Tania Martins

Day 2 of the first edition of [SIN]efest was somewhat a quieter affair than the previous day's opening night, but that was to be expected, being a Friday.

The film that was selected is the oldest in the programme having been made in 2007. Nonetheless, it was directed by Royston Tan, one of the youngest veterans in the Singaporean film scene who seems rather fond of giving his feature films numbers for titles - 15 - the movie, 4:30 and 12 Lotus.  And he does not disappoint on the title front by giving his first musical and commercial film the title of 881. 

881 is about two girls who share a love for Getai (song stage) which can only be performed on the seventh month of the year. They become like sisters and try to make it in the Getai circuit with the help of Aunty Ling (Ling Ling Liu) and her estranged Getai star twin sister, The Goddess.

Tan's first blatant attempt at commercialism which was a resounding success in his home country, Singapore. 

It is indeed a sparkly feel good film. At the beginning. Think the costumes and loud numbers from Priscilla: Queen of the Desert crossed with death and doom from Moulin Rouge! It also has over the top songs, sad songs, that are performed with a smile, which is rather strange. Could use a little tweaking in the sing-out battle between the girls and their rivals, the Durians, but the film overall has a lot of heart and humour. 

One of the girls, Big Papaya (Yann Yann Yeo) is kicked out by her mother for being a Getai performer and Little Papaya (Mindee Ong) is from a poor background. This is all tied up in a not very delved into love triangle of sorts with Aunty Ling's supposedly deaf/mute son, Guan Yin (Yuwu Qi). 

Expect plenty of sparkle, song and dance and hearty laughs in a story with a lot of heart and warmth.

Boo Junfeng introducing 881