The Short Films of Royston Tan

Having never seen a Royston Tan film, I must say I was really impressed! Starting with D.I.Y, Royston explores the music found in everyday life. The footage in this film was really bold and beautiful with some great panning/dolly shots. His film, Cut, is a hilarious attack at the Singaporean film censors in the form of a full blown singing and dancing musical. I really loved the humour of this film, and the big, loud and colourful performances. I didn’t really understand the story behind Monkeylove; however I really liked the look and sound of the film, with its grainy amateur-like images, and unnatural ear-piercing effects. Mother was a really narration driven story, with some great archive footage. Sons, like Mother, was again heavily narration driven, and explored the relationship between a father and son. New York Girl is a hilarious short film that shows an audition tape of a Chinese New York-born girl and her dream of becoming the next Wonder Women in an upcoming feature film. Although it’s just a girl, white backdrop and a camera, it really makes you laugh! Hock Hiop Leong, is an ode to an old cafĂ© that has long since closed down, that starts off quite simple and documentary like, but latter breaks into full swing singing and dancing, almost Bollywood style! Careless Whisper is a love story, about a geeky man and his quest to get the attention and love of his dream women. Inspired by a dreadful singer that auditioned for the TV show Singapore Idol, this is a truly funny, yet painful film. Unfortunately, I can’t reminder what the last film, 24 hrs was about – but I’m sure it was good. Royston Tan is an amazingly diverse filmmaker that has a great attention to detail, and an obvious love of life. It would also seem he’s quite a fan of just randomly breaking into song and dance! I can’t wait to see some of his feature films!