Sunday, August 30, 2009

Rose Rose I Love You!...part 2

Among my news archive clippings is the piece from the S Times dated 5 October 1986. The writer was Philip Lee. The main thrust of his article can be summed up in his own words," The lives of these once-famous people could even be the theme of a television drama series." [ I have put it as a separate post after this.Click on the article to enlarge and read ]

Well, today Philip Lee must be happy for raising the awareness of the film industry people towards making films of our Singaporean icons.

It was in April last year that Channel News Asia and TODAY newspaper broke the news that movie -maker Eric Khoo, will be shooting a film tentatively titled" Chinese Rose" about the life and time of Rose Chan.
The film is scheduled for release this year.

I can envisaged that many grandpapas and even grandmamas will be headed for the cinema when it is finally out...not to see Rose Chan in person ( she passed away in 1987 - more of that later) but to relive those carefree days when " meigui meigui wo ai ni " was so much a large part of their lives too.
Below is the news release from last year.

Entertainment News
Who wants to be Rose Chan?

By Genevieve Loh, TODAY Posted: 29 April 2008 1003 hrs


Photo:

Cabaret dancer Rose Chan



(Picture courtesy of Zhao Wei Films)



SINGAPORE: Are you a Mandarin and Cantonese-speaking voluptuous siren who enjoys dancing naked with a two-metre snake coiled around your body?

If so, Eric Khoo has a job for you.MediaCorp Raintree Pictures and Zhao Wei Films have joined forces to bring the legendary "Queen of Striptease", cabaret dancer Rose Chan (picture), to the silver screen, telling her fascinating but tragic life story to the sweet tune of $2 million.

"This is a film inspired by her unique life. We're looking for someone, preferably unknown, who can play this amazing woman from 17 to 35 years old. We're hoping to find not just a face and body that can engage, but also a personality that can enthral the audience, just like Rose herself did, some 50 years ago," said Khoo, who is helming the tentatively titled "Chinese Rose", at a press conference at Goodwood Park Hotel on Monday.

"She was not a victim but an incredibly intelligent, witty and nice person. This film is a discovery of her as a human being, rather than a sexpot. She's part of our history. She's our icon," added scriptwriter James Toh, who also wrote Khoo's "12 Storeys" in 1996.

Chan was something of a legend across then-Malaya in 1950s, combining cabaret routines with striptease and daring circus stunts, including wrestling pythons. She even took her act around the world, performing in Australia, Germany and France. The daughter of acrobat parents died in 1987 at the age of 62. Remarking that there will be nudity in the film but that it's "not as risque as Lust, Caution", the 42-year-old director is hoping that there will no longer be an R21 rating when the film comes out in 2009.

"I want our younger generation to be able to watch it and recognise what a special lady she was. If I am going to have problems with the language and rating, I am very prepared to release this film elsewhere and not in Singapore." - TODAY/ar

2 comments:

peter said...

Guess who will be acting in the role of Rose Chan? Must be someone with big jugs.

Unk Dicko said...

I have no idea who has been chosen for this role.
But if you read the text carefully she has to be someone who must also be able to speak Cantonese...just like in that stage Musical.