Negotiating the national and transnational in Glen Goei’s films: The Confucian patriarch and the return of the prodigal son

Abstract

In this article, I analyse the two films directed by Glen Goei, Forever Fever and The Blue Mansion, both of which allegorize Singaporean history via the lens of a family with three children, ruled by a Confucian patriarch. Although Goei is generally not considered a pioneer of Singaporean New Wave film, his works shed light on the emergence of the New Wave in the mid-1990s and a second New Wave, starting around 2005. Whereas the first New Wave was characterized by double mimicry of western and East Asian film in an attempt to critique the Singaporean government and colonialism in Southeast Asia, the second New Wave was driven by a search for local authenticity. In addition, Goei’s films provide insight into tension between the national and transnational in Singaporean film, stemming from the nation’s colonial past, filmmakers’ ambivalent alliance with the People’s Action Party (PAP) and the small size of the local market.