Synopsis: Chinese-educated architect Lim is at a crossroads in 1970s Singapore where English is increasingly adopted in the workplace. Sidelined at work, he sees little hope of career advancement. Meanwhile, Lim also contends with a broken marriage and caring for an overbearing father.
Reviewed By: Lim Ye Kai
With the decline in cinema attendance and annual box office revenue, is Singapore’s film industry ever going to recover or even blossom? Are Singaporean films no longer appealing to Singaporeans or are other factors at play affecting our box office? Recently, I had a chance to catch local director Kelvin Tong’s 11th feature film, A Year of No Significance, or 大风吹 in Mandarin.
The film premiered at the 2023 Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF), after its delayed release from 2019 due to the pandemic. A Year of No Significance is a realist drama showing a slice of life in 1970s Singapore. The film’s title is an ironic stab at the significance of 1979 in Singapore’s history amongst the Chinese diaspora, channeling the raw emotions of change and unfamiliar familiarity through the lens of Chinese-educated architect Lim (Peter Yu). Tong explores the deep-rooted themes of family, loneliness & favouritism with Lim’s struggle in 1979.
Film still from A Year of No Significance
As a casual local film supporter, A Year of No Significance is nothing short of a great period piece film. It encapsulates how life was in the 1970s and the struggles of chinese-speaking professionals.
By exploring the relationship between Lim and his father, we feel almost frustrated when Lim’s father favours his youngest son despite him being flawed. The common struggles explored like generational trauma and loneliness keep the film relatable. Not to forget, the amazing performance by Peter Yu, especially in the way he delivers his lines and the important use of dialect.
The storyline, themes and period where the film takes place draws similarities to another local film, The Diam Diam Era, directed by Jack Neo. The Diam Diam Era released in 2020, post pandemic managed to pull in 1.516 million in box office revenue. Granted, Jack Neo is the king of Singapore’s box office revenue, it makes me wonder if A Year of No Significance will be able to perform as well in terms of box office numbers? The answer is very unlikely.
Personally, I loved A Year of No Significance a lot more, the story was a lot more well-written and the characters have more depth to them. The film focused on Lim’s relationship with his family, his colleagues and his ex-wife. I really felt for the character especially when I have been in love before, I have had troubles with my family and of course everyone has struggles in life. If you enjoyed The Diam Diam Era, or feel a sense of nostalgia whenever you happen to reminisce to old Singapore, I think A Year of No Significance will be a perfect film for you.
Both films have similar target audiences which are the older generation of Singapore who lived through the 1980s period or just people interested in that period of Singapore history. How is The Diam Diam Era able to garner that impressive local box office revenue? Is it just because of the director’s name or could it be the local cast’s popularity with the audiences? I think there is a lot at work for a film’s box office success other than just how greatly produced the film is.
Film still from A Year of No Significance
At the 34th SGIFF this year, some of the country’s leading filmmakers were present for a panel, including Kelvin Tong. One of the leading concerns was the dwindling post-pandemic box office that Singapore is going through.
Local director Anthony Chen, who directed two films this year, Drift and Breaking Ice was one of the panelists. With both his films premiering in Sundance and Cannes respectively, it shows that Singaporean filmmakers have an abundance of opportunities to be on a world-class stage. Yet, Chen pointed out that our box office is halved even with Hollywood films. Even Jack Neo, Singapore’s leading box office filmmaker is not commanding the numbers he used to.
This brings out the question of whether audiences are finding Singapore’s films or even films in general not as entertaining as they used to be. A huge impact of this will be streaming platforms like Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, etc. This creates a huge convenience for audiences to just catch a film in the comfort of their own homes. Has technology caused our film industry to suffer? Or is catching a film in the cinema just a hassle now?
I see Singapore’s film industry blossoming for more budding filmmakers to create films that both enrich the soul as well as entertain the public audiences. But, I think the box office decline is caused by a domino effect with the pandemic, technology and the biggest fear is that the cinema will just become a nostalgic place in the future.
Filmmaking is a unique storytelling art form that allows everyone to escape from reality once in a while or feel emotions that they want to feel. I don’t think we lack support from the government but I think as audiences, we need to appreciate local art forms more. Mainly because we are the main people who will truly understand the beauty of Singaporean films.
A Year of No Significance is a beautiful film set in the 1970s, one of my favourite local films alongside Ilo Ilo, Mee Pok Man and Shirkers. I hope everyone reading this will bring your family members, friends or — to be honest — anyone to catch this film before its theatrical run ends.
Lim Ye Kai is a dedicated film geek who loves leaving the cinema with his feelings evoked. Apart from creating visuals as his day job, you can find him with his electric guitar, force reading literature and probably obsessing over cinematography.
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This review is also published on Singapore Film Society as part of *SCAPE’s Film Critics Lab: A Writing Mentorship Programme.
