This Chinese New Year holidays, do look forward to director Jack Neo's new social-comedy We Not Naughty. The film opens InCinemas 19 January 2012, with sneak previews this weekend at selected theaters. Please click here to view showtimes for the sneak previews!
InCinemas was present at this afternoon's press conference, and we are happy to bring you some exclusive coverage of interviews with Neo, and stars Daniel Chan and Cherry Hsia. who play a school lecturer and his wife respectively in the film.
[Image of the cast and director Jack Neo at the press conference]
Synopsis: Wei Jie (Shawn Lee) and Jian Ren (Joshua Ang) are best of friends in school, and face their share of family problems; Wei Jie has a gambling addict father and his mother who does not think highly of him. Jian Ren comes from a well-to-do single parent family, but has an estranged relationship with his mother. He becomes rebellious to spite his mother and even becomes a runner for the loansharks. They both share the talent and interest on gadgets inventions, but their efforts are never recognized.
CK (Daniel Chan), as their lecturer, tries to build a rapport with the boys but ends up being snubbed. His patience pays off and the boys end up seeking help from him for their family problems. CK even help the boys to create an invention for a competition. However, their invention is misused by the loansharks, and in an attempt to stop that, CK, Wei Jie and Jian Ren’s lives become at risk.
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Director Neo said that his film was very relevant to youths and families because it had a strong moral message. He said that many of the characters were readily identifiable because they could be any one of us. He hoped that watching his film would be a good avenue for delinquent youths, and parentswho had not shown enough attention to their children, to reflect on their actions. After all, everyone has a choice; it is a matter of deciding which path to take, and what is best for the family.
[Image of director Jack Neo talking about his film]
Neo was in attendance when We Not Naughty premiered at GV VivoCity last night. He felt satisfaction at the audience's reception towards the film as many laughed and cried at some of the scenes, and hoped that Singaporeans would embrace his work and promote his film through word-of-mouth.
During the press conference, there was a live demonstration in which a camera was attached to a "mini-helicopter" and flown about in the room. This is the first time this technique is used in a local film, and its aerial mobility has allowed the director to capture aerial shots of the Singapore city like never before. Therefore, be sure to catch this cool technique on display during the opening titles of the film!
[Image of live demonstration of "helicopter camera" technique]
Cherry, who was together with Daniel during the interview, disclosed that she was comfortable acting in Neo's film as his directing style was very natural. At some moments, she didn't feel like she was acting for the camera. In fact, before she even saw the script, she already accepted Neo's invitation to act in his film. A firm admirer of Neo's works, Cherry felt that he managed to successfully capture the human drama in a family conflict.
Daniel also agreed that Neo's film was very close in its portrayal of society's problems, and that the theme of the film would resonate not only with Singaporeans, but also viewers in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Daniel found that his character as the school lecturer was quite special as he felt it was very rare for teachers to be involved in a student's home or personal affairs, and being fully committed to helping to solve his or her problems.
[Image of Daniel Chan and Cherry Hsia at the press conference]
For fans of Cherry, she will be flying off to Taiwan tonight, but will be coming back to Singapore in late January to act in a television drama by Mediacorp. Do look forward to her performance when the drama makes its airing.
In the meantime, be sure to catch We Not Naughty on the big screen!
Please click here to view showtimes for the sneak previews!