881 is told through the eyes and viewpoint of Guan Yin (local television heartthrob Qi Yu Wu), a mute who spends his free time playing with his cock (yes, thus providing indirect bawdy comedic references), whose mother Auntie Ling (Liu Ling Ling) is the guardian of the Papaya sisters. The mother-son duo are the pseudo-managers for the sisters, responsible for designing the costumes and songs for the sisters to perform, as well as offer various event management services, ferrying them from assignment to assignment. Royston Tan does a Hans Christian Andersen here, for the Papaya sisters to realize their dream of performing on the song-stage (given that they're really, really horrendous performers), they make a pact with a Getai-Goddess (also played by Ling), who grants them the power of "feeling" and magical peacock feathers, in exchange for their strict adherence to her 5 unbreakable rules. They become the quintessential modern day Little Mermaids, but naturally, rules are meant to be broken with dire consequences, and 881 chronicles the ups and downs, trials and tribulations of the Papaya sisters, in the face of adversary posed by rivals, the Durian sisters.
It's a musical through and through, with characters spontaneously breaking out into song, but not everything's fun and laughter, as the sisters do face their fare share of inner demons and challenges, and what's two sisters going to do when there's this understated nagging feeling of affection for their hunky close friend too? Little Papaya Ong Bok Gua (Mindee Ong) faces an uphill battle with time, while Big Papaya (Yeo Yann Yann) has to convince her mother of her profession of choice once the Seventh Month comes rolling around. Granted, to some, getai singers do not get the general nod of approval, given the poor image that the high- and-mighty have on this little local sub-culture, that the performers can't sing, can't dance, can't entertain, and have to rely on loud bass to drown their poor vocals, disturbing the neighborhood; the complaints go on. But opinions could change once they understand the spirit of things, and when the Papaya sisters shed their inhibitions and personal misfortunes aside, they engage everyone on a whole different plane altogether, of course with help from Ming Zhu sisters, real getai singers who provide the Papaya sisters their singing prowess.
And surprise, the movie will actually touch you, on different levels. Those who like melodramas will find no lack of moments to let the floodgates open at their tear ducts, as the ending is particularly fitting, meaningful and yet, bittersweet. Despite a runtime of close to 2 hours, 881 shuffles breezily, with noisy fanfare moments balanced appropriately with quieter ones. I thought while Kelvin Tong's Men in White was an attempt at mo-lei-tau (nonsensical) comedy, 881 had a more natural attempt in infusing those elements into the story, without coming off as too trying. Given that the past two Royston feature films have more of a testosterone filled presence with male leads, 881 marked a stronger feminine presence with excellent, credible performances by Mindee Ong, Yeo Yann Yann and Liu Ling Ling, coupled with the Durian sisters played by MTV VJs May and Choy. They / their characters were a lot of fun, with their faux pas Hokkien language ability ramped up for laughs intentionally (they can't speak the language and had to learn their lines phonetically), and their uber-crass and provocative performing sequences turning the heat up.
T here's plenty on offer here for audiences, and they all work - drama, song and dance, comedy and camp, an appreciation and ode to the cultural elements of getai, with an expansion and provision to allow for greater understanding of the unwritten laws behind the scenes, the puns and wordplay to satisfy locals familiar with the language used, yet not alienating those who don't understand it thoroughly, and spectacle enough to warrant it being watched on the silver screen. This year had seen a number of quality local films making their way to the cinemas, and it is without a doubt too that 881 ranks high amongst them. By far, I will rate 881 as possibly the best Royston Tan feature film to date!
I will unabashedly proclaim I love 881 ("yo-ah-yo!", so goes the chant), and have one wish should there be a DVD release of the movie, and that is to allow a release packed with loads of extras. Local DVD distributors have peculiar reasons for a preference for bare-boned DVD releases, but given the many edited song-dance segments, it will be a real treat if we could watch the performances (if already filmed), in their entirety. Then it'll be "Huat Ah" (Prosperous!) indeed!
It's a musical through and through, with characters spontaneously breaking out into song, but not everything's fun and laughter, as the sisters do face their fare share of inner demons and challenges, and what's two sisters going to do when there's this understated nagging feeling of affection for their hunky close friend too? Little Papaya Ong Bok Gua (Mindee Ong) faces an uphill battle with time, while Big Papaya (Yeo Yann Yann) has to convince her mother of her profession of choice once the Seventh Month comes rolling around. Granted, to some, getai singers do not get the general nod of approval, given the poor image that the high- and-mighty have on this little local sub-culture, that the performers can't sing, can't dance, can't entertain, and have to rely on loud bass to drown their poor vocals, disturbing the neighborhood; the complaints go on. But opinions could change once they understand the spirit of things, and when the Papaya sisters shed their inhibitions and personal misfortunes aside, they engage everyone on a whole different plane altogether, of course with help from Ming Zhu sisters, real getai singers who provide the Papaya sisters their singing prowess.
And surprise, the movie will actually touch you, on different levels. Those who like melodramas will find no lack of moments to let the floodgates open at their tear ducts, as the ending is particularly fitting, meaningful and yet, bittersweet. Despite a runtime of close to 2 hours, 881 shuffles breezily, with noisy fanfare moments balanced appropriately with quieter ones. I thought while Kelvin Tong's Men in White was an attempt at mo-lei-tau (nonsensical) comedy, 881 had a more natural attempt in infusing those elements into the story, without coming off as too trying. Given that the past two Royston feature films have more of a testosterone filled presence with male leads, 881 marked a stronger feminine presence with excellent, credible performances by Mindee Ong, Yeo Yann Yann and Liu Ling Ling, coupled with the Durian sisters played by MTV VJs May and Choy. They / their characters were a lot of fun, with their faux pas Hokkien language ability ramped up for laughs intentionally (they can't speak the language and had to learn their lines phonetically), and their uber-crass and provocative performing sequences turning the heat up.
T here's plenty on offer here for audiences, and they all work - drama, song and dance, comedy and camp, an appreciation and ode to the cultural elements of getai, with an expansion and provision to allow for greater understanding of the unwritten laws behind the scenes, the puns and wordplay to satisfy locals familiar with the language used, yet not alienating those who don't understand it thoroughly, and spectacle enough to warrant it being watched on the silver screen. This year had seen a number of quality local films making their way to the cinemas, and it is without a doubt too that 881 ranks high amongst them. By far, I will rate 881 as possibly the best Royston Tan feature film to date!
I will unabashedly proclaim I love 881 ("yo-ah-yo!", so goes the chant), and have one wish should there be a DVD release of the movie, and that is to allow a release packed with loads of extras. Local DVD distributors have peculiar reasons for a preference for bare-boned DVD releases, but given the many edited song-dance segments, it will be a real treat if we could watch the performances (if already filmed), in their entirety. Then it'll be "Huat Ah" (Prosperous!) indeed!