Films Of Our Time

We live in a time where a never ending list of films are constantly added to the cinema screens. Probably an abnormal practice, but I make it a point to catch every single film released, irregardless of any forms of reviews from the media. I am a film-maker myself, and even though occasionally one or two awards may come my way, as a few of you might know, there is a whole world out there to learn. The more one knows, the more one knows that he does not know. Make sense? Back to the films. Every film has its unique theme and storyline, but what makes a good movie? How would a movie production be termed successful?

Apparently what the majority of us watch would be the typical "Hollywood Releases", with big-shot celebrities and USD100 million budgets, but do we realize the other side of the film industry (I will elaborate on this later), other than these "Hollywood Releases", in which I am very rapidly losing faith in. If you are really bored and have nothing to do you are welcome to criticize a few by just clicking the "0 Comments" link just below this article. =) With extreme great tolerance, I will not be condemning any film in this entry but I will attempt to my greatest extent, to give a fair review.

Shallow Hollow

Films were once created for entertainment, they were created for the pure enjoyment of the audience and as such, it was the director's and screenwriter's job, or very often, their personal goal, to send a particular message across. It was a medium in which the film makers and audience communicated. What has become of the films that we see today? Every month comes by and it is hard to miss a new film release. Does anyone notice however, how SHALLOW such films are? Certain films deserve the praise but I have personally seen these big-shot celebrities in films that hold no original concept or any form of sophistication in which will provide provoking thoughts. No, all these never matter anymore somehow. Films now often revolve around one single theme, in which the ENTIRE STORYLINE can be described in ONE SENTENCE.

Money. Money. Money

Financial gains, I would say, has already taken the top priority in film-making nowadays. I am sorry Hollywood but yes, it is films that are produced from you that fall into this category. The money that is brought into the production company somehow overrides the fact that what simply matter the most is still the one single message that is meant to be sent across to the audience. A successful film, if not considering the financial aspect, would be one that is able to keep the audience thinking, one in which the audience will remember and not forget anytime in the near future. Of course, there are real successful movies who are earning big bucks in this decade are films of impeccable standards, in every aspect possible. Such, I will not even dare to raise my critical finger to.

Sex, Violence and Gore

Does it really sell? Apparently yes, they do sell and there are specific markets for them. It has been a strange phenomenon how the fact that human nudity is excessively glorious to human themselves. Nevertheless, it is to be admitted unfortunately that censorship is and should be always set in place, especially from my beautiful hometown. For all the "I'm innocent and I don't want sex and violence" people, grow up. Sex is only obscene in a pornographic movie, and even that is called "Adult Entertainment". Did you ever think of the fact that one short scene of sex can tell an entire story of love, lust, jealousy or even hatred. There IS an artistic side to the natural process of human reproduction. So to all qualified M18 movie watchers, please don't go all "ergh, argh, yucks". Violence and gore, well, its just entertaining isn't it? It adds on to the excitement and horror and terror to whichever theme the film belongs to. However again, to many film-makers, they sell. So they do it.

Local Scene

The local scene I would say, has been interesting. The usual name that is mentioned over and over again with relation to successful Singaporean films is Jack Neo in which well, I don't really wish to comment about. It's just that certain films in Singapore that has been released hold "extremely great potential for endorsements and propaganda". That isn't a really great image is it? I wouldn't say that Mr Neo's movies are entirely bad, they do portray a local feel and they do bring the ideas forward to the audience, but for all who have watched his movies, I'm sure you agree there is a certain level of shallowness in which isn't very acceptable. My sincere apologies for my negative comments Mr. Neo.

On the other side, we have old timer Royston Tan who are not exactly bringing his films out commercially but nevertheless are the standards of Singaporean films. Contrasting scripts he has presented us with, and already seen in a few movies, true stories or interpretations. He has been winning awards well enough but honestly, he is one respectable film-maker.

Lastly, the couple Woo Yen Yen and Colin Goh swooped the Montblanc New Screenwriters Award at the San Sebastian International Film Festival. Yes. An Internationally Recognized Film Festival. A first for Singaporeans I should say. It not only won the hearts of the judges at the film festival, but back here on dear Singapore, really positively placed reviews has been made, including the one by me. The film was one in which the audience LIVED the movie, and not just WATCH it. Of course, this only happened in the Singaporean context but thinking of how they were internationally graced with such awards only reinforce the fact that such "local based" films could travel far from home.

The Other Side of Films

Film festivals, through experience, could be a little more abstract than usual, taking more brain juice to actually understand what is going on. This very often happens in short-film festivals but again, it is not necessarily the norm in film festivals. Take our local example for example which was mentioned above, "Singapore Dreaming", in a Singaporean context of course, wasn't much at all of abstract. Of course, the film also targeted the audience at a commercial level, but still, it has proved its worth watching. Film festivals offer films who have been put in place to compete, and not to earn. This creates a world of difference from the actual movie industry, as naturally, such spirit of competition sparks the desire for innovation and really, such films, especially the winning ones, are worth watching.