Of the heartlands, for the heartlands.

Of the heartlands, for the heartlands.


picture from www.royston-tan.blogspot.com

Arriving a mere three minutes late had us scrambling around in the dark, in a theatre which shockingly did not have lighted alphabets and seat numbers. I caught sight of a "K", and thankfully knew my alphabets well enough to not have to stand in the aisles reciting it to figure out which was row "I".

I detest having to squeeze past the seated audience to get to my seat. I'm always faced with the dilemma of sticking my bum or my crotch in their faces, and I usually make a split second decision to go with the former. At least I can make a conscious effort to keep my bum out of their faces. If I were to enter the other way round, I might just hit the unlucky people in row 'J' at the back of their heads with my bum. Bum sweep.

I once mused on my flight to Bali: "If clothes maketh the man, then do the passengers on the plane define the destination?"

In this case, the audience seemed to define the getai scene that 881 was about. It wasn't so much of the younger cinema-going crowd I saw today, but instead people from the heartlands. And it was such a different experience to be sitting amongst them and watching a film that embodied the soul of the heartlands.

No pretentious angmoh slang-ers or giggly international school students, typical of romantic comedies; or the stuffy corporate types I see in Cinema Europa. It felt truly... Singaporean, complete with an ah beng who had a three-minute conversation on his handphone in the middle of the show. We gave him 45 seconds to answer his ringing phone and to inform the caller that he was in his cinema, but when he showed no signs of hanging up, "shhhhhh"s sprung up from all around the cinema. And still, Mr. Talkative yakked on, until a lady exclaimed, "Keep quiet!"

The film was awesome, and I could identify some of the framing techniques Shawn How mentioned during 108. I'm definitely a rookie when it comes to cinematography and what-nots, but this lack of technical know-hows doesn't make me any less appreciative of the film. In our world of Hollywood imports, this was close to home and all the more so heartwarming.

And watching it from amongst today's audience really added to the Singaporean charm. Yes, even Mr. Talkative.