Perth (The Geylang Massacre)

Hey there! It's been a couple of weeks, I've been a bit lazy and have just been watching a lot of films and not writing about them. I have been posting a lot of stuff on my facebook page, basically film trailers of the films I've been watching and short films that are from youtube. If  you would like to join this page there is a like button to the right of this page. Now onto the film!

"Perth" is a 2004 film from Singapore, directed by Djinn ( real name Ong Lay Jinn). The main character is a man called Harry Lee. He is a self proclaimed "simple man" whose dream is to move to the Australian city called Perth. He works part time as a security guard at the shipyard and drives a taxi at night, saving up his money to move to Perth. Unfortunately his plans go a bit awry when he loses his security guard job and his wife gambles away his savings.

A man he knows from the shipyards called Angry Boy Lee, who is not exactly by the book, says that if he needs a job he will try and help him out. Harry recruits his best friend from his days in the army, Selvam, and goes to meet Angry Boy Lee. He manages to get them a job transporting prostitutes about town, and Harry starts to make a good bit of money that will make his dreams of moving to Perth start a little bit quicker. Until he meets a prostitute who he falls for.

He transports this prostitute a few times to a hotel, and whenever she leaves she seems to have taken a beating. It reminds him of an incident he had in the army with a girl, and he feels he can make up for it by buying the prostitutes freedom. This is easier said than done! Things start to go downhill quite rapidly once this happens, and in a pretty violent fashion.

The cover of the dvd says that this film is Singapore's answer to "Taxi Driver". It has some similarities such as him driving a taxi, trying to help save a prostitute with violent results, and there's even a mirror scene! But it has enough stuff in it to help carve out its own identity. This film is has a lot of scenes of just Harry and Selvam sitting in bars and restaurants, just drinking and talking about any and all topics. They really seem like they have known each other for years and are very close friends.

Harry has a lot of problems in his life. He is a man in his fifties watching the world go by and feeling left out. He thinks he can rid himself of his faults and start afresh in Perth, which he portrays as a Utopia where there are no troubles.

The director Djinn said he was inspired to make the film because of the many taxi rides he has had where the drivers have had a desire to move to Perth. Also when he was in the army reserves, he noticed a lot of the soldiers talked about moving to Perth. Even his uncle who was in the merchant navy talked of his dream to move to Perth.

Thanks again for taking the time to read the page. If you have anything to say please leave a comment below, I like to have some feedback from the people who have read the page. Also please like the page on facebook or twitter, though facebook is my preferred page as I do a lot of posting trailers and stuff on it. I'll see you all again soon. Thanks!

Michael.