15

D-

Directed by Royston Tan

Singapore's film scene is still relatively underdeveloped but has nonetheless produced a few directors who have had some success garnering international attention towards the city state's cinematic offerings. Unfortunately, one of the most successful Singaporean film on the international stage in recent years is Royston Tan's awful "15," a Larry Clarke style docu-drama which follows the aimless lives of a group of 15 year old boys living in the city and, much like Clarke's films about the state of modern youth, is over indulgent, at times repulsive, and fails spectacularly to deliver the type of social commentary it aspires to.

Tan's film opens with friends Vynn and Melvin practicing for a school talent show where they want to show up their nemesis the principal by offering a bawdy and irreverent performance. Clips of Vynn and Melvin practicing their number are inter-spliced with some background information on their relationship which to put it mildly is tortured and rather unhealthy. It is also revealed that Melvin and Vynn were at one point in a gang with a kid named Shaun who has since broken off and formed another gang with his friend Erik. Vynn and Melvin are pretty much left hanging by Tan midway through the film and we are whisked off to join Erick, Shaun, and their buddy Armani basically being slackers, doing drugs and getting into fights with other lawless Singaporeans. The rest of the film is basically a collection of scenes of any mix of the five individuals mentioned above hanging out or doing something illicit.

I suspect that Tan believed that a film which highlighted subcultures of wayward, violent youths exiting in a city state known for its rigid social control would be enough to get him into a number of top flight film festivals without actually worrying about, you know, making a film. Sadly it appears that such an assumption would have been proven correct as "15" benefited from a rather warm initial reception at many film festivals around the globe even though critical opinion on the film eventually soured. Tan's film lacks plot, it lacks narrative focus, and most of it all it clearly lacks a message. What is Tan trying to tell us about these kids? Should we pity them? Should we loathe them? Are they simply bums or are they the product of the oftentimes oppressively rigid Singaporean society? Tan gives us no clear cues as to what we are to take from this and I suspect that he hadn't though about it much himself when he began filming "15." When watching "15" I immediately began comparing it to Shunji Iwai's vastly superior "All About Lili Chou Chou" which deals with roughly the same subject matter, namely disillusioned youth stifled by the constraints of a society dominated by tradition, but does so in a far more nuanced and effective way, not only highlighting the problem but providing the viewer with a lense through which to view the issue. "Lily Chou Chou," despite being a fairly depressing film, is also far less exploitative than a film like "15" which seems to revel in the misery of its characters as opposed to despair in it. Regardless of the reasons for its failure, "15" does nothing more than present a nihilistic snapshot of Singapore's youth that is not only offensive but also flat out uninteresting to watch.