The French romanticizes Asia in a series of French TV shows starting in the 1950's up to 1980.  Done in collaboration with INA.

The first one, was a bit confusion, over exposed black and white footage that were just too bright.  It spoke about Singapore, the guerrilla war fare, the context of the political struggle of being taken over either by Indonesia or Malaysia.  The 'harmonious' co-existence of Chinese, Malay and Indians.  A Catholic Bishop spoke about the Muslim school system, the conflict, the propaganda, sitting under the shade in his grand colonial building, speaking perfect French. Footage of Kuala Lumpur before the Petrona Towers, dirt roads, planks leading to homes on stilts, women working as construction workers wearing huge bamboo hats with a long tubular cantalvered overhang made of cloth.

The film maker was fascinated by street life in Singapore.  His composition, though humorous, was childish.  For example, he took shots of himself drinking, then a local girl drinking.  The next scene, he is eating, a bunch of old men having rice and stuff, ends with a parrot eating a chillie pepper.  If I were filming, I would likely pick up the same.  Clothes hanging to dry on bamboo sticks, market scenes of exotic animals being sacrificed, people's mannerisms that are so unfamiliar and so fascinating.

Yves won a contest and documented Chinese street opera.  His technique was raw, and captured the essence of the art.  The research is deep, with an interview with the expert at Nanyang University Ly something.  His conversation with Claude Roy was too French.  The studio where the debate happened is made of awful blown up sofas, cinemafilming technique questionable as the camera focused at very close up a few pretty girls and mainly the back of other people's heads. Claude Roy went on and on about Chinese Opera and its linkage to the cultural revolution, little fact, a lot of unsubstantiated opinions that only he wanted to hear...


The last one was in color, Singapore has changed a lot but not that much in reality.  The clip ended with turning an happy island into a concrete fantasy.. how our values have changes?!

How does this experience add to my being?  I had to sleep over it and came up with:
Appreciating the past, allows revise my lens of the present and realize that the future brings nostalgia..