SAY BYE to polyester suits and bell-bottom pants,forever.
10 years after his directorial debut with the retro-styled feature film 'Forever Fever', Cambridge-educated Glen Goei has turned to dark comedy to mark his return to the silver screen.
His latest film 'The Blue Mansion' is a classicwhodunit. In it, a tycoon dies suddenly and mysteriously. He returns as a ghost and haunts his eccentric extended family in a bid to unravel the circumstances of his death.
Filmed entirely on location in Penang at the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion (a Unesco Architectural HeritageAward recipient), the movie boasts an experienced cast from Singapore and Malaysia, featuring the likes of thespians Patrick Teoh, Emma Yong, Adrian Pang, and Tan Kheng Hua.
The film also has Hollywood marked all over it - Stanley Kubrick's 'Eyes Wide Shut' director of photography Larry Smith is the cinematographer.
MSN caught up with the effervescent 47-year-old just before he jets off for the film's world premiere at the prestigious Pusan Film Festival, and uncovers some fascinating details about the movie on our own.
Q: Where did you get the inspiration to make this movie?
GLEN GOEI: Ten years ago, I attended the wake of (actress) Pamela Oei's mother, and found it very fascinating and melodramatic. An Asian wake is like a soap opera - you have people playing mahjong and gossiping, relatives arguing about the religious rituals and so on. Instead of celebrating this person's life, the wake actually becomes a social event, people catching up with each other and all that.
The wake gave me an insight into the weaknesses and foibles of the human condition. During a funeral, a lot of skeletons in the closet, literally, do emerge! That for me created a great premise for a film, because everyone has secrets, all of us.
Q: 'The Blue Mansion' was almost a decade in the making. Why did it take you so long to do the film?
GG: I had been trying to find a writer to write the script for me, one with a story that could move me, but more importantly someone who could understand what I was trying to say as an artiste.
Then three years ago, I was planning to host a dinner for CNN correspondent Richard Quest, and wanted to invite some interesting people to join us. It was breakfast time, I was flipping through the papers and happened to read one of (former Straits Times journalist) Ken Kwek's articles. He sounded quite interesting and I like his work, so I wrote to him asking if he would join us for dinner. He came, and it was through that meeting that we started working on this film together.
So in truth, the film wouldn't have happened if Richard didn't come into town that weekend and my finger didn't happen to fall on Ken's byline in the paper!
Q: What a story! Is this movie will just as captivating? What can the audience expect to get out of it?
GG: 'The Blue Mansion' is arguably the most expensive local production ever made, costing over US$3 million. The audience can therefore expect very high production values - set designs, lighting and so on.
Other than that, I think we have a very entertaining story. It's framed as a murder mystery much like (popular boardgame) Cluedo, but it really is a family drama. At the end of the day, the movie is all about examining the family, a universal theme which a lot of people can relate to.
Q: The movie has a real theatrical feel to it. Do you think it'll take off among mainstream movie audiences used to conventional Hollywood fare?
GG: I don't know really. It's not a Hollywood blockbuster, and doesn't have violence and special effects and all the gimmicks. It's not a flick where you come out of the cinema and think 'oh that's fantastic' and forget about it when you go home, because it was just two hours of entertainment.
Instead, it's a demanding movie with an intelligent script. So from the audience's point of view, there's definitely a bigger payoff, because when you invest something in it, you also get more out of the whole experience.
Q: A common gripe among many Singapore filmmakers is that critical acclaim that 'artsy' movies generate doesn't necessarily translate to success at the local box office. Does this frustrate you?
GG: I don't make films with the object of making money. If I did, I would have become a stock broker or property developer. I became an artist, because I have a love for story-telling and the power that comes with it.
I'm fascinated with art, because it is after all a very powerful medium. We all know that, and governments know that, which is why instruments like censorship and regulation are in place. Long after governments fall or countries fade away, art is always the thing which remains.
So to answer your question, I will make a film without expecting it to make money. If it does, great. If it doesn't, then that's the nature of the beast.
Q: In every way, 'The Blue Mansion' is a vastly different production compared to 'Forever Fever'. Why have you completely reinvented yourself as a movie director?
GG: (laughs) Well, 'Forever Fever' was a record of my teenage years growing up in Singapore, as well as reflection of the way I saw this place in the 60s and 70s. I guess you could say 'The Blue Mansion' is really Glen Goei as an older, mature adult, my reality of Singapore now.
Q: You were artistic director for several National Day Parades, not quite a typical filmmaker's assignment. What made you take on the job?
GG: It was really a personal challenge, absolutely. I feel that every artist should have a change in direction ever so often. At that time, I had been doing theatre for so many years, and wanted to try a different medium and tell a different story to a different scale of audience.
The challenge for me, really, was connecting to 55,000 people from different walks of life in an open-air stadium. I had to think hard about how I was going to reach out to them without actors, a script or dialogue. That was a huge, huge thing for me, and I'm glad I did it. It was really enjoyable.
Q: You've certainly proved to be anything but predictable. Any idea what you'll be doing for the next five years?
GG: (Sighs) I don't know really, I don't plan my life. This film certainly wasn't planned, I may never make another movie or take another 10 years to do another one.
Currently, I'm doing a romantic musical based a historical Chinese figure, and busy working on a dance piece with a music ensemble which plays a fusion of both Eastern and Western instruments. These are all really interesting collaborations for me. At the end of the day, I'm just trying to find new ways of telling my stories.
The Blue Mansion premieres in local cinemas on 22 October.
i-keilin@microsoft.com
