Koroshiya.co.uk - 15: The Movie

Synopsis

A notoriously controversial film in its native Singapore, Royston Tan's 15 ran foul of the country's straight-laced censors who deemed it "a threat to national security" and only allowed it into cinemas after it was subject to a record-breaking 27 cuts. Following a group of five Singaporean teenagers (all played by real street kids who are, the end credits reveal, in varying degrees of trouble with the authorities), 15 takes a startlingly frank look at the reality of growing up in one of the world's richest nations.

Review

Wow, what can you say about 15?? Originally banned in it's native Singapore this is a look into the depressing lives of a group of school age kids... 15 and no future is not a good place to be and makes uncomfortable viewing in places!

This is very much about forgotten kids not feeling like they fit in with the world, or not wanting to fit in with the world and seeing no future for themselves except getting out of their heads, getting tattooed & pierced and dying young. This film really has a lot of flaws, but if you let yourself get taken away by it there is an overpowering sense of dispair in these young lives thats really hard to ignore.

It's difficult to go into detail about the actual plot, and in fact I'm not going to try here. I'm making it seem like this is a wholely depressing experience, it does have some comedy elements and more than one time I laughed out loud. One of the sections envolves trying to find a suitable building for one kid to commit suicide from, he doesn't want red but wants the death to make the news, it's a funny section of the story despite it's underlying dark message.

The direction of this is very "pop video" it makes it a little difficult to concentrate on sometimes and it's thiskind of lack of direction that really loses the points. However this is though Royston Tans first feature length film and as such you can forgive the problems. I think we can expect great things from this guy when he gains a little more experience, certainly he has something to say and is not afraid of saying it!

At the end of the film we are shown images of real newspaper cuttings about murder, suicide, arson.... I guess thats why this was originally banned in Singapore as it's maybe a little too much of the truth.

I would very much like to get hold of a copy of the original short from 2002 as I'm sure this will be a seriously good watch!

3½ out of 5

Review by Uzumaki (UK)

You can buy this movie now from amazon

Review Wow, what can you say about 15?? Originally banned in it's native Singapore this is a look into the depressing lives of a group of school age kids... 15 and no future is not a good place to be and makes uncomfortable viewing in places! This is very much about forgotten kids not feeling like they fit in with the world, or not wanting to fit in with the world and seeing no future for themselves except getting out of their heads, getting tattooed & pierced and dying young. This film really has a lot of flaws, but if you let yourself get taken away by it there is an overpowering sense of dispair in these young lives thats really hard to ignore. It's difficult to go into detail about the actual plot, and in fact I'm not going to try here. I'm making it seem like this is a wholely depressing experience, it does have some comedy elements and more than one time I laughed out loud. One of the sections envolves trying to find a suitable building for one kid to commit suicide from, he doesn't want red but wants the death to make the news, it's a funny section of the story despite it's underlying dark message. The direction of this is very "pop video" it makes it a little difficult to concentrate on sometimes and it's thiskind of lack of direction that really loses the points. However this is though Royston Tans first feature length film and as such you can forgive the problems. I think we can expect great things from this guy when he gains a little more experience, certainly he has something to say and is not afraid of saying it! At the end of the film we are shown images of real newspaper cuttings about murder, suicide, arson.... I guess thats why this was originally banned in Singapore as it's maybe a little too much of the truth. I would very much like to get hold of a copy of the original short from 2002 as I'm sure this will be a seriously good watch! 3½ out of 5 Review by Uzumaki (UK) You can buy this movie now from amazon www.koroshiya.co.uk for all your Asian film reviews!