15 (film)

15
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Royston Tan
Written by	Royston Tan
Produced by	Tan Fong Cheng Eric Khoo
Starring	Shaun Tan Melvin Chen Erick Chun Vynn Soh Melvin Lee
Cinematography	Lim Ching Leong
Edited by	Jeff Stevens Nigel Fernandez
Music by	Yellowbox
Distributed by	Zhao Wei Films
Release date	27 April 2003 (2003-04-27)
Running time	96 minutes
Country	Singapore
Languages	Hokkien Mandarin

15 is a 2003 Singaporean coming-of-age black comedy-drama film about teenage gangsters in the Singapore suburbs. Directed by Royston Tan, the film is an expanded version of Tan's 2002 award-winning short film, also titled 15 . It is one of the few Singaporean films to feature brief full-frontal male nudity, together with the Singaporean-Thai film Pleasure Factory and the Singaporean-Hong Kong film Bugis Street .

Plot

The film stars three real-life juvenile gangsters, all aged 15, giving an accurate depiction of Chinese teenage gang-life in the Singapore suburbs. The 2003 film features two more gangsters as characters as well as a fight sequence with more affluent English-educated Singapore youths. Rather than scripting the movie or employing professional actors, Tan attempted to capture the troubled lives of his characters in realistic fashion, apparently without much prior scripting.

Distribution

In Singapore, the film premiered during the 2003 Singapore International Film Festival. ^[1] In 2003, it premiered in Canada during the Montreal World Film Festival, ^[1] and in Britain during the London Film Festival. ^[1] In 2004, it premiered in the United States during the Sundance Film Festival, ^[1] and in Australia during the Sydney Film Festival. ^[1] The film also saw its first US theatrical release in New York City on 13 April 2005. ^{[1] [2]}

In Singapore, the film is distributed by Zhao Wei Films. In North America, it is distributed by Picture This! Entertainment. ^[3]

Reception

Censorship

While the Media Development Authority (MDA) ruled that the film should be passed uncut under the then R(A) rating, the Singapore Police Force was concerned that fights could break out given the use of real gang names, locations and secret society chants in the movie, requesting cuts/edits to be made through the MDA for law and order reasons. ^[4] Under pressure, Royston Tan ended up making reportedly 27 cuts to the film. ^[5] Opposition was also raised against the heavy use of Hokkien in the film,^{[ citation needed ]} which is discouraged by the Singapore government in favour of Mandarin and English. These restrictions infuriated Tan, and later led him to create his satirical short film Cut. ^[5]

Critical reception

The film received mixed reviews from film critics. ^[6] On Rotten Tomatoes it has an approval rating of 50% based on 10 reviews. ^[7] On Metacritic the film has a score of 47% based on 6 reviews. ^[8]

The film has been advertised outside of Singapore in gay publications, due to the heavy homoerotic tension between the characters. However, in an interview segment of the DVD Royston's Shorts , a collection of Tan's short films, Tan affirms that the boys whose lives he portrayed do not identify as gay.

Awards

• FIPRESCI/NETPAC Award, Singapore International Film Festival (2003) ^[9]
• Best Fiction, Tampere International Short Film Festival (2003) ^[9]
• Prize of the Youth Film Competition (Special Mention), Oberhausen International Short Film Festival (2003) ^[10]
• Grand Prix Asturias (nominated), Gijón International Film Festival (2003) ^[9]
• Best Director, Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema (2004) ^{[9] [11]}

See also

• List of Singaporean films
• Nudity in film (East Asian cinema since 1929)

Notes

1. IMDB: Release dates for 15: The Movie (2003).
2. 15 at Box Office Mojo.
3. IMDB: Company Credits for 15: The Movie (2003).
4. 15 at IMDb.
5. "Take a big breath, you'll survive." Archived 11 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine The Standard. 27 July 2006.
6. See 15 at Rotten Tomatoes and 15 at Metacritic .
7. 15 at Rotten Tomatoes .
8. 15 at Metacritic .
9. IMDB: Awards for 15: The Movie (2003).
10. "Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen: 2003 Award Winners". Archived from the original on 17 October 2014. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
11. 6th Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente: Winners.

References

Reviews

• Bradshaw, Peter. Review. The Guardian . 4 February 2005.
• Dawson, Tom. Review. BBC. 1 February 2005.
• Elley, Derek. Sundance 2004 review. Archived 27 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine Variety . 30 September 2003.
• Fox, Ken. Review. TV Guide . 15 April 2005.
• French, Philip. Review. The Observer . 6 February 2005.
• Johnson, G. Allen. Review. San Francisco Chronicle . 10 June 2005.
• Ng, David. "Thirteen+2: Aimless Singaporean rebels in directionless youth flick." The Village Voice . 5 April 2005.
• Smith, Matthew. Review. Film Journal International . 27 October 2005.
• Stevens, Dana. "Young and Adrift in Singapore." The New York Times . 13 April 2005.
• Walsh, Brian. "Street Survivors". Time . 1 September 2003.

External links

• 15: The Movie
• 15 at IMDb
• 15 at Rotten Tomatoes
• 15 at Metacritic
• 15 at Box Office Mojo