Long Long Time Ago 2
Long Long Time Ago 2 (Chinese: 我们的故事2; pinyin: Wǒmén dè gùshì èr; literally "Our Story 2") is a 2016 Singaporean period film directed by Jack Neo, the second of a two-part series and the sequel to Long Long Time Ago.
| Long Long Time Ago 2 我们的故事 2 | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Jack Neo |
| Produced by | Jack Neo Melvin Ang |
| Written by | Jack Neo Link Sng Ivan Ho |
| Starring | Aileen Tan Mark Lee Wang Lei Suhaimi Yusof Ryan Lian Benjamin Tan Cynthia Kuang Ng Suan Loi Charmaine Sei |
| Music by | Mo Ju Li |
| Cinematography | Nian Rui Wen Saravanann |
| Edited by | Hamster Low Kenzir Leow |
Production company | J Team Productions mm2 Entertainment |
| Distributed by | Golden Village Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 121 minutes |
| Country | Singapore |
| Language | Mandarin Hokkien Malay English |
| Budget | $5 million (shared with Long Long Time Ago)[1] |
| Box office | S$3 million[2] |
Plot
Continuing from Long Long Time Ago, Zhao Di takes over her family farm with the help of Ah Long after the 1969 floods. After the government started reclaiming land for development in 1977, licensed owners like Zhao Di are compensated but her brother accuses her of having an affair with Ah Long to get the money for himself. Osman does not approve his son playing in a rock band as he fears the negative influence, causing his son to run away from home. Meanwhile, Ah Hee and Rani decide to get married but their traditional parents object their marriage.
Cast
- Aileen Tan as Lim Zhao Di
- Mark Lee as Lim Ah Kun, Zhao Di's younger brother
- Wang Lei as Si Shu, Zhao Di's father
- Ng Suan Loi as Ah Ma, Zhao Di's mother
- Benjamin Tan as Lim Ah Hee, Zhao Di's younger brother who is among the first batch of National Servicemen
- Cynthia Kuang as Su Ting, Zhao Di's eldest daughter
- Yan Li Xuan as young Su Ting
- Charmaine Sei as Ah Feng, Ah Kun's wife
- Ryan Lian as Ah Long, a gangster
- Suhaimi Yusof as Osman, a Malay food seller
- Nurijah binte Sahat as Fatimah, Osman's wife
- Silvarajoo Prakasam as Shamugen, a hawker inspector turned People’s Association officer
- Bharati Rani as Rani, Shamugen's daughter, Ah Hee's girlfriend and later wife
- Mastura Ahmad
- Nick Shen
- Yoo Ah Min
- Zhang Wei
Production
Filming
The film was filmed in Ipoh, Malaysia, especially in Kampung Cina Pusing together with the first part, starting in May 2015 over 60 days.[3]
While filming a scene of a sister rescuing her younger brother from a toilet he is stuck in, director Jack Neo insisted on a close-up shot of real faeces to show audiences what toilets in the 1960s were really like. For historical accuracy, Neo also requested actress Aileen Tan to grow her armpit hair for a brief show of it when her character, wearing a sleeveless blouse, raises her arms to tie her hair while working at a coal mine.[4]
The scene of Ah Kun (Mark Lee) slapping his niece and nephew is real. The actors did over ten takes.
Familiar to Vasantham Central viewers, Bahrathi Rani plays Rani in her first non-Tamil production.[5]
Music Video
The Official Music Video of Long Long Time Ago 2 was released on YouTube on Apr 14, 2016. It was directed by Shawn Tan and cinematography was by Lincoln Lin of Famegate Studios.
Reception
Critical reception
Reception was mostly negative.
John Lui of The Straits Times gave the film 2.5/5. He praised the "personal" "small moments" but criticised how "what little authenticity that can be glimpsed is buried under a treacly layer of television-style drama". In addition, he found that "[a]lmost every moment is freighted with moral significance, heavily underscored by dialogue and music" and "[f]or all the suffering, shame and strife baked into the story, there's little inner life to the characters".[6]
Rating the film 2/5, Whang Yee-ling of 8 Days noted that Jack Neo "seems emotionally and creatively depleted after putting much of his heart into writing-directing Long Long Time Ago" and that "even Neo's ear for vernacular humour fails him, and the Hokkien exchanges are strained". She also criticised the film's "simplistic lessons on racial harmony in addition to intergenerational strife". She concluded, "The story is merely marking time, the characters remaining one-note types over the decade".[7]
Similarly, Yahoo! News Singapore found Long Long Time Ago 2 "not as good" as its first part, giving it a score of 3.5/5. While praising the film's "[c]ompelling family drama" and "refreshing take on relationships in Singapore", they noted that it "doesn’t provide the proper cathartic resolution to the many conflicts that arise", with "[t]oo many characters and plots to keep track of", "blatant product placement" and a "downer" of a "weak resolution".[8]
Jeremy Sing of SINdie found the "discrepancy" in the two parts "so great", with Part Two filled with "preachiness, television-style histronics... in-your-face product placements" and "a paper-thin plot". While he praised the film for "bravely tackling a sensitive topic" of the interracial marriage between Ah Hee and Rani, Sing criticised the overall "weak plot development, characterisation, trite direction and its propensity to ‘teach’ the audience what we were supposed to gather from the film".[9]
Box office
Long Long Time Ago 2 was second in the Singapore box office to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in its opening week. It have earn more than $3 million to date. [10]
Sequels
Director Jack Neo and Ng Say Yong, chief content officer of mm2 Entertainment, have planned for four instalments for Long Long Time Ago, but production of part 3 and 4 depends on the box office results of the first two films. Both movies have so far earn an estimated of $7.5 million from box offices sales.
Neo claims he still has many more stories from 1978 to 2016 to explore.[11]
References
- Loh, Genevieve Sarah (24 March 2016). "Director Jack Neo makes a plea for Long Long Time Ago 2". MediaCorp. TODAY. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
- "Long Long Time Ago 2". Box Office Mojo. IMDB. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
- Loh, Genevieve Sarah (1 February 2016). "Jack Neo's new movie Long Long Ago opening during CNY is to "keep a record of S'pore's past for future reflection"". Today. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
- Tan, Kee Yun (25 March 2016). "Jack Neo insists on faeces and armpit hair for new movie". Singapore Press Holdings. The New Paper. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
- Goh, Marcus (25 March 2016). "Interracial marriage, slapping and dangerous fireworks in 'Long Long Time Ago 2'". Yahoo. Yahoo Singapore. Archived from the original on 8 April 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
- Lui, John (30 March 2016). "John Lui reviews Long Long Time Ago and A Bigger Splash". Singapore Press Holdings. The Straits Times. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
- Whang, Yee-ling (28 May 2016). "Long Long Time Ago 2". 8 Days.
- "Review: 'Long Long Time Ago 2 (我们的故事 2)' isn't as good as its predecessor". Yahoo! News Singapore. Yahoo!. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
- Sing, Jeremy. "Review: Long Long Time Ago 2 - The Problem with Part Twos". SINdie. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
- "Long Long Time Ago 2". Box Office Mojo. IMDB. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
- Goh, Marcus (25 March 2016). "Interracial marriage, slapping and dangerous fireworks in 'Long Long Time Ago 2'". Yahoo. Yahoo Singapore. Archived from the original on 8 April 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2016.