Long Long Time Ago 2 (我们的故事 2) Movie Review | by tiffanyyong.com
Recommended Audience: Fans of Aileen Tan, Mark Lee, Wang Lei, Suhaimi Yusof, Ryan Lian Yong Yi, Benjamin Tan, Yan Li Xuan, Ng Suan Loi, Silvarajoo Prakasm, Charmaine Sei, ABTM, Jack Neo and period comedy movie fans
Long Long Time Ago 2 (我们的故事 2) Movie Synopsis
After the 1969 nationwide floods, Zhao Di takes over her father’s family farm with the help of reformed gangster Ah Long. In 1977, the Government begins expropriating land for redevelopment, forcing villagers from their kampongs. Licensed farmland owners, such as Zhao Di, are financially compensated for their land.
Ah Kun, Zhao Di’s greedy brother accuses Zhao Di and Ah Long of having an affair to tarnish her name in front of the family. In the midst of Ah Kun’s persistent accusations, Zhao Di’s health takes a hit. Will Zhao Di be able to keep her hard-earned compensation money? What will become of her family if Zhao Di’s health continues to deteriorate? As people change with time, will the kampong spirit remain?
Long Long Time Ago 2 (我们的故事 2) Viewer Rating: 4.5/5 ****
Long Long Time Ago 2 (我们的故事 2) Movie Review:
Continuing from the first film screened just 1.5 months ago, Long Long Time Ago, Part 2 talked about how Zhao Di (Aileen Tan) and her family went through the 1970s period. With the characters still fresh in our minds, it wasn’t difficult for the audience to fall right back into the story.
While the first film has plenty of special effects, the second dealt more with the emotional aspects and touches heart with the nostalgia and simple happiness. Kids grew up (Su Ting turned from Yan Li Xuan to Cynthia Kuang) and adults aged. There were deaths in the story, but I was surprised how it was handled. No funerals, no dramatic crying (Ok, there were some, just for laughs) and the subtlety was so un-Jack Neo style that it made me cried. Because that is how exactly life is. People leave, and the rest move on. Life keeps going.
The inter-racial marriage between Ah Hee (Benjamin Tan) and Rani (Bharati Rani) provided enjoyable entertainment in the film. From trying to overcome the past grudges, to having mutual agreements on the marriage customs, it was hilarious to see how the neighbourhood try all methods to pacify the two hot-headed and stubborn families.
The comradeship between Ah Long and Zhao Di was the part I was (most) looking forward too, after all, Ah Long did have a very outstanding performance in the first part. The reformed gangster now became every ladies’ dream guardian angel (I think delivering piglets when Zhao Di was praying for it counts as one right?) but did not have substantial scenes to make a significant impact. I was a little disappointed with how it turned out, but could only “pray” for more stories if there’s a part 3 as the director suggested.
Apart from the few super imposed HDB sceneries, the modern settings were refreshing from the eyes of a kampong people. There were several eye-catching scenes such as a woman’s armpit hair and close-ups of the wooden toilet (plus human feaces). But what made the story memorable was the contrasting performance by Zhao Di (Aileen Tan) and Ah Kun (Mark Lee). The quiet versus loud, the hardworking versus laziness, the changes in the personality brought about by the environment and deaths, it is a film you should definitely watch (especially if you’ve caught the first film!)
Do You Know?
For the confrontation scene between Ah Kun, Zhao Di and Ah Long, it took Ah Long (Ryan) 44 times to get the scene right.
The scene of Ah Kun (Mark Lee) slapping his niece and nephew is real. The actors did over ten takes.
When asked which is their favourite props, Mark Lee say it’s the television, Wang Lei chose the old rattan rocking chair, Charmaine Sei chose the foot-operated sewing machine, while Benjamin chose the cloth baby-hammock.
It took two years to write and research the script for the film, and the writing began before Jack Neo’s team started work on “Ah Boys to Men 3: Frogmen.” The movie was spread into 2 parts as high cost (S$5 Million) was required to recreate the sets of the mid 1900s in Ipoh’s Kampung Cina Pusing and Singapore.
Cynthia Kuang was chosen to reprise the grown-up version of Zhao Di’s daughter, Su Ting because of her fluent Hokkien dialect. However, when she first came to the set for her role, her performance was below expectation and she was told that she might be taken off the role if she could not get it right. Luckily, after much guidance and observation, she finally grasp hold of the character.
Behind The Scenes and Interviews
Check out Long Long Time Ago 2 (我们的故事 2) Facebook Page!
Long Long Time Ago 2 (我们的故事 2) is out in cinemas on 31 March 2016. Movie Sneaks is out from 24 March to 27 March 2016.
xoxo
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*Disclosure: Invitation by Golden Village. 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!
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Love watching movies like this that depicts real life scenario.
I watched this movie in the cinema also, its very much like our parents day and heart warming too.
It’s nice to hear that the series had such a great success! And it looks like a movie to see – from multiple perspectives – family drama, a little bit of old life, and a lot of fun.
i wanna watch this.. it looks so much fun to watch.. i better sched some time to see it. 🙂
i love seeing films depicting the past. It shows how we live and the culture we live in and the progress we have made so far…
This movie looks interesting. They certainly put a lot of effort in it. 5 million dollars just to recreate a set and two years to write it! Wow! I hope I can find this movie somewhere where I live and watch it!!
Sounds like a movie I’d want to see. I hope I can find a copy of this somewhere!
I like the idea of mixing different like minds and behaviour together for this move (quiet and loud, blending with the hardworking and lazy personality). Interesting!! Two years to write and research the script for the film, portrays the genuinity of the production. Thumbs up for the review!
This looks like a very inspiring movie! You gave it such a high rating! I’m really going to try and watch this during my break! 😀
I have heard some great reviews of this movie. would love to watch it in the cinema.
Sounds like a great movie but I wonder if I will ever be able to watch it. Most of the movies you review I can never find. 🙁 I hope I can see this one. Sounds rather interesting indeed.
I do hope Singaporean and other Southeast Asian movies will be shown here in the Philippines. This one looks interesting. Great photos and behind-the-scene information. 🙂 -Claire
My first expression eas ‘she looks Indian’…. And then reading, you say about the interracial couple! Thanks for the review…
This covers so many cultural aspects of the characters. It would really be interesting to follow and watch the movie.
Storyline looks quite interesting with the set up they have in the movie and felt I have heard about this movie from someone.
I like how films are produced in Asia at present — they keep getting better. The movie is interesting, the storyline and all. I’m wondering if I could get a hold of it here in Scandinavia. It might take a long time if there’d be subtitles and all.
Interesting storyline, was it based on factual events? Or was it just set in an earlier period? Love how they made the extra effort to use the authentic materials used during that period.
That’s interesting, I can’t remember if I’ve read the review of the first movie though. It’s always good to see films so accurately depicting real life. That connects to a lot of the movie goers.
Looks like a very interesting plot. Is this movie chinese? I hope I can find a copy of this with an english subtitle. I love watching foreign films because I learn a lot of new things.
So many nice pictures, and thank you for the review, it looks like a really good movie!
What a lofty rating! I do hope we get the chance to see this film series. This is part of the 50 year celebration of Singapore?
I like how you described this movie. It makes me want to watch it. I’ll be sure to remember it and download it later. 😀