Breaking Boundaries Within A Local Context: Feature Films and Drama

The texts that I have chosen for this post are arguably controversial – I have selected a drama piece and 2 film texts, and am well aware that the latter two are unlikely to be introduced as a formal literary text in the local (Secondary and JC) classroom anytime soon. Nevertheless, I thought it would be fascinating to consider the possibilities of their integration into our current and future classroom settings because film itself brings with it endless literary prospects with which our students can always identify and relate.  My purpose of deciding on feature films for my selection is to further motivate students to unpack and dissect cinematic works that have always been familiar to them yet rarely analysed in greater detail. I believe that these are more accessible and comprehensible as compared to more obscure productions in which students tend to be less interested. 

The Maid, Kelvin Tong (2005)

Produced in 2005, The Maid is a local horror film revolving around the arrival of Filipina domestic worker Rosa Dimano in modern Singapore, and her strange encounters with the eccentric Teo family. Set in the context of the Chinese Ghost Festival, Rosa struggles to come to terms with elements of the supernatural that surface within the eerie confines of the Teo’s dilapidated shophouse. She eventually discovers the secret (for lack of a better word, I’m afraid) behind the mysterious and ghastly appearances of the female ghost residing in the house. The film has also won the European Fantastic Film Festival Federation (EFFFF) Asian Film Award at the 10th Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival.

While introducing this text into the Singapore classroom may appear contentious – owing to its otherworldly rudiments and provocative genre – the film exposes its viewers to cultural, social, and political issues specific to Singapore as a developed country. Its prominent themes of migrant labour, patriarchal constitutions, and familial love are adeptly presented and explored, through the portrayal of modern life replete with religious and cultural undertones. At the lower Secondary level, however, this may be a challenging text to negotiate by virtue of its higher-order themes. I personally believe that the film would be more suitable for upper Secondary and even JC students, who are more likely to appreciate and critically engage with   the aforementioned themes. Simultaneously, larger literary themes surrounding the otherworldly as well as oppression along racial and gender lines can be explored within the film, rendering the film a thought-provoking local text that can be traversed in the context of Literature.

Ilo Ilo, Anthony Chen (2013)

The first Singapore film to win an award at the Cannes Film Festival, Ilo Ilo features the story of a family and its newly employed maid during the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. Chen’s work portrays the diverse familial relations within the family (husband-wife, parent-child, child-maid, parent-maid). While ostensibly slow-paced, the film is unique in that it presents the bleak and stark realities that Singaporeans grapple with during a severe economic downturn.

Albeit the seemingly simplistic notions of family ties and the overarching theme of love, the film offers substantial opportunities for character analysis and character relationships. The small cast enables the audience to focus on the development of each and every character and their involvement in the private sphere of the home. Personally, I would integrate this into a lower Secondary Literature class since Chen’s themes and message are fairly simple to decode and discuss. Specifically, I anticipate students to be able to relate to the poignantly complex relationship between the male protagonist (Jia Le, the son) and his domestic worker, as many children in Singapore today are familiar with the presence of an other – migrant helper – in their very own homes.

Having ascertained this, I would like to highlight that like The Maid, Ilo Ilo is a predominantly Chinese film. However, important to note is that both films employ a significant amount of dialogue and conversation in English AND Singlish, which lend the works a distinctly Singaporean flavour. This once again enhances the student’s capacity to engage with the films on a level higher than perhaps, more renowned international productions.

The Coffin is too Big for the Hole, Kuo Pao Kun - [MOE Syllabus]

The possibilities of film aside, drama remains a considerable component in the study of Literature in Singapore. Kuo’s play, which is now part of the MOE-recommended texts in our drama syllabus, involves the frustration of its male protagonist, who is unable to accept the reality of his grandfather’s coffin being “too big for (its designated) hole”.

The play, while ostensibly featuring light-hearted humour and a modest plot, compels its reader to identify the larger socio-political themes that underlie its presumably superficial conflict. What I like about this production is how Kuo anchors its setting in the 1980s, lending the work some historical grounding in the context of Singapore’s early years as a developing state. When employed as a drama text in our local classroom, students will naturally be introduced to certain pertinent historical associations and hopefully, this cultivates some critical appreciation of the country’s past and a judicious engagement with the problems back then.