Following the warm reception of 7 Letters at the Busan Film Festival last week, Royston Tan seems to have struck another chord with Korean audiences through his musical masterpiece 3688.
About three-quarters of the crowd stayed back for the Q&A even though it was just the director without his cast. One Korean fan even said that he had watched it 3 times (the total number of screenings in Busan). So what is it about Royston’s 3688 that Koreans love so much?
1. The language of music knows no boundaries.
For Korean audiences at BIFF, watching foreign films is a headache because subtitles are projected vertically, Joseon-dynasty style onto a slim column at the far right. This causes sophisticated dialogue to be lost in translation. Musical numbers, however are always a hit and it’s no coincidence that Bollywood song-and-dance titles do well here (such as this year’s opening film, Zubaan).
2. The smattering of Malay, Chinese, Singlish and Hokkien shows off Singapore’s cultural heritage.
Busan locals are also known for their colourful dialect which was represented this year by the documentary Still and All and the indie feature Steel Flower. So I’m sure they appreciate the flavour of our Kopi Cs and Milo Pengs.
3. Joi Chua.
I will never forget the first time I heard her at NDP when I was doing my NS and I’m betting the audience at BIFF feels the same. Her golden voice brought them to tears. Joi looks like she really aged though… I hope it’s makeup -.- But on that note, I think the audience was impressed to learn that Royston had gone for a natural approach by casting singers rather than actors. Even though this is a country where every other boyband hottie has a drama or two under his belt.
4. It’s his birthday.
Royston mentioned that his birthday always falls during the film festival and the audience never fails to give him a cake. He even got two this year! Maybe if his Korean improves, someone might even make him a traditional seaweed soup.
5. Everyone is trying to guess what the numbers mean.
Koreans love “special” numbers. For example, 1004 means “angel” and 8282 is “hurry up”. So you can imagine that Royston got a lot of questions about the hidden message in 3688. The audience was even more piqued when he said his next film would be 1998 and that there would be two more films after that, all with numerical titles.
At the end of the Q&A, Royston said that he would be working hard to make his next film and return to BIFF as soon as possible. Hope to see him back here soon!
More news and updates for Busan Film Festival on our Instagram page (@InCinemasSG)