It’s a Great Great World

Finally a show that I enjoyed. And even better, it’s not a foreign flick from Hong Kong, USA, or some other filmmaking “powerhouse” country.
It’s a Great Great World is directed by Kelvin Tong and stars pretty much everyone in Mediacorp.
The film revolves around a series of vignettes about folks in The Great World Amusement Park. It’s sparked off by a fashion photographer (Oliva Ong) who’s on a quest for the stories of people in Black & White photographs taken by her grandmother. She finds an old man who recounts each photograph – the most poignant and compelling story being his own (and last vignette).

It’s a Great Great World sprints away from the inglorious pack with its copious use of dialect, from Cantonese to Hainanese and everything in between, by the characters. For one, it’s authentic; could you imagine everyone speaking Mandarin back then? I can’t. Another thing: it’s refreshing to have someone other than Mark Lee (e.g. Joanne Peh) cuss and hold a conversation in Hokkien. Perhaps that’s what we’re missing in our quest for National Identity – the heart that comes from speaking our own dialect. 

This movie has a Do Not Disturb vibe all over it. Not surprising, given that Kelvin Tong’s the director. If you like that TV series, you’ll probably enjoy It’s a Great Great World.  If you’ve never heard of it, go watch the movie anyways, it’s a lovely reminiscence of the past.

Update: Yahoo! Fit to Post ran a story on the copious use of dialect in the show. Do you think we should include more dialects in our shows?