15

Caught "15" at Screen Singapore today, definitely worth the 9 bucks for a local film. Royston Tan had cleverly tuned down the vulgarity with humour. cleverly done! This is the first local film i gave the thumbs up for! When the ah bengs start singing their hokkien songs, it's so hilarious! haha they sing until so damn serious but it's so funny...

For those who missed it, check out the trailer here and the Times magazine review.


The adventure of five fifteen year old boys in Singapore: estranged to every social reference, except for that of appearance and close friendships, they live their lives distant from their families and school, passing their days in a complete state of indolence in the search of experiences, at times even physically painful (tattoos, piercing, wounds). Their imaginary is completely colonized by MTV, cartoons, electronic jingles, publicity and comics.

Interpreted by street-kids that belong to the group they represent, this audacious and disturbing first work by the twenty-six year old Royston Tan explores an adolescent world, dramatically marked by the conflictual under-culture and complete addiction to video clip and videogame aesthetics. The existential suburban hardship, compared to the bright "western" and "English speaking" metropolis, is consumed through moving and desperate dialogues inscribed in a progression of disturbing sequences, similar to short sketches that slowly reconstruct the relational, psychological and family dynamics of the five boys. A sincere and lyrical film but at the same time irreverent, scandalous and extreme, an expression of Singapore cinema, unknown and emerging.