23 Oct 2007

Pleasure Factory

Original Title: Kuaile Gongchang

Director: Ekachai Uekrongtham

Language: Mandarin and English with English subtitles

Starring: Ananda Everingham, Yang Kuei-Mei, Loo Zihan, Isabella Chen

Release: 2007-10-23

Geylang is the biggest red-light district in Singapore. And as one might expect of such places, it hums with neon signs, seedy joints and tawdry characters colliding with one another every night. Some have called it a smaller and milder version to Bangkok's Patpong, while others swear by its late-night food stalls.

Directed by gay-friendly director Ekachai Uekrongtham and shot by gay artist Brian Gothong Tan, Pleasure Factory is the first Singapore film to be set in Geylang. It tells three interweaving stories of call girls and their clients over the course of one night. The first story depicts Loo Zihan as an army boy who wants to lose his virginity. He ends up in bed with a voluptuous China girl Xue Er with whom he makes a sweet but transient connection.

In the second tale, Isabella Chen plays the daughter of a prostitute (Yang Kuei-Mei) who is forced to fellate one of her mother's customers, while a potential client (Ananda Everingham) stalks her. The third tale involves a callgirl (Jeszlene Zho) who has regular sex with a wrinkled old man, but finds momentary comfort in a handsome young suitor.