Celebrate National Day with free performances by local artists, and a romantic comedy with an all-Asian cast set in Singapore
6. Crazy Rich Asians
When was the last time you saw two Asian leads on a poster for a major Hollywood romantic comedy? And what about the last time you saw Singapore’s cityscapes featured in a Hollywood movie trailer? That’s how historic “Crazy Rich Asians” is, not only starring an all-East Asian cast with a Chinese-American director (John Chu), but also set and shot on-location in our Lion City. Just from the trailer, you can spot our iconic Merlion against the backdrop of Marina Bay, Gardens By the Bay all lit up, CHIJMES, and even Newtown Food Centre! Even our local actors, such as Pierre Png and Fiona Xie, will be making an appearance.
Adapted from the internationally best-selling novel by Singaporean-American Kevin Kwan, and based on the author’s own experiences growing up in Singapore, the movie follows an American-born professor at NYU, Rachel Chu (Constance Wu), as she gets a startling introduction to her boyfriend Nick Young’s (Henry Golding) rich family when they fly to Singapore for a wedding. How rich is Nick’s family? “Crazy rich” doesn’t even begin to cover it. Think private-mansion-and-luxury-yacht-owning, buying-out-expensive-hotels, 40-million-dollar-wedding kind of rich. And Rachel knows nothing about it. But what she’s most unprepared for is Nick’s disapproving mother (Michelle Yeoh), intent on breaking up the couple.
When the trailer first came out, it made waves in Singapore for the lack of non-Chinese faces and Singaporean accents. So just how big a step is “Crazy Rich Asians” towards diverse representation? Only one way to find out.
Release date: 22 August
ADVERTISEMENTS