his or her inspiration. This artistic creator is totally self-centred and narcissistic and mother! is always giving and giving until nothing is left to give. Mother! tries to protect her son but even that is taken from her. It is sad but true and reminds me of what we're doing to Mother Earth as well.
Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Michelle Pfieffer & Ed Harris
Mother! Opens with a woman burning with flames all around her. She's being burnt alive and yet she is not dead.
And the husband putting a crystal on a mantel which transforms everything anew - the entire house and trees around the area.
The lead actress wakes up to find her husband not in bed. Her husband has a mental block and she encourages him on by staring him down while he writes. She plays the role of a dutiful, stifling wife who uses a lot of reverse psychology at home. For eg she re-builds this home herself, cooks everything by herself even when she was heavily pregnant later and is intent on rebuilding her home. This could be read as the boundaries she has against anyone which gets slowly pushed down and finally trampled upon.
A stranger appears at the door looking for a room for rent. The husband is unable to reject him especially after knowing his ardent love for him as a fan, even more so as a fan dying from some illness. We see, through the wife's eyes, the escalating horror of intrusion, starting from this stranger, to his wife, two sons, Family and friends and finally with Publisher, fans and SWAT team.
However all starts out tranquil although extremely tense in the way everything was framed - tightly cropped leaving me at the edge of my seat all the time. From no smoking in the house, to the strangers wife barging in and treating it like her house, asking intrusive questions such as "Why do you not want kids?" Which parallels what I get sometimes at CNY during family gatherings, to the lead actress stumbling onto her strangers having sex in their room. When she wanted to throw them out she faltered at the last min.
The last straw came when the couple breaks the crystal and the husband boards up the writing room in his fit of anger. The lead actress throws them out.
But the next day, the stranger's sons barged in, and began quarrelling as the elder son was furious that his younger brother gets possession of wealth. He stabs him and his brother dies. The blood stains flow down to this huge basement which the lead finds the beating heart in the wall turning slightly black. Previously when she was painting the house, the heart was a healthy reddish form.
The husband, supposedly a protector of the wife and head of the household, leaves the wife to clear up the bloody mess. He goes to the hospital with the strangers and their dying son. I keep thinking that crazy son will enter and stab her.
The husband returns and she blows up. She blames him for inviting people in without her consent and we can tell the writer loves the adulation of the strangers. They quarrel over him not wanting to touch her and make love to her, to which the husband promptly did to prove her wrong. The next day she announces that she's pregnant. After she had given him life, the husband could write again and he produced another story which moved her to tears. She dumps the medicine which is energy itself that sustains her heart and forms the crystal, into the sink. Maybe she knows her mission is almost complete.
The phone calls start coming in and during her preparations for a candlelight celebration at home, fans began crowding the doors, then streaming in, finally breaking down all doors. What begins as cordial fun with fan signing time, moves to club-like party and escalates to beheading by the publicist and SWAT team. There is a cult-like fanaticism, with alters filled with the husband's image, candles everywhere and signing of the forehead which bears much resemblance to Christian imagery and practices.
The lead actress is saved by her husband and they find sanctuary in the writing room. She gives birth to a son and the cult outside bears gifts of nourishment and water. She mothers her son and refuses to allow the writer to hold him, for fearing that he would be taken away. When she closed her eyes for a second, her son is gone and the husband has sacrificed him to the crowd. They beat her up and the husband tries to save her. They have eaten his flesh and the lead stabs them all. The heart in the wall has turned Black. She runs to the basement and the crowds want her blood. She spills open the oil tank and sets herself on fire. All is dead including the house. It was charred to the grounds and the trees surrounding it. She's badly burnt and the husband us unscathed. He asks for a final wish from her - her heart - and she obliges. The precious stone lays inside.
The writer puts this precious crystal on the mantel once again and the place is transformed. A new wife, his muse, is born.
A writer is never for himself or for a wife alone. He does not love her but just the love she shows him. It is sad. She can never build any house with him because he is a creator and does not belong to any one.
Upon reflection, my house (boundaries, things I hold dear, things I spend years building and pruning, things I love and give my heart to) is also constantly being invaded & trampled upon. Shit dished on me and sometimes I've no guts to stand out to them.
Mother! might be a muse which a creator has to constantly create and is the source of his or her inspiration. This artistic creator is totally self-centred and narcissistic and mother! is always giving and giving until nothing is left to give. Mother! tries to protect her son but even that is taken from her. It is sad but true and reminds me of what we're doing to Mother Earth as well.
Friday, October 6, 2017
Singapore Heritage Short Film Competition 2017
By Singapore Film Society
1) Nautical Miles (PG) by Lighthouse Pictures
About lighthouse and its origins in Singapore with interviews from academics in NUS
2) Set A: The Singaporean Breakfast (G) by S.M.J Productions
How the breakfast has evolved in Singapore
3) Old of Things (PG) by Honest Visuals
Yee Geok Eng is a resident of the now-demolished Dakota Crescent. It is a very moving story of loss, memories, identity and home. She has to move out of her beloved cluttered home. Her sister gets her to throw almost anything that is "useless". There is this sense of loss in the elderly, unmarried Yee. Her new home is devoid of character and she has to make do.
4) Getting Tough 纸扎止扎 (PG) by 小火 PorDuckSions
Mr Ng and Mr Soh are paper effigies makers. But this is now a vanishing trade, especially in Singapore, with people embracing other religions.
About lighthouse and its origins in Singapore with interviews from academics in NUS
2) Set A: The Singaporean Breakfast (G) by S.M.J Productions
How the breakfast has evolved in Singapore
3) Old of Things (PG) by Honest Visuals
Yee Geok Eng is a resident of the now-demolished Dakota Crescent. It is a very moving story of loss, memories, identity and home. She has to move out of her beloved cluttered home. Her sister gets her to throw almost anything that is "useless". There is this sense of loss in the elderly, unmarried Yee. Her new home is devoid of character and she has to make do.
4) Getting Tough 纸扎止扎 (PG) by 小火 PorDuckSions
Mr Ng and Mr Soh are paper effigies makers. But this is now a vanishing trade, especially in Singapore, with people embracing other religions.
5) Apache Over Singapore (PG) by The60sApaches
Joseph Pereira, author and SG-Malaysia 1960s music researcher, takes us to the golden decade of 1960-1970s local music in Singapore music industry. I never knew there was so much talent then! What happened?? Where have the people gone to? Where are the creatives? What has happened to the soul of the city?
6) The Last Line (PG) by SNP Collective
This group of boys follow fishermen out to Pulau Ubin and document their livelihood and disappearing trade in Singapore. They set out from Jenal Jettey and are met with thunderstorm. Unable to do anything they wait it out and catch close to nothing.
Never knew that people still make a living out of fishing in Singapore. This group won the competition of the Junior category. Maybe it is beginners luck.
7) The Nine Emperor Gods (PG) by Broadcast Media Team 2
I observe how there are still the young who show interest in this tradition. This is burnt during the celebration of e.g. 九王爷. All is not lost.
8) One Track Mind (G) by On The Rocks Productions
Five men of different races and background show their love for the model railway, with a Caucasian who aims to build Singapore's first model railway museum. And a Malay who has this huge working model railway in one room. An Eurasian. A Chinese. Reminds me of my bf with his collection of toys. There is this congenial spirit between them as they become friends, collectors, buyers and sellers.
Joseph Pereira, author and SG-Malaysia 1960s music researcher, takes us to the golden decade of 1960-1970s local music in Singapore music industry. I never knew there was so much talent then! What happened?? Where have the people gone to? Where are the creatives? What has happened to the soul of the city?
6) The Last Line (PG) by SNP Collective
This group of boys follow fishermen out to Pulau Ubin and document their livelihood and disappearing trade in Singapore. They set out from Jenal Jettey and are met with thunderstorm. Unable to do anything they wait it out and catch close to nothing.
Never knew that people still make a living out of fishing in Singapore. This group won the competition of the Junior category. Maybe it is beginners luck.
7) The Nine Emperor Gods (PG) by Broadcast Media Team 2
I observe how there are still the young who show interest in this tradition. This is burnt during the celebration of e.g. 九王爷. All is not lost.
8) One Track Mind (G) by On The Rocks Productions
Five men of different races and background show their love for the model railway, with a Caucasian who aims to build Singapore's first model railway museum. And a Malay who has this huge working model railway in one room. An Eurasian. A Chinese. Reminds me of my bf with his collection of toys. There is this congenial spirit between them as they become friends, collectors, buyers and sellers.
Sunday, September 24, 2017
West Side Story
A Contemporary take of Romeo & Juliet
Showing at MBS
Most wonderful singing and graceful moves, love the choreography, beautiful set and lighting.
Love the scene where Maria and Tony envisions a better world and pairs start strutting around in white, climaxing with the two slain characters in white with blood on their shirts. The subtle shift is poignant and gave me a jolt.
Tony is shot by Maria's friend but Maria is unharmed. Her sister in law was raped by the whites, who were themselves immigrants of America. Talk about irony!
Showing at MBS
Most wonderful singing and graceful moves, love the choreography, beautiful set and lighting.
Love the scene where Maria and Tony envisions a better world and pairs start strutting around in white, climaxing with the two slain characters in white with blood on their shirts. The subtle shift is poignant and gave me a jolt.
Tony is shot by Maria's friend but Maria is unharmed. Her sister in law was raped by the whites, who were themselves immigrants of America. Talk about irony!
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Alt Screen: In Transit: My Brothers and Sisters in the North
This film by woman film director Sung-Hyung Cho documents the journey of a South Korean who could enter North Korea only through her German passport. It starts with her taking pictures with women and men of The Army and the unspoilt beauty - lush mountains and lakes - all around North Korea.
She follows a local North Korean household - son who works in a swimming complex, daughter who does secret services for the Army and Grandma whose Father was killed in a war. We see how bikinis are not allowed in the public swimming pools with slides as such western ideologies corrupt the minds of the masses. News of the day is being read from a two page four sides newspapers mostly about praising the people for their productivity and pledging loyalty to the ruling political power. Son wanted to continue working for the Army but after repeated requests to study University he finally relented. The Grandma is a very strong woman who yearns for reunification and urges the director to speed up this process. The son hopes for change due to economic reasons and the Grandma because of political reasons.
Next she enters a garment making factory and interviews a young girl who is the "star" of the week. Motivated by a rewards and punishments system, they have a daily quota of 150-200 clothing's to make for export. This girl shares how she likes to work in a factory as it is a womanly skills like cooking and she aims to design and sew her own clothes in future. The factory's working hours are 8am - 6 (or was it 7pm), with a lunch break from 12-2pm and a dance routine in between work. It's a bit staged. The factory workers know the move by hard and just do this dance routine for a good 3 mins.
A scene in a nursery and kindergarten compares the differences between the all-praising of the political power among the kindergarten to the attempts to get the very blur-looking nursery children to enact the same praise actions.
In another scene we see the children in a sports school who live in boarding schools on site. It's sad. How can they not miss home? These primary school children. We happen upon a dorm where the teacher was invited to play musical instrument for the children because they wish to sing. For real?! There was pride when the teacher showed those foldable tables which save space.
Next we see a tractor farmer and his family- wife and eldest primary level daughter and lower primary son. It's a very simple family. Dad fell in love with driving the tractor when he was in the Army and requested to be a farmer. Wife fell in love with his willpower and they have two children. They eat a lot of rice for dinner and don't talk during dinner time. They have solar power to charge their electricity and TV. If there was enough electricity they'd watch color TV. Else it's black and white.
She follows a local North Korean household - son who works in a swimming complex, daughter who does secret services for the Army and Grandma whose Father was killed in a war. We see how bikinis are not allowed in the public swimming pools with slides as such western ideologies corrupt the minds of the masses. News of the day is being read from a two page four sides newspapers mostly about praising the people for their productivity and pledging loyalty to the ruling political power. Son wanted to continue working for the Army but after repeated requests to study University he finally relented. The Grandma is a very strong woman who yearns for reunification and urges the director to speed up this process. The son hopes for change due to economic reasons and the Grandma because of political reasons.
Next she enters a garment making factory and interviews a young girl who is the "star" of the week. Motivated by a rewards and punishments system, they have a daily quota of 150-200 clothing's to make for export. This girl shares how she likes to work in a factory as it is a womanly skills like cooking and she aims to design and sew her own clothes in future. The factory's working hours are 8am - 6 (or was it 7pm), with a lunch break from 12-2pm and a dance routine in between work. It's a bit staged. The factory workers know the move by hard and just do this dance routine for a good 3 mins.
A scene in a nursery and kindergarten compares the differences between the all-praising of the political power among the kindergarten to the attempts to get the very blur-looking nursery children to enact the same praise actions.
In another scene we see the children in a sports school who live in boarding schools on site. It's sad. How can they not miss home? These primary school children. We happen upon a dorm where the teacher was invited to play musical instrument for the children because they wish to sing. For real?! There was pride when the teacher showed those foldable tables which save space.
Next we see a tractor farmer and his family- wife and eldest primary level daughter and lower primary son. It's a very simple family. Dad fell in love with driving the tractor when he was in the Army and requested to be a farmer. Wife fell in love with his willpower and they have two children. They eat a lot of rice for dinner and don't talk during dinner time. They have solar power to charge their electricity and TV. If there was enough electricity they'd watch color TV. Else it's black and white.
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