Wayang Boy (戏曲小子) Movie Review | by tiffanyyong.com
Recommended Audience: Fans of Denzyl Yashasvi Dharma, Loh Ren Jie, Tan Wei Tian, Law Kar Ying, Michelle Yim, Chua Enlai, Chantel Liu, Kym Ng, Chen Tian Wen, Bobby Tonelli, Suhaimi Yusof, local films comedy movie and Chinese Opera fans
Wayang Boy (戏曲小子) Movie Synopsis
Wayang Boy is a family comedy about Singaporeans living amidst the influx of foreign immigrants. Caught in all the hoo-ha is an Indian boy…Raja.
Raja is new in Singapore and he was brought to Singapore by his Chinese stepmother Emma after his father married her. On his first day of school, Raja is branded ‘a foreign talent’ by the class bully, Xavier. The two promptly get into a fight, dragging classmate Shi Han, into the mess.
As punishment, the principal lays an ultimatum: join the Chinese Opera troupe, or face a month in detention. Queen Elizabeth is visiting the school in three weeks and the principal wants to impress her with a multi-racial Chinese Opera performance…
Through the mayhem of the children’s multi-racial wayang performance, everyone learns anew the meaning of living together as one united people, regardless of race, language or religion.
Wayang Boy (戏曲小子) Viewer Rating: 3.5/5 ***
Wayang Boy (戏曲小子) Movie Review:
Seriously, I wasn’t really looking forward to watch this film, just because it’s about Chinese Opera and like how the principal (Chua En Lai) reacted, Chinese Opera isn’t really the “in” thing nowadays. The last Chinese Opera related film I remember watching was A Stage of Turbulence (刀马旦) in 1995 by Vivian Chow and Sunny Chan, when I was just 7 year old, and it was because the main leads were gorgeous and their love was admirable. I never got to complete watching the whole drama either, as my mum terminated the Starhub Cable back then. (so nostalgic!)
So, I was quite wrong when I thought it will be full of Cantonese Opera. The film was more about overcoming the stigma with foreign talents, and the use of Chinese Opera as a medium was oddly suitable. The final performance by the kids was impressive. Well, I think they had great teachers on set!
The director had chosen a great cast. The three musketeers had pretty good chemistry together, while Raja plays the protagonist, Xavier the antagonist, Shi Han, the supposedly “calefare” of the film actually snatched the limelight (or my attention) from the two with her hilarious (typically-Singaporean) lines. She’s the good and the bad, something that I didn’t expect but was pleasantly surprised.
I still remember Michelle Yim for her (antagonist) role in Moonlight Resonance (溏心風暴之家好月圓) and this role was a nice change. However, somehow, I felt that her role was being cut off and under-developed (Hinting the director for a drama version instead?). It is heartwarming to see Law Kar Ying back to his opera days, and getting him to be a semi-comedic teacher is actually very satisfying (We leave the exaggerated parts to mushroom-lover Chua En Lai).
Of course, despite the praises, why are there marks deducted? The CGI (the night sky in Raja’s house and the last mass student scene) really make me and my friends want to Facepalm. When most of the actors used their own voice, it becomes very obvious when there’s any sort of voice dubbing. The guy acting as Shi Han’s brother, or Kym Ng’s son’s china chinese accent did not fit in with Kym and Johnny Ng’s chinese accent.
I will say Wayang Boy does not go in depth into Chinese Opera (as compared to Wa is for Wayang). But do not be conned by the synopsis or any reviews that says it’s a comedy. Besides the humour-filled storyline, Wayang Boy is also a heartwarming and touching film that left me with swollen eyes till the next day (from crying of course!). Film or drama enthusiasts will most probably be able to guess the ending right from the start, but still, the film had managed to touch everyone’s hearts (I heard sniffing from the audience too, so it’s not just me!). If you are wondering which exact touching part I’m referring to… Sorry, go get your tickets and watch it yourself!
Do You Know?
The original meaning of Wayang mean theatre or Chinese opera performance on stage, but in Singapore’s/ local context, “Wayang” has a negative aspect, referring to a person who pretends to be hardworking, or a nice guy, in front of others.
Wayang Boy is the feature-length extension of the 40-minute film Wa Is For Wayang (2011), which screened at the Singapore Discovery Centre from October 2011 to early November.
The director Raymond Tan, was blown away by Denzyl’s audition in 2010 when the boy was only seven years old.
Tan says: “He recited a few verses of Martin Luther King’s famed speech, I Have A Dream. He not only memorised the speech, but also put in emotions. He tried to emote as King did in a YouTube clip he had watched.”
Denzyl underwent training for about three months before shooting the movie last month.
Denzyl has already nabbed another acting assignment, a role in a Chinese movie to be shot in Beijing. He is likely to fly over for filming later this year.
Behind The Scenes and Interviews
Check out Wayang Boy (戏曲小子)Official MM2 Website and Wa is for Wayang Facebook Page!
Wayang Boy (戏曲小子) is out in cinemas on 13 November 2014.
xoxo
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*Disclosure: No monetary compensation was received for the movie review.
1/2 of #TheEpiphanyDuplet, Tiffany Yong juggles her ABCs – Acting, Blogging and Coaching/Consulting as she is fuelled by passion and drive to succeed.
It is not easy to make a living in Singapore just purely based on Acting, so with Blogging to help her with her online presence, and Coaching kids drama, private tutoring and freelance social media consulting to finance her life, she is currently leading the life most people hope to have: Living the Dream!
I love singapore’s comedy! Always make me laugh.. I believe this is a good movie after reading your review!
Oh, I really liked your review! And I want to see the film. I hope they’ll show it here. It sounds like something I would love to watch!
I love the concept of the movie which is basically overcoming the stigma with foreign talents. The movie turns out to have a deeper meaning than just focus on the Chinese opera. It would be an enriching experience to watch it.
Kis these days are very smart. It looks like it could be a fun movie to see with the family.
I don’t usually watch movies like this but it looks super humorous. Might try it out this vacation! 😀
This sounds like a really sweet movie Tiffany. I love how cinema today is mixing races, bringing various cultures to the rest of the world. I am not sure if this movie would be anything like these, Life of Pi or the Grand Budapest Hotel, but it is these that I am reminded of..
These kids! Young and already so accomplished and purposeful!
I don’t watch much world cinema, but I find it fascinating how much different Eastern films differ from Western ones! That said though, this looks really fun.
Interesting subject! I think it will be fun to watch an Indian boy coping with Chinese opera!
Its fun to watch these short clips, watched for first time Chinese Opera and it sounded amazing to me… great going…
Opera is not my thing either but sometimes things we shy away from bring us the greatest surprises.
I love your movie reviews. They include the synopsis as well as the important moments. Thanks for sharing a great review again 🙂
Watched the trailer and it interests me because of the racial conflict of the characters. I wonder now how they were able to work it out. It’s nice that they have included children in this kind of movie so not only are they doing a film but also learning how to respect and work with other races.
Looks like this is an interesting movie. I hope they show it here in Thailand.
I find this interesting. I like these types of films. Any film that deals with culture, arts and well it has comedy and drama then it’s probably great to watch. I’m just not sure where to watch or whom shall I get a copy…:D
Based on the pictures, I am not sure I want to watch this. But I will give it a try based on your rating. So Denzyl speaks Chinese? He does not look Chinese. – Fred
Not quite acquainted with the actors and the movie, but it seems good. Denzyl features’s similar to an Indian kid. Hope it’ll be fair at movie houses.
Just watching the trailer dictates that this is a hilarious film. Hope I can watch it in local theater or in YouTube. Now, I know what Wayang means in Singaporean culture.
Singapore has a lot of immigrants from different countries. This one looks interesting on how they would play their respective roles and country as they work together in the Chinese Opera.
I can understand your hesitance to start with, I would have been the same about any film to do with opera. I’m glad it surprised you though!
Well he sure looks like a child prodigy and the move seems to have all the elements of a good movie. I am surprised that not many movies are out there now with Chinese Opera as theme.
just by the screen captures I can tell it’s going to be super funny!! oh well, and the CGI in local movies are usually pretty awful 😛
I had quite a good laugh watching the trailer! pretty interesting singaporean film :p