The 3 presenters (from left: Tan Bee Thiam, Ben Slater and Professor Chua Beng Huat) at #NOSTALGIA compare notes at the event.
There
is something I would call the ‘nostalgia bone’ in some people. Especially among
filmmakers, we seem to always be delighted at the sight of something like an
old television set from the 60s. And we will find some way to put it in shot,
somewhere. Many of us will think of the films of Royston Tan on the mention of nostalgia, given the number of
beaded curtains and kopitiam-style dining sets we have seen in his film. But in
fact, there are a lot more out there ‘guilty’ of nostalgia.
The Asian Film Archive has started what
seems to be the first official discussion on our obsession with nostalgia in
film. This kicked off at Fiilmgarde at Bugis Plus on 9 May at an event called
#NOSTALGIA. See event details here. 3 personalities, not all from the film
industry, came forward to share what they thought about the treatment of
nostalgia in film and our love for it. They included Head of Department of
Sociology Professor Chua Beng Huat, writer Ben Slater, who has written many
essays on films from this region as well as filmmaker and producer Tan Bee
Thiam. A fourth speaker Zhang Wenjie could not make it for the event. This
discussion on nostalgia is the first in their new REFRAME series of discussions
that they hope to engage the public in.
A great deal of time was spent trying to
define nostalgia. Ben slater, alluded the term to an epiosde in history in
which British soldiers who could not go home from a war had aching feelings for
home. Hence, the element of pain in the meaning of nostalgia. Then there was
also an attribution to a medical condition, something of a depressive feeling
linked to a yearning for the past. Ben was perhaps a good anchor in this
discussion as he was able to offer both nuggets of foreign history on nostalgia
as a well as a concisely-worded assessment of the current state of obsession
with nostalgia in film here in Singapore. Here is what he presented at the
event.
I like the account from Ben of how
coffeeshop uncles and owners of ‘old places’ became wary everytime they saw
Royston (Tan) and his crew because it seemed after these places were put in
film, they were soon closed down.
Royston Tan’s ‘Old Trilogy’ – ‘Old Places’,
‘Old Romances’, ‘Old Friends’ is certainly not the only bastion of nostalgia.
Several other examples were raised during the discussion. As the organisers
have hoped (for extensions of this discussion after the event), I spoke to
David Lee, Vice-Chairman of Singapore Film Society to
pick his brains on the films that dally with nostalgia and if he thinks the
current dose of nostalgia is good for our blood circulation.
Jeremy Sing: I have a
question to start: when the event first surfaced, which films did you think, in
the organisers' minds, are 'guilty' of nostalgia?
David Lee Fu Nang: First
ones to come to mind...’大世界’ (‘Great
Great World’) by Kelvin Tong….’Old Places’, ‘Old Romances’.
Still from 'It's a Great Great World'
Still from 'Old Places'
Jeremy: Yes, the 'Old' trilogy certainly comes to mind.
David: And of course, ‘Hock Hiap Leong’......mmm..
and also Kelvin Sng’s ‘千言万语’. I think it's been a trend/
fad in the local short film scene for sometime.
Jeremy: I am guilty of sometimes looking
for old, historic places to shoot as well!
David: And many of our filmmakers are also
influenced by Wong Kar Wai's ‘In the Mood for Love’ and perhaps to a lesser
extent, Tsai Ming Liang. These filmmakers certainly have had an impact on the
post 2000 filmmakers.
Jeremy: Ben slater
mentioned this is like a second hand yearning for a past that was gone
generations before they were born. What do you think this reflects about our
society?
David: Hmm..this is my personal take…I
reckon for filmmaking, it is still limited to the short filmmaking scene we’ve
had for most of the post 2000 decade. And the range of films may not be all
that accurately representative of attitudes across society. (Pause) Actually Jack
Neo had done nostalgia with ‘Homerun’, though it was once-off.
Jeremy: That’s true. So it’s not just a
Gen-Y thing.
David: Among the Gen-Ys, Boo Junfeng has
offered a more contemplative, & even personal take on nostalgia with films
like ‘Keluar Baris’, though I don’t think this film dwells on nostagia.
Jeremy: Yes, agree. The National
Stadium in the film served a purpose more than evoking nostalgic feelings.
David: But my point is that the early films
of many filmmakers came from a personal place, rather than a desire to create
nostalgia.
Jeremy: That’s a good point. If you think
about it, Ilo Ilo, which looks unnecessarily nostalgic, since the story could
be told in today’s time, was also a personal piece, based on Anthony’s
childhood relationship with Terry, his domestic helper. (pause) Ben also mentioned during the event
the origins of the word nostalgia carries an amount of pain, like how the
British soldiers who could not go home felt. Generally, a depressive condition,
an unhappiness about the present situation. What’s your view of that in
Singapore’s context?
David: You know there has been a lot of
these ground-up initiatives to preserve old places, like the railway green
corridor walks, the Bukti Brown walks etc. I know many friends.. both from my
generation..as well as people younger & older who take part in these
events, banding together in solidarity. So while nostalgia historically started
off as a really sad word (a combination of the Greek words Nostos (homecoming)
and Algos (pain), it has evolved to convey quite a range of feelings since. I
see the Brownies as really wanting to save Bukit Brown...while the Railway folks
were made up of people who just couldn't let go...and I think there are also
mixtures of several environmentalists & nature walkers in those last 2
campaigns. (pause) People were there for many various reasons.. and I'm sure
many are there just to join in the fun...I personally don’t see a lot of pain.
Jeremy: That’s true. It has become fun to
learn about our past and I am not sure if the process of taking part in these
activities carry that kind of pain inherent in the definiteion of nostalgia.
David: My point is that it seems nostalgia
is interpreted generally by many Singaporeans a more positive light......people
always talk about the good old kampung days….I think even filmmakers are guilty
of peptrating such emotions...
Speaking of kampungs, Professor Chua Beng
Huat, sociologst and Head of Sociology at NUS, offered a first-hand account of
life in a kampung, having grown up in one. His account offered a counterpoint
to what had been imagined by the young generation of Singaporeans and Singapore
filmmakers, of life in the old days. ‘The HDB is not a vertical kampung,’he
said, alluding to the fact the dynamics of relationships and life in a kampung
was difficult to replicate elsewhere, the HDB flat included, despite the
government’s use of the term ‘vertical kampung’. Here’s what Professor Chua has
to share at the event.
David: You know, nostalgia is also a
political tool. If you think about it, our love for the past has led our
government to make full use of it for the SG50 campaign.
Jeremy: True! A lot of the SG50 initiatives
are centred around celebrating the past and maybe in a more subtle way, telling
us not to ‘rock the boat’. (pause) If you think about it, there are actually 2
strains of nostalgia running in parallel.
David: Which 2 strains?
Jeremy: The govt-driven
nostalgia and the ground-up one as seen in all the Bukit Brown, save old places
activities.
David: Among films, how will you classify
films like ‘Old Places’ Or ‘Great Great World’ between the 2 strains of
nostalgia?
Jeremy: I think ‘Great Great World’ seems
to be more in sync with the government-driven type of nostalgia – reminiscing
the good old days with no call to action. Happy with the past, happy with the
present. Case closed. (pause) ‘Old Places’ on the other hand, has a certain
call to action, to sort of rally support to preserve these places.
David: You have a point, but at the same
time, I also feel the ‘Old’ series has slowly become more like ‘Great Great
World’, and has also commodified the past to a certain extent. And today, not
all the places are up for demolition. (Pause) Actually, there is one film I
would like to mention, it is Eng Yee Peng's ‘Diminishing Memories’.
Jeremy: Ah I liked that one.
David: I think her work is even closer to
the original definition of nostalgia. The fact that she couldn't let go &
accept the fact that her childhood kampung is no more. I wish to see more films
like ‘Diminishing Memories’.
Jeremy: Yes, it is deeply moving and
it comes with a strong personal angle. (Pause) One of the quesrtions raised at
the talk was : Can nostalgia hamper the development of a Singapore film
identity? What do you think?
David: Again it depends on
which definition of nostalgia are u referring to...if we see more of ‘Great Great
World’ types...(and Jack Neo is already making one set in Kampung days called
‘Long Long Time Ago’), we will be seeing more commercially successful
nostalgia... the commodifocation of it, singing in chorus with the SG50
campaign. (pause) I wish of course to also see more in depth work, like ‘To
Singapore With Love’, ‘Diminishing Memories’ etc…offering different
perspectives and different takes on history.
Jeremy: Commerical success
is good, but it also cannibalises other points of view.
David: Exactly!
Jeremy Sing: Like if Jack
Neo scores another box office hit with ‘Long Long Time Ago’, I can see many
people copying whatever nostalgic style that film will come up with.
David: So who is allowing that to happen is
a good question: we as an audience, MDA as the classifier? I dare say...the
numbers & commercial success speak louder than individual voices.
Jeremy: Among the points brought up by the
speakers, what resonated with you the most? Can you remember?
David: I’d probably say Bee Thiam’s. He
brought out interetsing examples of how nostalgia gets approprated by the
media... For instance, the Linhe WanBao article picked up the LKY mention in
the film ’03-Flats’ and made it part of the article’s headline.
Watch Bee Thiam’s full presentation at the
event here.
Jeremy: I think my biggest learning point
from the discussion is the relationship betwen nostalgia and history.
David: Yes.
Jeremy: That sometimes
nostalgia can colour history and exclude others. It can also prevent you from
taking a critical look at certain things in the past.
David: Nostalgia does give the sense that
it's more personal poiint-of-view. History is more formal, even academic.
Jeremy: It is also more objective. Nostalgia
is selective.
David: Yup...since the discussion does have
an academic slant, being fronted by Prof Chua.
Jeremy: Like what Prof
chua said, many people trying to revive Temasek, but between Temasek and
Raffles , there is nothing!
David: I think there's not much harm in
feel good, romanticised nostalgia, which sometimes also aids in selling more
movie tickets… and food (to quote the discussion) or other commodities. But I
wish there could be more spaces and suppprt for artistic, personal or
alternative forms of nostalgia, espeiclally in documentary filmmaking. I think
we see alot of good documentary films on critical issues and being very ambitious
scope-wise, being made elsewhere. I would like to see more of such
trailblazers... here in Singapore!
Jeremy: Certainly agree! Thanks for you
time David!
#NOSTALGIA, the event ended with a panel discussion
with the panel which brought up many thought provoking questions and comments.
From left: Tan Bee Thiam, Professor Chua Beng Huat, Executive Director of Asian Film Archive and discussion moderator Karen Chan and Ben Slater
Watch the full panel discussion here.
The debate on nostalgia does not end here. The Asian Film Archive hopes to extend it beyond the event and that people would think critically about the treatment and use of nostalgia. You can join the REFRAME Facebook group to engage in discussions or keep up with more points of view on this matter.
Spilling the discussion over to the corridors, certainly the event organisers were hoping for.
Photos by SINdie
Videos courtesy of Asian Film Archive
Photos by SINdie
Videos courtesy of Asian Film Archive