15: The Movie (2003)

i'm also a 15 year old. i am not scared of blood or violence, and i even like to watch horror movies. so i was interested in this film as it seemed quite funny (at first). but then it became boring (no plot), and the characters seem unreal. It was very vulgar, to the point where you don't find it funny anymore. you also don't know why exactly they are like that--many people go to ITE too, but they don't join gangs. they don't do STUPID things like fight, have sex with a dummy, take drugs, pierce, get tattoos, cut themselves, commit suicide. even if they die, they would choose to let the whole nation mourn for them by becoming some famous great person, not die on a famous building. i can't believe the actors are actually not acting. who would do such things on CAMERA? Roystan tan is really sick (psycho sick), and i have no intention to watch any more of his films. keep in mind that this is not a fair nor typical representation of Singapore's youth, who are typically a studious, polite lot. And gang fights or gangsters parading around are not common. & what's the deal with all the hokkien? do you really think all the people understand this? use your brain, roystan. you're making a film for everyone and you add all this vulgar stuff and hokkien to show off your artiness. PS: the boys don't look like 15, now do they? you're not even realistic, roystan!

15 gained its film notoriety locally for its content, about the lives and angst of teenage delinquents in Singapore. However, after watching this film, one might think a little deeper about the trials and tribulations that these teenagers face, from the angle that director Royston Tan presents.The opening credits was stylishly done, and this is very surprising actually, for a local film. The feel of the movie was like a series of short snippets of set pieces, be it gang fights, body piercing, the etching of a tattoo on one's body, body mutilations, the swallowing of condom filled Ecstasy pills, etc. And stringing it all together were manga inspired transitions done Japanese documentary style of huge words smacked across the screen.While these stylistic techniques drew attention to themselves, the main leads were also infamously rumoured to be in similar dire straits as the characters. The street wise teenagers actually looked sincere in their acting (or were they?) and it's a wonder how Royston managed to coax them into starring in his movie.The plot, as mentioned, consists of short stories which fell into 3 acts. The first, being the brotherhood between 2 friends who ponder the meaning of their aimless lives. They know that they are condemned in the eyes of society, and find solace in the company of themselves. The second act was a bit comical, as 2 friends helped an ex-enemy to look for a building to commit suicide in. And the last act continued with examining the lives and friendship between the same 2 friends.Sure, peppered throughout the dialogue are constant swearing, smoking, drug-taking, porn watching, lip piercing (which irked the audience), hokkien song singing, but there's a limit to how much these novelties can disguise a lack of focus in certain parts of the story, especially towards the end. I felt the strength of this film was in the first act, where you could actually feel the desperation and crying out for direction in life, and eventually the succumbing to the belief of what Fate has dealt them.Nonetheless, for its stark and pointed commentary, this is certainly a departure from the usual stories that one might associate teenagers with. It's gritty, dark, melancholic to the point of despair, this is a glimpse into the troubled lives of the local misguided youth.

For the uninitiated, 15 tells the story of Singapore's lost youth. The original short film (at a duration of approximately 20 minutes) was excellent and mind blowing. A treat for all the senses. I don't think there was a single person who left the film festival screening unmoved.The feature length version basically continues where the short left off. And what a great feature it would've been had there been an actual story! The movie was wandering and meandering, meaningless at some points, and just plain boring at others. I shall always treasure the short film experience, and have already forgotten the feature length abomination.

*Spoilers Warning*15 is an extension of the award-winning short film of the same title and the long-awaited Singaporean work starring real-life teen hooligans (all 15 years of age at time of filming) whom Royston picked up from schools and streets. The film is an honest yet provocative insight of the world of several disenchanted, tattooed youths rejected by their own families and sidelined by the mainstream of society. Shot in a disjointed MTV and voyeuristic style with mixed paces, the show is like a rollercoaster ride with dizzy, intense outburst of vulgar Hokkien and "brotherhood" gangster songs and occasional prolonged scenes of quiet emotions. There was a couple of confetti-filled performances and even a small segment of crude animation to add some ironic exuberant touches to their sad journeys in life. Because of its presentation, subject matter and nature of characters, it is quite reasonable to describe 15 as a semi-documentary of a lost generation.Through the direction of the lens, the lives of these boys were laid bare to the audience with little actual acting [Royston claimed that he discarded 5 rolls of film, approximately 30 minutes worth of footage because the boys had somehow picked up and gone into method acting instead] .......so whatever you see on screen (the tears, behavior, etc) are authentic aspects of their personalities and backgrounds. Because everything is almost real, the film is embodied with a quality as raw as sashimi. Apart from their young faces, there wasn't a shred of innocence found in the boys. 15 was essentially a platform for the display of the teenagers' pain, loneliness, hopelessness, despair and frustration. Yet it's more than watching a violent heavy rock concert [rock bands are commonly made up of angry men anyway?] or a sort of satirical social commentary. The depressing slant is moderately balanced by several points of humor and entertainment, which would be better appreciated in a Singaporean context.One of the most poignant scene, to me, came from the search of a suitable, grand building for one of the protagonists to jump off ---- yes, a suicidal site recce. After scouting and assessing several landmarks, from familiar HDB flats/condominiums to more prominent landmarks like commercial skyscrapers and hotels, they finally found the best location......gloriously revealed as the Esplanade. I saw the choice as deliberate, staining the symbol of our (so-called) cultural excellence with the blood of a 15 year-old street urchin, profaning the icon of elitism and artistry. A subtle stroke of tragic brilliance here, I feel.Mirroring real life, there was no fairy-tale ending for the film. The sad fact is that most were not able to free themselves of their troubles or find a new leash of life and hope even after the completion of filming. As Royston related, out of the 6 boys, one went missing, one got jailed for stabbing another youth almost to death, one attempted suicide over a failed relationship. Only one desired to go back to school but was rejected by government schools because of his tattoos. Fortunately, a church group is looking into sponsoring his education thru private tutoring. The film may seems to be a one-sided effort in generating sympathy for their plight without considering personal responsibilities and choices....but then again, what sort of accountability can be reasonably demanded from a 15 year-old? Where or what were most of us doing when we were 15? All I remembered of myself was being a mugger tackling class tests and exams......even years down the road I do not think I would have the capacity to deal with or relate to the emotional complexities that the boys in the film went thru. A matter of circumstances? Perhaps so. Anyway, their counterparts will never be able to watch this film to find any identification as it is very unlikely for the film to get a rating below R(A). Himself an ITE-graduate whose lecturer destined himself to be nothing more than a clerical assistant, Royston may qualify himself in filming this as he isn't part of the echelon which society heaps its recognition and approval but a filtered by-product of a national system with narrowly-defined parameters of success. Comparing it with Jack Neo's light-hearted I Not Stupid [whose characters were also marginalized individuals], 15 is definitely not a crowd pleaser. Besides being real, the boys were older and far more repressed than Neo's trio. There were disturbing, nauseating scenes of drug-smuggling by swallowing condoms filled with ecstasy pills as well as real bodily mutilation: skin-piercing without anesthetic and a particularly heartbreaking scene where one boy repeatedly slashed his forearm with a penknife [Royston later explained that this scene was shot in reality whereby the boy was given complete freedom to express himself to the world in 2 minutes; he just keep cutting himself while a doctor was on stand-by]. Some may find his approach exploitative (as voiced by an audience in the Q&A session after the screening) in a bid to shock, offend and earn the label of notoriety thru' controversy. I felt discomfort too but I did not doubt his sincerity in wanting to raise general awareness of some of our troubled youths and that his objective is not to "wash our dirty linen in public".Royston has clearly shown his undeniable talent in filmmaking after a series of outstanding short films and I am happy that he has fulfilled his personal dream to make a full feature. A few foreign distributors are already interested in 15 but Shaw's intent for a general release in Singapore is yet to be finalized, uncut or otherwise. Whether 15 are the most important Singapore film to date may remain a subject of debate but I believe many would say that it is the most unforgettable.