Fridae

An 'open mind' is all you need to see Rice Rhapsody, according to its star Sylvia Chang.

But Rice, a feel-good movie that deals with a mother's concern over the sexual orientation of her third son, gave the notoriously closed-minded Singapore Censorship Board a lot of trouble. It deliberated for more than a month before agreeing to lower the rating from a conservative R21 to an M18, delaying the movie's opening from January 6 to February 24. In Hong Kong, Rice was classified a category IIA film - unsuitable for children but with no minimum age limit.

"I think the film is unsuitable for those who don't have an open mind," actress Chang said. "It has nothing to do with age."

The comedy, penned by Hong Kong director Kenneth Bi, is set in Singapore, and deals with Jen (Taiwanese-born Chang), a single mother of three, who, finding that two of her sons are gay, schemes to lure the youngest, who is 16, onto the straight and narrow so she can realise her dream of having grandchildren.

The censorship board wasn't worried about nudity or sex - we never see any gay sex, intimacy or even men kissing, and only one tame straight sex scene in the entire run of 108 minutes. The board objected to its coverage of homosexuality. But what do you expect from a country that not only criminalises gay sex but also blowjobs between two straight adults?

The irony is that Bi wrote the movie, not to examine gay issues, but to focus on the mother and her struggle between her love for her sons and her need to hold onto traditional values.

"I'm not trying to speak about gay issues. It's about the mother," Bi told the Hong Kong Entertainment News in Review.

The fact that the Singapore Film Commission, a government agency, part funded the movie doubles the irony.

But why choose a setting where gay sex is banned?

Bi said he opted for the citystate because, "Singapore has a very active but healthy gay community, even though it's against the law to have gay sex there. I found the dichotomy very interesting."

He added: "In places like Hong Kong and Taiwan, the gay communities are, for some reason, not as visible. I found the gay men in Singapore very healthy and attractive and open."

The movie debuted in Hong Kong last month to mostly good reviews. Chang was the critics' favourite, and as the most experienced cast member with scores of movies to her name, it is no surprise she outshone the rest, including celebrity chef Martin Yan of Yan Can Cook fame, who plays Jen's professional rival and love interest. Last year, Chang was nominated for a Golden Horse Award - Asia's Oscars - for her role in Rice.

Bi said the part of Jen was tailor-made for Chang.

"I wanted Sylvia because she was a great star that fit the role and I wrote it with her in mind," he told Fridae.

"She is a very intelligent person and very compassionate. She's also drop dead beautiful and a great actress. Who else would I want for this role?"

Chang is openly sympathetic to gay issues and famous for making movies about women and for women, sometimes venturing into lesbian themes.

In 20,30,40 (2004), the attraction between two young women is touched on although never consummated. Chang, as co-star, script-writer and director of the movie told Hong Kong's City Entertainment it was her deliberate intention to make the girls' encounter lesbian-like, adding it was her favourite theme in the movie. "I like it because it's daring energy," she told Fridae.

In 1999, Chang directed, co-wrote and starred in Tempting Heart, whose focal love triangle is complicated by a lesbian subplot. Chang told Time magazine how annoyed she was when the trailer, which featured a lesbian clip, was pulled.

Said Chang, "I am very, very disappointed about this� I thought to myself, 'Come on, for God's sake, we're nearly at year 2000. What's the big problem here?' But the department's reaction was typical. It's easier just to ignore the subject and hope it will go away."

The award-winning script for Rice uses humour and human relationships to explore the clash between Asian values and homosexuality, giving the film relevance for regional audiences.

The movie has screened in Hong Kong, opens this Thursday in Singapore, and on Friday in Taiwan. Bi said deals have been done to show Rice in Thailand and deeply conservative Malaysia in the next few months. A video release of the film is scheduled for China and there are also possible cinema screenings in Europe.

Bi said he was cheered by Rice's reception in Hong Kong.

"One person brought his parents to see the film and used it as an opportunity to come out to [them]. It was very touching to hear, he told Fridae.

Something which Chang, 51, and mother of two sons herself would no doubt approve. For Chang, her children's happiness is more important to her than their sexuality. "If you love your children, you should love them as the way they are," she said.

Even so, in the movie, Jen recruits the seductive charms of Sabine (played by sexy Melanie Laurent) to tempt her younger son. Chang playfully admits she might well use this kind of experiment to straighten out a suspect sexuality case.

"Why not give [it] a try since the French girl is so pretty," she said.

And why not?