With Christmas and New year celebrations done and over with, we enter the ever so dreaded “Back to School” period for many students and adults alike. To help ease that transition, we at A Little Seed suggest taking a break to sit back and enjoy the Singaporean classic 2013 comedy love story, That Girl in Pinafore, a movie about students and the trials and tribulations they face as young adults, having to start preparing for their future.
That Girl in Pinafore follows the lives of a group of 4 secondary school boys who are graduating and moving on to junior college who all love music. The main character, Jia Ming, is the son of a guitarist who owns a failing business called the Dream Boat. He has no interest in studies and doesn’t make it to JC with the rest of his friends. Things start taking a turn when he meets potential love interest May.
Although reserved at first with vastly different backgrounds, the movie was able to craft a connection between the two characters with chemistry that would leave one giddy with excitement whenever they started hitting things off.
One scene in particular really brought out this chemistry. Let me paint you a picture; clear skies turn into a downpour, separated from their friends when trying to escape the rain Jia Ming and May find shelter under a small structure. There, they begin playfully flirting with each other in a subtle yet genuine manner. The way they look at each other tells a story far beyond what words are able to convey.
The script was a textbook example of a great movie with an original concept illustrated elegantly across to the audience. The events of the story contained conflict and logic; the pacing of the movie was in tandem with its structure, allowing the plot to ebb and flow with dynamic range, keeping the audience captivated throughout. Last but not least, without giving away too many spoilers, the ending of the movie was, cathartic to say the least. It provided an emotional sense of completion and logical conclusion to the movie, wrapping everything up in a bittersweet bow.
The riveting romance coupled with familiar faces and locations for Singaporeans and even more familiar song titles featured throughout the movie come together to form a movie reminiscent of the good old times when life was more simple. It’s bound to invoke feelings of nostalgia, regardless of whether you went to school during the period the movie was set or if you’re a younger adult who watched it growing up.
A nostalgic classic for most and what’s bound to be an amazing experience for the rest who haven’t seen it, check out That Girl in Pinafore, available on Apple TV (iTunes Movie store) here.
