A Wicked Tale

A Wicked Tale - Review by Stefan Shih I guess there are at least two sides to a fairy tale. On the surface, it's for the children to fantasize in the realm of the make believe, with magical creatures and powers that appeal to impart good morals and values. On a more mature level, there are layers where adults get to enact their own fantasies, and from seemingly innocent texts, there comes the darker themes that show their true colours, depending on how unconventional one's thoughts are when re-interpreting the same story. Stories like Alice in Wonderland will be a whole field day excursion, as would The Little Red Riding Hood. The Brothers Grimm's Little Red Riding Hood gets an updated treatment in Tzang Merwyn Tong's A Wicked Tale, and this was already done back in 2005, before the likes of Hard Candy coming into the picture, in an exploration of power play. The girl here gets dressed in virginal white to represent her innocence, while yet doesn't do without the quintessential red hood, which hints of something more powerful and sinister perhaps in her discovery and experimentation, as suggested by her dalliance with Death through her proxy fish pets. If Beth (Evelyn Maria Ng) is the riding hood object of lust, then the hunter comes in the form of Louis Le Bon (Johan Ydstrand), a charming long haired man spotting a gruff sexy voice who prey on innocence, and has a mind of perverse thoughts in marking his conquests, never mincing his deep dark intent as he explicit describes in innuendos his every move and desire. Added supporting roles include Catherine Sng as GrandMama, who added some spunk Into her character, rather than the meek, ailing senior citizen that was canon, and Wolf Danker as Uncle Charlie, the necessary woodcutter, who's also given a new spin. Tzang gets to play with plenty of different techniques in this 45 minute film, from puppetry in the opening credit sequence, to recreation of the look and feel of the silent film era through skipped frames and intertitles replacing dialogue, and colours or the lack thereof. In presenting the story, Tzang pushes some boundaries into the blood and gore (which has been superseded by the likes of Kelvin Sng's Kichiro), infusing some cheesy B-grade horror and exploitative elements on purpose, thus giving a very raw and edgy feel to the entire film. It's filled with enough sexual perversion and at times, religious references, as it pushed boundaries of asking the perennial question, in the games people play where the mark and the player gets interchanged and blurred, as do the line between the hunter and its prey. But as a cautionary tale like Hard Candy, it again reminds everyone to be prepared for the unexpected when deciding to play with fire, which Is a good servant (oohlala) and a bad master (then you'll get to face the music), that there's almost always something more than meets the eye. I suppose with each viewing you'll see something new in A Wicked Tale, and with each iteration, depending on the mood and viewpoint you want to adopt, the textured story clearly cements this as a cult classic to be and can be enjoyed by a larger audience.