THE GUINNESS THEATRE

My Lovely Evening at the Substation.

It was Michelle who first asked me if I was interested in watching Short Films at the Substation. My answer was a resounding yes. I really wanted to see what was the standard of our independent films. So what better way than to watch these films with my favourite producer, Michelle and the genius Scriptwriter, Latiff.

After all the planning, we three met at city hall MRT station. Funny Michelle and I were traveling in the same coach of the MRT and didn’t even see each other until we reached City Hall.

We then proceeded to have a snack at burger king before heading down to the Substation. Though we arrived way ahead of time, we did some sight seeing and sat down together at the coffee shop opposite the substation and a little chat.

As the show time neared, we got in line for the show; we were like the second group of people there. Anyone who saw us there would be thinking that we were so supportive of our local films.

While waiting for the show we joked about our own video assignments and also how we could turn them into art films.

When the theater doors opened we quickly made our way to the top and secured the good seats. As the crowd was filling, I noticed a familiar face. It was our storyboard lecturer from year one, Mr. Lau. I was delighted to see him there. I was also very proud to see that he really had a strong interest in local films. Most lecturers would only ramble on how we must support local artists but Mr. Lau was not rambling but showing it instead.

As Mr. Lau was sitting on the front row and had no idea that his former students were in the crowd, Michelle influenced by me disturbed the poor man with sms messages. Mr.Lau being the good sport that he is had no choice but to play along.

Though I have heard many complaints about Mr. Lau, he has in my estimation lived up to his end. I am truly glad that I have met Mr. Lau in the polytechnic. He is the one I credit as being the catalyst who created my interest in movies and storytelling.

Ok. For those of you who are not aware of the short films I have watched, I have typed out the synopsis of each of these short films so that you get a rough idea of what they were about. Also I have made some comments on each film.

1. Under the Manhattan Bridge
7 min. Directed by Li-Anne Huang

Set in New York City’s Chinatown. A young Asian boy falls in love with an edgy Brooklyn street-girl. Both seemingly share the share dream: to make enough money to leave their neighborhoods, but unknown to him, she walks across the Manhattan Bridge with an ulterior motive.

My thoughts
I have to admit I am not a huge fan of Asian American films. This short film is no different from any other art film. It just simply takes to two different characters and put them together to play out an interesting scenario. The script was mediocre at its best and the actors were not convincing enough. It just gave me the impression that this short film was done under extreme budgetary constraints and a tight dateline.

2. Portrait of a Young Man
25 min. Directed by Francis Lau

Portrait of a young man explores the different routes that a young man can take in his search for deliverance and success, and the consequences of taking that route. A dramatic re-enactment of the life of Laurence leow, now Executive Chairman of the Crecendas Group of Companies, the film heralds the redemptive power of education.

My thoughts
Well to tell you the truth, the moment the words Singapore Polytechnic flashed across the screen, I was having the doubts about the quality of this short film. But to my amazement the short film turn out quite the opposite of what I have imagined.

The first thing that caught my eye was the good cinematography and quality of this short. The story was engaging but the narrative could have been better. The only problem I had was the fact it was a propaganda film made to celebrate the Singapore Polytechnic’s 50th anniversary. And it could do without the cheesy moments.

3. The Assassin
5 min. Directed by Melvin Kuan

A mockumentary-satire on the gangster genre about a professional killer on his last job.

My thoughts
The moment this short played, I knew it was going to be funny. The actor was so full of himself almost everyone in the theater were either giggling or laughing. It was just a slapstick comedy about an Ah-Beng gangster trying to act like a professional assassin.

Although the director seemed pretty proud of his short, I wasn’t impressed. It has everything that gave Singapore a bad image in the international film festivals. Crude, badly edited, no budget, shaky cams, stiff actors and the worse mistake of all, it tried to be professional.

Not than I am condemning the director’s effort, I just feel that he could have made more effort to produce this short film rather than producing what film critics will most certainty deem as trash.

4. The Funeral Photo
11 min. Directed by Ong Wan Shu

A retired couple decides to have their funeral photo taken. An accident happens during the photography session that sparked off a discussion about the subject of “untimely death” between the couple and the photographer.

My thoughts
The funeral Photo was the only short film that had an interesting topic. Although there have been similar stories based people dieing after taking their photos, I wanted to see if the director could bring anything new to the genre.

His efforts were commendable as the short film come through with a strong impression on me. The actors were really doing a good job expect for the young couples. The story flowed from one scene to the other in deliberate pace. Although the plot and the ending were predictable, I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Overall it was the best short film on the card.

Post interview
After all the films were presented, the directors took the center stage. Only the director of the last film, the funeral photo, was not present. After half and hour of Q & A, everyone called it a day and left. Latiff incidentally posted a question to the directors and got reasonable answers from them. The Q & A session was a nice touch but nothing useful was gained.

A keychain to our Friendship
Later as everyone was leaving, we caught up with Mr. Lau and had a hearty chat with him. We just talked about our post polytechnic lives and how disappointed we were with the polytechnic.

Well after the lengthy episode at the substation, we decided to discuss about our little outing. So we went to Starbucks or was it Coffee Bean, Oh never mind. We sat and discussed about the films and even chatted on how fate chose us. After all on the first day of polytechnic, Michelle, Latiff and I were in the same group and after three years we are still together as friends.

She told me how quiet I was back then. Well don't judge a book by its cover. By now she would have realized I just can’t keep my damn mouth shut.

I also took this opportunity to present my great buddies a keychain commemorating our friendship. They were as gracious as always and thanked me. But I do admit, I wanted to buy a pink piggy bank for Michelle and a Merlion statue for Latiff just to irritate them.

As it was getting late, we said our goodbyes, went our separate ways and it happen on the first Tuesday of this month. Sorry for the late post as I was having trouble remembering the all details. Anyway it was a truly memorable experience for me.

So till my next post ya, its bye from Ganz.

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