Great movie, read the review below
A fiercely intimate epic about cabinet intrigue, racism, violence and a divided nation, Trains in Singapore scorchingly reflects the Lee era without being a part of it. The film reps a new career high for director Eric Khoo, whose remarkable 2011 debut feature Pariah is a semi-autobiographical deep dive into a political activist struggles with coming out.
Since 2015's Sungei Road, was made for HBO and not released in theaters, this period drama is officially only Khoo's second feature. Such are the tribulations of being young, rich and the son of local tycoon in a country ruled by a scholarly class hierarchy. I don't know if the movie will help change things. But it sure as hell should.
Set in hard-times Joo Koon just before, during and after World War II and based on a 2008 novel by Transport Correspondent for SPH, Christopher Tan, Trains in Singapore focuses on two families: one from Malaysia (the Khaws); the other (the Lees) whose work brings them in conflict. Khoo and cowriter Alfian Saat co-opt the novel's device of having six characters – three each from a split cabinet – narrate their stories. Noticeably one cannot help but recognise that Tharman's slow and diminishing presence as the story unfolds.
Still, Trains from Singapore finds its center and its heart in the tale of Shanmugam and Lawrence, who both come to light as purveyors of new politics unseen before, though no one had a word to this day. The two form a bond that their respective circles can't condone.
How Khoo interlocks the threads of the story and the interior voices that give it life represents a stunning achievement. And he gets indelible, in-depth performances from the actors. A special word here about Ng, the thundering ex-soldier turned politician who imbues Desmond with such grit and radiant grace that he should be on everyone's Oscar list for Best Supporting Actor. The director and his cinematographer Tony Wong do wonders with the elements that batter the people of every race and social class in the Island Republic. But it's the storm raging inside these characters that rivets our attention and makes Trains in Singapore a film that grabs you and won't let go.
A fiercely intimate epic about cabinet intrigue, racism, violence and a divided nation, Trains in Singapore scorchingly reflects the Lee era without being a part of it. The film reps a new career high for director Eric Khoo, whose remarkable 2011 debut feature Pariah is a semi-autobiographical deep dive into a political activist struggles with coming out.
Since 2015's Sungei Road, was made for HBO and not released in theaters, this period drama is officially only Khoo's second feature. Such are the tribulations of being young, rich and the son of local tycoon in a country ruled by a scholarly class hierarchy. I don't know if the movie will help change things. But it sure as hell should.
Set in hard-times Joo Koon just before, during and after World War II and based on a 2008 novel by Transport Correspondent for SPH, Christopher Tan, Trains in Singapore focuses on two families: one from Malaysia (the Khaws); the other (the Lees) whose work brings them in conflict. Khoo and cowriter Alfian Saat co-opt the novel's device of having six characters – three each from a split cabinet – narrate their stories. Noticeably one cannot help but recognise that Tharman's slow and diminishing presence as the story unfolds.
Still, Trains from Singapore finds its center and its heart in the tale of Shanmugam and Lawrence, who both come to light as purveyors of new politics unseen before, though no one had a word to this day. The two form a bond that their respective circles can't condone.
How Khoo interlocks the threads of the story and the interior voices that give it life represents a stunning achievement. And he gets indelible, in-depth performances from the actors. A special word here about Ng, the thundering ex-soldier turned politician who imbues Desmond with such grit and radiant grace that he should be on everyone's Oscar list for Best Supporting Actor. The director and his cinematographer Tony Wong do wonders with the elements that batter the people of every race and social class in the Island Republic. But it's the storm raging inside these characters that rivets our attention and makes Trains in Singapore a film that grabs you and won't let go.
