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| '''''Liang Po Po: The Movie''''' (梁婆婆重出江湖) is a ]an |
'''''Liang Po Po: The Movie''''' (梁婆婆重出江湖) is a ]an horror-comedy film directed by Teng Bee Lian in 1999. It starred director ] himself, who cross-dresses as the titular character, whose name in English is translated as "Grandma Neo". | ||
| == |
==Synopsis== | ||
| The main character, an 85-year-old lady named Liang Po Po, ran away from her ] in search of a new life, with a belief that she can still contribute to society. | |||
| On her first day, |
On her first day, she was robbed by female gangster Ah Lian and her comrades, and when Liang tried to work as a gas pump attendant, chaos ensued. Liang then met and befriended a couple of gangsters named Ah Beng and Ah Seng, and got involved in a secret society that is involved in crimes. Taking advantage of Liang's unsuspecting nature, the society used her to sell pirated ]s, as well as debt collection. As a loanshark runner, Liang resorted to stalking, house break-ins and other harassment tactics on the borrowers, thus evoking great fear in her victims into repaying their loans. Her feats exceeded the loanshark's expectations but he deliberately underpaid the naive old lady. | ||
| As Liang |
As Liang develops a genuine friendship with Ah Beng and Ah Seng, Big Boss, the man who runs the secret society, decided that his gang should be respected, and enlisted the service of two ] triad consultants, in an effort to improve the image and profile of the gang. The consultants chided the gang for engaging in petty crimes and squabbles, and trained them to commit bigger crimes like gun-running, mass murder and robbery. The gang members, included a still clueless Liang, began a serial slaughter of enemies on random nights in order to put fear in the hearts of their rivals. The consultants also insisted that gang members should be dressed in suits and sunglasses to reflect their new image. The gang's new aggressive actions caught the Singaporean authorities off-guard, who struggled to react to the sudden rise in violent crimes, but still failed to pinpoint Big Boss as the leader. | ||
| With |
With the consultants' encouragement for the gang to exert greater influence on civil society, Big Boss declared an election campaign as an independent politician. His declaration was well-received by most of the people with the exception of a few, notably Liang Ximei, who apparently knew this man's criminal background. To raise money for the upcoming election campaign, the consultants persuaded Big Boss to orchestrate a bank robbery. Being impressed by Liang's achievements so far, Big Boss pressed the bank robbery job onto Liang, feeling that she's the ideal person because no one will suspect an elderly person for a robbery, and if caught, Liang is expected to gain sympathy from authorities. The plan was discovered by Ah Beng and Ah Seng, who then tried to send Liang away. Liang, however, refused to leave her friends, she was determined to follow through with the mission, unaware of what it actually entails. | ||
| Not knowing she was carrying a real, loaded gun, Liang brandished it before firing it off, unexpectedly horrifying the then-complacent bank staff into giving her the money. Even though an escaped Liang disputes the amount in private, the bank reported a much bigger amount of money missing, sparking a nationwide hunt for the old woman. Meanwhile, both the gangsters and authorities race against each other to find Liang and recover the money first. As she goes on the run, Liang realized she was used by Big Boss and his consultants. Deciding that she had nothing to lose due to her old age, she re-takes the gun and geared up for one final confrontation with the consultants. A standoff occurred between the final consultant and Liang, which ended with the consultant's shock when he realized that he was actually firing a water gun - which he intended to give to Liang for the bank robbery. The police then arrived and arrested the remaining gang members who had yet to flee. | |||
| In the aftermath of the confrontation, Ah Beng and Ah Seng are the only gang members other than |
In the aftermath of the confrontation, Ah Beng and Ah Seng are the only gang members other than the elderly Liang who avoided the police arrest. The three friends decided to go straight, and realizing that they can make more money posing as an elderly old woman selling goods, Ah Beng and Ah Seng dressed up as look-alikes of Liang and began their new lives anew. | ||
| ⚫ | ==Production== | ||
| In an interview, Neo claimed that he was inspired by western black comedy films like ] and ] to make a Singaporean equivalent. This film was the first produced by ],<ref>{{Cite news |last=Tong |first=Kelvin |date=8 August 1998 |title=Got a story? Climb on-board Raintree |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19980808-1.2.100.3.3 |access-date=2 February 2024 |work=] |pages=3 |via=]}}</ref> and was based on a character created and popularized by a ] (now ]) television series.<ref name="castprod">{{cite web|title=Production Notes - Liang Po Po: The Movie|url=http://www1.mediacorp.sg:80/raintree/movies/liang/liang_cast.htm|website=MediaCorp Raintree Pictures|access-date=30 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110603055635/http://www1.mediacorp.sg/raintree/movies/liang/liang_cast.htm|archive-date=3 June 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
| ⚫ | Utilizing a crew of 50, this was the first Singaporean film to feature high-speed chases, as well as choreographed fight scenes involving hundreds of extras.<ref name="castprod"/> | ||
| ⚫ | In an effort to broaden the film's appeal, well-known ] celebrities ] and ], as well as ]n singer ] were cast in supporting, cameo roles.<ref name="castprod"/> | ||
| ==Cast== | ==Cast== | ||
| Line 41: | Line 48: | ||
| *] as Ah Lian | *] as Ah Lian | ||
| *] as Big Boss | *] as Big Boss | ||
| *] as |
* ] as gas pump attendant | ||
| *] |
* ] and ] as consultants from Hong Kong | ||
| *] as Sister Wen, one of ] ] ] | |||
| *Marcus Ng Yi Loong as Albert, Liang Xi Mei's Younger Son reprising his role from ''Comedy Night/Comedy Nite'' 1996 to 1999 (]) | |||
| In addition, ], ], ], ], Robin Leong, and Chris Ho have cameos in the film.<ref name="castprod"/> | In addition, ], ], ], ], Robin Leong, and Chris Ho have cameos in the film.<ref name="castprod"/> | ||
| ⚫ | ==Production== | ||
| In an interview, Neo claimed that he was inspired by western black comedy films like ] and ] to make a Singaporean equivalent. This film was the first produced by ],<ref>{{Cite news |last=Tong |first=Kelvin |date=8 August 1998 |title=Got a story? Climb on-board Raintree |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19980808-1.2.100.3.3 |access-date=2 February 2024 |work=] |pages=3 |via=]}}</ref> and was based on a popular character created and popularized by a ] (now ]) television series known as ''Comedy Night/Comedy Nite'' from 1992 to 1995 where the titular character first made her appearance there and performed many different skits and sketches which resulted in her jokes becoming extremely hilarious and popular.<ref name="castprod">{{cite web|title=Production Notes - Liang Po Po: The Movie|url=http://www1.mediacorp.sg:80/raintree/movies/liang/liang_cast.htm|website=MediaCorp Raintree Pictures|access-date=30 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110603055635/http://www1.mediacorp.sg/raintree/movies/liang/liang_cast.htm|archive-date=3 June 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>Later, she would reprise her role in the comedy variety series known as ''The Return of Liang Po Po'' (which has the same ] title as this film also known as 梁婆婆重出江湖, where ], ], ] and ] reminisce the times they put in the effort and created this elderly lady character and the different skits and sketches which were extremely hilarious, popular and memorable) (2001) and also in ''Comedy Night/Comedy Nite'' 2003. After almost a decade, she also reprised her role in the variety programme known as The ''] 45th Anniversary Gala 2008 (45载光芒8方贺台庆)'' (2008), in which she received the most iconic and popular award, comedy skits with ] as 'Use Me' Dustbin ("请用我" 垃圾桶) in '']'' (2015), and in the Singaporean Blockbuster Drama known as '']'' (2016) in which she made a ], and also made another ] in the ] ] known as '']'' (2018) in which she appeared at the beginning and ending of the film, and also starred in the dialect variety series known as '']'' (2018). | |||
| ⚫ | Utilizing a crew of 50, this was the first Singaporean film to feature high-speed chases, as well as choreographed fight scenes involving hundreds of extras.<ref name="castprod"/> | ||
| ⚫ | In an effort to broaden the film's appeal, well-known ] celebrities ] and ], as well as ]n singer ] were cast in supporting |
||
| ==References== | ==References== | ||
Latest revision as of 10:43, 26 December 2024
1999 Singaporean film
| Liang Po Po: The Movie | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Teng Bee Lian |
| Screenplay by | Jack Neo |
| Produced by | Eric Khoo |
| Starring | Jack Neo Mark Lee Henry Thia |
| Cinematography | Yoke Weng Ho |
| Edited by | Lawrence Ang |
| Production companies | Mediacorp Raintree Pictures Zhao Wei Film |
| Distributed by | United International Pictures |
| Release date |
|
| Running time | 100 minutes |
| Country | Singapore |
| Languages | Chinese (Mandarin, Hokkien, Cantonese) |
| Budget | S$800,000 |
Liang Po Po: The Movie (梁婆婆重出江湖) is a Singaporean horror-comedy film directed by Teng Bee Lian in 1999. It starred director Jack Neo himself, who cross-dresses as the titular character, whose name in English is translated as "Grandma Neo".
Synopsis
The main character, an 85-year-old lady named Liang Po Po, ran away from her retirement home in search of a new life, with a belief that she can still contribute to society.
On her first day, she was robbed by female gangster Ah Lian and her comrades, and when Liang tried to work as a gas pump attendant, chaos ensued. Liang then met and befriended a couple of gangsters named Ah Beng and Ah Seng, and got involved in a secret society that is involved in crimes. Taking advantage of Liang's unsuspecting nature, the society used her to sell pirated VCDs, as well as debt collection. As a loanshark runner, Liang resorted to stalking, house break-ins and other harassment tactics on the borrowers, thus evoking great fear in her victims into repaying their loans. Her feats exceeded the loanshark's expectations but he deliberately underpaid the naive old lady.
As Liang develops a genuine friendship with Ah Beng and Ah Seng, Big Boss, the man who runs the secret society, decided that his gang should be respected, and enlisted the service of two Hong Kong triad consultants, in an effort to improve the image and profile of the gang. The consultants chided the gang for engaging in petty crimes and squabbles, and trained them to commit bigger crimes like gun-running, mass murder and robbery. The gang members, included a still clueless Liang, began a serial slaughter of enemies on random nights in order to put fear in the hearts of their rivals. The consultants also insisted that gang members should be dressed in suits and sunglasses to reflect their new image. The gang's new aggressive actions caught the Singaporean authorities off-guard, who struggled to react to the sudden rise in violent crimes, but still failed to pinpoint Big Boss as the leader.
With the consultants' encouragement for the gang to exert greater influence on civil society, Big Boss declared an election campaign as an independent politician. His declaration was well-received by most of the people with the exception of a few, notably Liang Ximei, who apparently knew this man's criminal background. To raise money for the upcoming election campaign, the consultants persuaded Big Boss to orchestrate a bank robbery. Being impressed by Liang's achievements so far, Big Boss pressed the bank robbery job onto Liang, feeling that she's the ideal person because no one will suspect an elderly person for a robbery, and if caught, Liang is expected to gain sympathy from authorities. The plan was discovered by Ah Beng and Ah Seng, who then tried to send Liang away. Liang, however, refused to leave her friends, she was determined to follow through with the mission, unaware of what it actually entails.
Not knowing she was carrying a real, loaded gun, Liang brandished it before firing it off, unexpectedly horrifying the then-complacent bank staff into giving her the money. Even though an escaped Liang disputes the amount in private, the bank reported a much bigger amount of money missing, sparking a nationwide hunt for the old woman. Meanwhile, both the gangsters and authorities race against each other to find Liang and recover the money first. As she goes on the run, Liang realized she was used by Big Boss and his consultants. Deciding that she had nothing to lose due to her old age, she re-takes the gun and geared up for one final confrontation with the consultants. A standoff occurred between the final consultant and Liang, which ended with the consultant's shock when he realized that he was actually firing a water gun - which he intended to give to Liang for the bank robbery. The police then arrived and arrested the remaining gang members who had yet to flee.
In the aftermath of the confrontation, Ah Beng and Ah Seng are the only gang members other than the elderly Liang who avoided the police arrest. The three friends decided to go straight, and realizing that they can make more money posing as an elderly old woman selling goods, Ah Beng and Ah Seng dressed up as look-alikes of Liang and began their new lives anew.
Production
In an interview, Neo claimed that he was inspired by western black comedy films like Beetlejuice and Death Becomes Her to make a Singaporean equivalent. This film was the first produced by Mediacorp Raintree Pictures, and was based on a character created and popularized by a Television Corporation of Singapore (now MediaCorp) television series.
Utilizing a crew of 50, this was the first Singaporean film to feature high-speed chases, as well as choreographed fight scenes involving hundreds of extras.
In an effort to broaden the film's appeal, well-known Hong Kong celebrities Eric Tsang and Sheren Tang, as well as Malaysian singer Ah Niu were cast in supporting, cameo roles.
Cast
- Jack Neo as Liang Po Po/Liang Xi Mei
- Mark Lee as Ah Beng
- Henry Thia as Ah Seng
- Patricia Mok as Ah Lian
- John Cheng as Big Boss
- Ah Niu as gas pump attendant
- Eric Tsang and Sheren Tang as consultants from Hong Kong
In addition, Zoe Tay, Chen Liping, Evelyn Tan, Kym Ng, Robin Leong, and Chris Ho have cameos in the film.
References
- ^ "Liang Po Po: The Movie". MediaCorp Raintree Pictures. Archived from the original on 25 February 2011. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
- Tong, Kelvin (8 August 1998). "Got a story? Climb on-board Raintree". The Straits Times. p. 3. Retrieved 2 February 2024 – via NewspaperSG.
- ^ "Production Notes - Liang Po Po: The Movie". MediaCorp Raintree Pictures. Archived from the original on 3 June 2011. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
External links
| Films by Jack Neo | |
|---|---|
|