Sunday, March 05, 2006

I went to the National Library to watch Moving Gods, a tele-movie loosely based on an actual alter on Pulau Ubin, and also inspired by a play staged by the Theatre Practice not long ago. This is a fascinating tale of an alter that was erected to placate a young German girl who accidentally drowned herself in a quarry in Ubin during the First World War. For the longest time, other than the islanders, the alter was only visited by gamblers, who asked about, what else, lucky numbers. However, ever since the play, and now the tele-movie, its popularity rose, and with more money donated, the alter has been upgraded, looking much better.

I had the chance to chat with Choon Hiong, the director, after the screening. We agreed that, due to the short timing, there were many things that were simplified, hence rendering the plot to be a little thin at times, unlike the play, which was more than twice the length. It was also interesting that, before the screening, they showed another clip, which was about the making of this film, and it talked about the strange happenings that tool place during the shoot, and that it even brought the attention of the SPI.

If nothing else, this shows that our little island still has interesting history around us, if only we bother to dig it all up. Oh, by the way, I thought that the tortoise was a nice touch too.

♥ 11:58 pm