The Blue Mansion

~ Sometimes Your Family Just Kills You ~

It's no mean feat for Singaporean film makers to overcome all odds (red tape, financing, censors) to covert a script into a full length motion picture. Hence it will be a crime to miss "The Blue Mansion", a long overdue project by Singapore's movie maverick Mr Glenn Goei. In fact, I was so worried the screening will not last more than a couple of weeks that I dragged my sweetie to the theatres on the second week after its release.

Mr Goei is probably one of the most under-rated local movie producers. For a long long time, the local media were paying attention to the box-office rivalries-successes (cue Jack Neo, Royston Tan, Kelvin Tong) or the controversial bans (cue Boo Jun Feng, Loo Zihan). They seem to have conveniently forgotten that the recent film makers have the easier end of the stick because Glenny Boy had paved a way for Singapore movie industry with "Forever Fever" 11 years, which was the first contemporary Singapore production to go international then.

Anyway, "The Blue Mansion" has Glen's hallmarks - a story with strong local flavours (Peranakan family, Filipino domestic workers, Chinese traditional funeral ceremony), issues that are close to his heart (family power struggle, cheating couple, individuals giving up their career/love to conform to family expectations, dsyfunctional middle-aged single women, marginalised wives, closeted husband), and an incredible cast of the best actors from Singapore and Malaysia arts scene (I shall not gush about Tan Kheng Hua, but yes, the rest are fine actors too).

Anyone who appreciates "who dunnit?" murder mysteries will really love "The Blue Mansion". Mr Goei interlaced elements of theatre by opening the story with the dramatic death of pineapple tycoon Wee Bak Chuan, and unfolding the plot slowly as he introduced the various characters. The clever use of blue lights reflected from the flooded airwell created a surreal and sombre mood in funeral scene, and really brought out the beauty of the Peranakan house, which interestingly is the restored Cheong Fatt Tze House in Penang. But anyone who is familiar with architecture of 19th century Straits Chinese houses will know the central airwell is supposed to drain excess rainwater that may potentially flood the house during the monsoon seasons. It should never be flooded to create an indoor pond, as it was in the show. The sibling rivalry between Liang (Lim Kay Siu), Ming (Adrian Pang) and Shan (Neo Swee Lin) was, in my opinion, more interesting than the typical HK drama, because these characters spewed expletives the way it should be, and have personalities that were representative of present social fabric. They were raised under strict rules, and were forced to make life decisions against their wishes. Not surprisingly, they grew up bitter, violent, and with full of regrets.

And if you thought all that "coarse language" and "mature content" would have pushed the censorship boundaries, you should witness Emma Yong's character Mei Yi went full frontal with gory red paint all over her body.. for a good ten over seconds. It's tough to say whether pregnant silence in the theatre was due to shock from horror or lust.

Kudos have to go to the excellent production team. The crisp editing, lush orchestra score, close-knitted screenplay, and local cultural elements really make this movie a gem. I am so glad Glenn has stopped wasting his talent and time doing the NDP shows and gave Singapore movie industry something to be proud of.

Yes, shame on you if you are still contemplating whether to watch this fabulous show or another CGI film on mass destruction.