ARTICLE

Red Numbers – a Singaporean Movie of Many Firsts

By InCinemas / 15 Feb 2013 (Friday)

Source: Red Numbers

On the lucky day of 2202 or 22 February, Cathay-Keris Films Pte Ltd will release Red Numbers – a Singaporean movie that promises to be unlike any other. Find out more about the movie after the jump!

The film boasts of many firsts. Red Numbers is director Dom Ow’s first feature. Notably, he is the first scholar in the civil or uniformed services to leave a successful established career to pursue his first love of filmmaking. Red Numbers is produced by first-time feature producer Alvin Soe and award-winning writer Koh Teng Liang who was the brainchild behind Television Corporation of Singapore’s (TCS’s) classic television series "The Teochew Family", "The Guest People", "Hainan Kopi Tales" and more recently, "Kampong Ties", with Mediacorp.

In front of the camera, Red Numbers fields a rich ensemble of talent, from established TV stars such as Edmund Chen and Hong Huifang to getai and theatre celebrities to first-timers like renowned Fengshui master Hui Shifu. Red Numbers is also the first Singapore film to gamble with the use of a first-time China-born actor Zhang Rubing as the one of the leads.

While Red Numbers is not the first Singaporean movie to use the popular 4-digit (4D) lottery as its subject, it takes a refreshing slant on the topic weaving Fengshui, superstition and wacky Asian family dynamics to produce a madcap comedy with a heavy dose of black humour.

Stylistically, the film unfolds in magical realism with vibrant colours, bold production design, irreverent graphics and funky music. Moreover, some of the action is set in quirky yet iconic locations in Singapore that are soon to be extinct such as the pre-war Bukit Brown cemetery and the multi-coloured city apartments of Rochor Centre – perhaps a reflection of how a country whose students top the Math and Science Olympiads continues to be fascinated with the old-school lottery game of chance. In these and so many other ways, Red Numbers is edgy yet familiar, a risky yet odds-on entertaining bet.

Background Information
Red Numbers or Ang Zi (Hokkien) is a local gambling term. It refers to popular 4D numbers that are usually sold out. Many people also interpret "Red Numbers" as lucky numbers. The original story was first conceived by director Dom Ow in 2007 after conversations with 4D bookies. It was developed with a Script Development Grant from the Singapore Film Commission. The screenplay was re-written by producer Koh Teng Liang in 2011 to incorporate fengshui elements and an ensemble cast. Principal photography and post-production was completed in June 2011 and March 2012 respectively.

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Red Numbers – a Singaporean Movie of Many Firsts