My earliest memories of movies are linked up closely with my father. I remember Sunday afternoons, spent pleasurably watching old classics and spaghetti westerns like "The Thief of Baghdad" and "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" on TV. Sometimes on weekends, my parents (initiated by my father) would also take me out to watch a late night movie. We watched "The Ten Commandments" - the Cecil B. DeMille classic with one my favourite actors Yul Brynner (then AND now), "The Dawn of the Dead" - which left me crawling into my parents' bed for a week much to their regret, and many other movies.
Back in the day, cinemas still advertised with hand-painted canvases stretched out on the billboards. The cinematic experience was not what it is today - freezing cold air-conditioning, plush velvet seats with headrests, with convenient pockets for holding drinks. Instead, it involved an intermission - during which one had a chance to stretch one's legs after sitting for an hour in a stiff little seat, do a quick trip to the toilet, or visit the kacang putih man for a refill of sugar-coated peanuts.
I'm not sure if our frequent movie-watching stemmed from the fact that the Singapore of my youth was a tiny island with little recreational opportunities. It certainly wasn't for the comfort of the cinema. Whatever it was, the love of the cinema was instilled in me at a young age.
The year I turned 18 was a particularly memorable year for filmgoers in Singapore. That was the year the Singapore government introduced a tiered film rating system, namely the R(estricted) classification - which permitted movies into Singapore that were previously banned due to sexual or violent content. Being "of age" (you had to be 18 or older), I was now old enough to enjoy the "grown-up" movies. Imagine the elation as a sheltered teenager.
The first movie I rushed out to see with my friends was "The Doors", a heady mix of music, drugs and warped love. We then waited with bated breath for the next change - Stanley Kubrik's "Full Metal Jacket" - only to be greatly let down by the government's change in legislation. Introducing the R(A)rtistic classification, you had to be 21 years of age!
Ironically, the R(A) classification allowed a much seamier variant of movies than previously permitted in Singapore. I continued to religiously monitor the movie pages in the newspaper with disgruntlement as I noted the dramatic increase in dubiously titled films with sex thinly disguised as art. Fortunately, Singaporean cinemas were starting to bring in more critically acclaimed movies that I still had access to (albeit no sex, no violence).
The Cathay Organisation led the pack by opening The Picture House - focused on bringing in international films and not necessarily just the big American blockbusters. I was the biggest fan of The Picture House. In the first year of its opening, I must have attempted to watch every single movie that they screened.
Once I went overseas, I revelled in the liberation of watching any and all movies. I developed a better sense of what was on offer in the cinemas. I went through a phase of being a movie snob (art house or nothing baby!), then I slowly gained confidence in my taste until I watched what I truly liked - be it blockbuster chick flick or critical and controversial docu-dramas.
Even now, I need my movie fix at least twice a month, once a week if I can help it. Movies are an outlet. It helps one to dream of distant places, walk in someone else's shoes, even enjoy a more perfect life if just for two hours. For once, the wishy-washy love interest of the female protagonist actually turns to her and says, "I cannot live without you!" when she's had enough of his commitment phobia. The maid from Lower Mahattan catches the eye of a debonair millionaire, who sees beyond her lowly status and instead falls in love with her charming personality. Quarreling couples magically reunite, evildoers get their just desserts, and all's well that ends well.
Many years ago, a statistic I read named Singapore as the country with the highest annual per capita cinema admissions in the world. I'm not sure where we stand now, but Singapore has one of the highest number of 2K resolution digital cinema screens per capita in the world (according to the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore). Clearly the interest in movie-going has not waned, despite many more recreational choices in Singapore now.
As for me, I'll be going to catch Wall.E over the weekend. Dorky little male robot meets sexy, sleek female superbot and falls head over wheels in love.
