The R21 film, Lang Tong, known as ‘Singapore’s Most Controversial Film’ is making its commercial release this Thursday, 5 March 2015.
(L-R: Mr Ng Say Yong (Chief content officer, MM2 Entertainment), Esther Goh, Angeline Yap, Sam Loh (director), Vivienne Tseng, William Lawandi)
With numerous explicit sex scenes and nudity in it, the film made its premiere at last year’s Singapore Film Festival (SGIFF) to sold-out screenings which director Sam Loh said he “didn't expect the response to be so positive.”
He added: “I feel that when you do a film that has sex, people tend to focus on that and it cannot be avoided. Maybe audiences are ready to embrace a different kind of cinema instead of the usual heartland dramas or comedies.”
Lang Tong was screened with no cuts at the film festival, but had to be screened with edits for the upcoming commercial release as, according to MDA’s Classification Guidelines, ‘explicit images of lesbian sexual acts and graphic depictions of violence, including male castration and sexual violence’ were seen.
Loh shared that he expected his film to be cut and respected MDA decisions, but ensured audiences the flow of the movie wouldn’t feel ‘abrupt’. This is not the first time Loh’s films had to be edited due to MDA’s Classification Guidelines. He withdrew his debut feature ‘Outsiders’ from the 2004 Singapore Film Festival as he did not agree with the cuts.
(Watch the trailer for Lang Tong here!)
When asked if there was a limit to the number of cuts before he would take down his film entirely, the 48-year-old director replied, “It really all depends la… I hope they are more open (to censorship). Not that we embrace all things, but it is to have that freedom for the audience to choose what they want to watch. That's my hope.”
One of the challenges he faced for this second feature was to search for a leading lady who was willing to strip for the camera. “To find the actresses who are willing to come on board with this crazy I had was tough,” he said.
Angeline Yap who appears naked in the film was introduced to Loh by a mutual friend and agreed to be a part of the project after a discussion with the director.
Yap revealed she has gotten a lot of attention during the SGIFF, both good and bad comments from family, friends and strangers. Though initially affected by the negative and harsh remarks from the public, she has now learned to ‘not take these comments to heart’.
“I get quite a number of people harassing me online. Some of them will ask me to go out with them and have sex,” the 27-year-old actress said.
“They will call me a b**** or s***, calling me cheap and all. Things like ‘How can I make my future husband or children respect me if I’ve done this role’…. Most of those comments came from STOMP and sex forums.”
Despite all these, Yap has no regrets accepting this challenge and is open to future roles like her character in Lang Tong, provided she agrees with the script and is comfortable with working with the director.
At the press conference, it has been revealed that the next installment of the ‘Femme Fatale’ erotic trilogy will also revolve around the theme of ‘food’ and that it’ll be ‘bigger’. The pre-production of the second movie is underway, but the release date has yet to be determined.
“I hope to raise the standards in every film I make, be it the 2nd, 3rd or subsequent movies that I have planned in the future… I want to raise the standards of Singapore cinema to an intentional level,” said Loh.
Lang Tong opens InCinemas 5 March 2015!