Army Daze is a
SingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island city-state located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, lying north of the equator, south of the Malaysian state of Johor and north of Indonesia's Riau Islands. At , Singapore is a microstate and the smallest nation in Southeast...
an
filmFilm encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects....
released in
1996The year 1996 in film involved some significant events. Major releases this year included Fargo, Trainspotting, The English Patient, Independence Day, Twister, Scream, Jerry Maguire and Madonna's Evita.-Events:...
. A
comedyComedy as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse generally intended to amuse, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in Ancient Greece...
based on the
National ServiceNational Service is the name given to the compulsory conscription in Singapore of all male Singaporean citizens and second-generation permanent residents upon reaching the age of 18...
experience by a group of enlistees in the
Singapore Armed ForcesThe Singapore Armed Forces is the military arm of the Total Defence of Singapore; as well as the military component of the Ministry of Defence. The SAF comprises three branches: the Singapore Army, the Republic of Singapore Air Force and the Republic of Singapore Navy...
, it was one of the earliest top-grossing films then, bringing in some S$1,600,000 at the local box office. Costing Cathay Asia Films just S$700,000 to make, it was also one of the most profitable Singaporean films at that time.
The storyline was based on a play by the same name originally written by Singaporean writer
Michael ChiangMichael Chiang is a prolific playwright of the '80s and '90s art scene in Singapore. He wrote Army Daze and Beauty World.He is also editorial director of Mediacorp Publishing, which publishes 8 Days ....
.
Army Daze is a
SingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island city-state located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, lying north of the equator, south of the Malaysian state of Johor and north of Indonesia's Riau Islands. At , Singapore is a microstate and the smallest nation in Southeast...
an
filmFilm encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects....
released in
1996The year 1996 in film involved some significant events. Major releases this year included Fargo, Trainspotting, The English Patient, Independence Day, Twister, Scream, Jerry Maguire and Madonna's Evita.-Events:...
. A
comedyComedy as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse generally intended to amuse, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in Ancient Greece...
based on the
National ServiceNational Service is the name given to the compulsory conscription in Singapore of all male Singaporean citizens and second-generation permanent residents upon reaching the age of 18...
experience by a group of enlistees in the
Singapore Armed ForcesThe Singapore Armed Forces is the military arm of the Total Defence of Singapore; as well as the military component of the Ministry of Defence. The SAF comprises three branches: the Singapore Army, the Republic of Singapore Air Force and the Republic of Singapore Navy...
, it was one of the earliest top-grossing films then, bringing in some S$1,600,000 at the local box office. Costing Cathay Asia Films just S$700,000 to make, it was also one of the most profitable Singaporean films at that time.
The storyline was based on a play by the same name originally written by Singaporean writer
Michael ChiangMichael Chiang is a prolific playwright of the '80s and '90s art scene in Singapore. He wrote Army Daze and Beauty World.He is also editorial director of Mediacorp Publishing, which publishes 8 Days ....
. Directed by
Ong Keng SenOng Keng Sen is a Singaporean director of the theatre group TheatreWorks, which was founded in Singapore in 1985....
, founder of the
theatreTheatre is a branch of the performing arts. While any performance may be considered theatre, as a performing art, it focuses almost exclusively on live performers creating a self contained drama. A performance qualifies as dramatic by creating a representational illusion...
group
TheatreWorksTheatreWorks is an independent, non-profit theatre company in Singapore. Its artistic director is Ong Keng Sen.-About TheatreWorks :
TheatreWorks Ltd was established in 1985...
, it attempts to portray the multi-cultural flavour of Singaporean society with the extensive use of
SinglishSinglish is an English-based creole used in Singapore. According to the 2000 census, which does not distinguish between Singlish and English, "English" is the lingua franca of Singapore and 71% of Singaporeans are literate in the language...
. Standard
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
is also heard, along with
MalayMalay is a group of languages closely related to each other to the point of mutual intelligibility but that linguists consider to be separate languages. They are grouped into a group called "Local Malay", part of a larger group called "Malayan" within the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the...
,
HokkienThe Southern Min language, or Min Nan , is a family of Chinese languages which are spoken in southern Fujian and neighboring areas, and by descendants of emigrants from these areas in diaspora. In common parlance, Southern Min usually refers to the Hokkien, in particular the Amoy and Taiwanese...
and
MandarinMandarin , is a category of related Chinese dialects spoken across most of northern and south-western China. When taken as a separate language, as is often done in academic literature, the Mandarin language has more native speakers than any other language...
, amongst other languages. The tagline of the movie,
From Real Blur (
SinglishSinglish is an English-based creole used in Singapore. According to the 2000 census, which does not distinguish between Singlish and English, "English" is the lingua franca of Singapore and 71% of Singaporeans are literate in the language...
reference to a mental state of confusion)
to Real Men also reflects this desire. However, when shown on television subsequently, all instances of dialect (a substantial portion of Ah Beng's dialogue) was censored.
Ong Keng SenOng Keng Sen is a Singaporean director of the theatre group TheatreWorks, which was founded in Singapore in 1985....
starred Edward Yong as the lead, Malcolm, Sheikh Haikel as Johari, and Adrian Lim as Teo Ah Beng. Other members of the cast include Ahmed Azad, Kevin Mark Marghese, Margaret Chan, Lim Kay Tong and Deanna Yusoff.
Play
Army Daze, the play, was first shown in theatre in 1987.
The play made a return to the theatre scene in March 2006 as a production by The Toy Factory theatre ensemble. It opened on 2 March at the
Drama CentreDrama Centre London is a British drama school in Clerkenwell, London. The school is part of the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design of the University of the Arts London and is a member of the Conference of Drama Schools...
and ended on 18 March.
The play was directed by Beatrice Chia and Goh Boon Teck. The cast members were:
- Hossan Leong
Hossan Leong is an international stage and screen actor from Singapore.-Educational background:Leong studied at Anglo-Chinese School...
as Malcolm Png
- Robin Goh as Kenny Pereira
- Sebastian Tan as Teo Ah Beng
- Vernon A as Krishnamoorthy
- Sheikh Haikel as Johari Salleh
- Selena Tan
Selena Tan is an actress and the owner of Dream Academy, most notable as one of the famous Dim Sum Dollies. Tan started acting at age 14.-Movies and TV appearances:* Rogue Trader * Under One Roof * I Not Stupid * PCK Pte...
as Mrs Png
- Kumar as Lathi
- Emma Yong as Teo Ah Huay
- Benjamin Ng as Corporal Ong
- Mark Richmond as Sgt Monteiro
- Gerald Chew as Lt Collin Heng
- Lim Kay Siu
Kay Siu Lim or Lim Kay Siu is a Singaporean character actor who has appeared in several Asian films, notably TV films since the 1980s. His bald head and sinister demeanour in film and TV has made him an ideal villain...
as Mr X
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