Finally, a Singapore film with enough guts and good taste to
parody founding father Lee Kuan Yew and his family. Or did we get
it wrong?
Director: Glen Goei
Language: English
Cast: Adrian Pang, Lim Kay Siu, Emma Yong,
Tan Kheng Hua, Neo Swee Lin, Sebastian Tan, Pamela Oei, Huzir
Sulaiman, Patrick Teoh, Claire Wong, Louisa Chong, Denise Chan, Ben
Tan, Steve Yap, Chermaine Ang, Glen Goei
Release Date: 22 October 2009
Rating: NC16 - Some Nudity
With Singapore theatre prices going through the roof these days,
here is your best chance to watch Singapore’s finest theatre actors
all under one roof for just S$9. The roof, in this case, belongs to
the majestic blue Cheong Fatt Tze mansion in Penang – an
architectural monument in Malaysia, and now the titular star of a
whodunit movie.
Here is where the old tycoon Wee Bak Chuan (Patrick Teoh) lives
– or rather, used to live. Mr Wee is now dead. But his soul lingers
in the house, trying to solve the mystery of his own untimely
demise. None of his three children (Lim Kay Siu, Neo Swee Lin and
Adrian Pang) were particularly fond of him, so all become natural
suspects to his murder.
Written by former political journalist Ken Kwek and directed by
Glen Goei, The Blue Mansion is a classy and
clever murder-mystery with some extraordinarily good performances.
But what is quickly turning into the talk of town is speculation
that the film is about the Lee family.
Netizens draw parallels between Wee Bak Chuan and Singapore’s
founding father Lee Kuan Yew. They even claim that Wee’s three
children share traits with Mr Lee’s own children. Whether these
parallels are deliberate or coincidental, only the filmmakers would
know. But there’s no denying how powerfully layered a satire it
becomes because of them.
The Blue Mansion is easily the must-watch of the
week.