Several months ago, Brian of Films from Beyond the Time Barrier asked me to join the Movie Blogger Challenge. His request was that I write about “favorite noirs set somewhere other than the United States; or favorite moments from classic noir.” Here, I make good on the challenge (and welcome the New Year a little late with my first post) by choosing to write about one “(neo-)noir set somewhere other than the United States,” but it was still a hard choice. I chose Serangoon Road because I enjoyed it so much and, to be honest, because I hadn’t written about it yet. And in its own way, it fits the request perfectly (kinda, sorta): It is a neo-noir because it was broadcast in 2013 in Australia, but it covers a period immediately following World War II. With Serangoon Road, I get to have it both ways: a neo-noir set in the film noir postwar period.
I have been on a roll lately finding good television series to watch, and Serangoon Road is one of my finds. I watched all ten episodes in three days, which is a lot of television for someone like me, who had two work deadlines to meet at the same time. The cover of the DVD set that I watched describes Serangoon Road thusly: “Worlds collide in this noir detective drama set in 1960s Singapore.” That short blurb met my expectations. And, if I am absolutely truthful, I was already looking forward to seeing Don Hany, the actor who plays the lead, Sam Callaghan. I had seen him in another television series, and I was certain that he wouldn’t disappoint (he didn’t).
The overarching story line for all ten episodes involves Winston Cheng’s murder and his wife’s desire for closure. Patricia Cheng took over her husband’s business, the Cheng Detective Agency, when he died. She wants to know if her husband was murdered or he was the victim of a robbery gone bad, as the official police story says. She enlists the help of Sam Callaghan, an Australian who often worked on investigative cases with Winston. Each episode also includes a criminal investigation that is completed within the time frame of the episode.
The story has time for some romance between Sam and Claire Simpson, the wife of an Australian businessman. Sam has a good heart, but that doesn’t mean trouble doesn’t find him or even that Sam never goes looking for it. Some of Sam’s trouble comes from his business partner, Kang, who gambles at an establishment run by one of the local gangs, the Red Dragons, and dates a woman running a combination brothel and opium den. Sam and Kang run an import-export business, and there’s always a bit of pressure to trade in illegal goods. Kang isn’t quite as willing as Sam to resist the temptation.
Some additional trouble comes in the form of complications with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), who hires Patricia Cheng to find the person responsible for killing a U.S. sailor on shore leave in the first episode. And that leads to another romance about to blossom: between Conrad Harrison, a CIA agent who keeps introducing himself as a cultural attaché, and Chen Su Ling, who works for Patricia Cheng and is also her niece. Without trying too hard then, Sam has lots of connections to the underworld and to powerful institutions and people, which only sometimes have their advantages when he is trying to solve cases.
Patricia Cheng isn’t the only one troubled by the past (that is, the murder of her husband). Sam has a history, too. Through flashbacks, viewers learn that, as a young boy, he was imprisoned in the infamous Changi Prison during World War II. The first episode starts with one of Sam’s flashbacks: He witnessed the murder of one of his childhood friends by the Japanese because they suspected him of stealing rice. As the series continues, viewers also learn that he lost both his parents and survived with the help of a fellow Australian prisoner. It’s a grim story that continues to haunt him.
For background information on the history behind some of the historical elements in the story line of Serangoon Road, click on each item in the following list:
◊ 1964 race riots in Singapore
Flashbacks are a common noir element, but that’s not the only feature of Serangoon Road that makes it noir. Sam and his investigative partners have plenty of political corruption to contend with, both domestic and international. The international intrigue comes from the presence of a British MI6 intelligence unit and the U.S. CIA. And in spite of Great Britain and the United States being allies on the international stage, members of each foreign agency compete with one another in gathering intelligence. They have no scruples about compromising other people and then blackmailing them to get what they want. Domestic political rivalries and corruption also play a role. With almost ten hours of screen time, there seems to be more than even Sam Callaghan handle: local gang warfare, black marketeering, illegal drugs and counterfeit legal drugs, blackmail, racial discrimination, and murder (of course).
Two songs on the show’s soundtrack help to emphasize the loneliness and despair that some of the main characters face. Both are rock ’n’ roll standards that are surprisingly dark for anyone who remembers the early days of rock ’n’ roll as boisterous, loud, and fun. Rhythm and blues artist Irma Thomas sings “Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand),” the ballad that is a theme for Sam Callaghan’s and Claire Simpson’s relationship. “Love Hurts,” by the Everly Brothers, is even darker. If you watch the series on DVD, it is worth using the caption feature so that you can read the lyrics to both songs.
The interweaving of the characters’ personal stories makes the series even more interesting. These stories also get a lot of attention and detail; the camera often lingers long enough to give a sense of the situation and what the characters are going through. Sometimes the personal stories provide the tragedy and sorrow that accompanies betrayal and crime, but sometimes they provide humor and diversion. I thought Serangoon Road had the right mix, and it certainly kept me coming back for more. I was hoping to find follow-up seasons to watch, but I was disappointed on that score: The ten episodes were all that were filmed and distributed.
If I have any complaints at all about the series, it is largely because of my own lack of knowledge about Singapore, its history, and its relations with the United States. I often find myself looking up words and events when I watch films noir made in the United States in the 1940s, and I had to do the same for Serangoon Road. For me, that’s not really a disadvantage because I enjoy following up on details that pique my interest, but I can see where some viewers would find it frustrating. Still, it would be a real shame to miss Serangoon Road because of a bit of hesitation about learning something new while watching the series!
There are so many wonderful films noir and neo-noirs from abroad that I could recommend as part of this Movie Blogger Challenge; I could have chosen many, so here is a short list of some neo-noirs from abroad that I have already written about. If you click on the film title, you can find my article about each:
◊ Insomnia (1997)
◊ El aura (The Aura) (2005)
◊ The Guilty (Den skyldige) (2018)
◊ Transit (2018)
◊ The Dry (2020)
Passing the baton in the Movie Blogger Challenge
As I mentioned, this blog article about Serangoon Road is the result of a Movie Blogger Challenge from Brian at Films from Beyond the Time Barrier. He asked me to write about my favorite “[neo-]noir(s) set somewhere other than the United States.” (Yes, I did tweak the challenge a bit!) Now, I get to pass on the challenge to the next group of bloggers, who have the option of tweaking my requests, too.
◊ Le from Crítica Retrô: Favorite Agnès Varda film.
◊ Johnny from The Film Noir Report: The film(s) noir you believe would be the best to get the newcomer interested
September 22 to November 29, 2013 (10 episodes), broadcast dates • Series created by Paul D. Barron • Directed byPeter Andrikidis, Tony Tilse • Written by Michaeley O’Brien, Christopher D. Hawkshaw, Tony Morphett, Margaret Wilson, Justin, Kym Goldsworthy, Timothy Lee, Andrew Ngin Chiang Meng • Music by Cesary Skubiszewski, Jan Skubiszewski • Edited by Nicole La Macchia, Lawrie Silvestrin • Cinematography by Joseph Pickering, Bruce Young
Don Hany as Sam Callaghan • Joan Chen as Patricia Cheng • Maeve Dermody as Claire Simpson • Pamelyn Chee as Chen Su Ling • Chin Han as Kay Song • Alaric Tay as Xiao Kang, Sam’s business partner • Michael Dorman as Conrad Harrison, CIA agent • Tony Martin as Bruce (aka Macca) MacDonald, Australian journalist • Nicholas Bell as Maxwell Black • Jeremy Lindsay Taylor as Frank Simpson • Rachael Blake as Lady Tuckworth • Ario Bayu as Inspector Amran • Shane Briant as Major Lawrence Miller • Ted Maynard as Bill (aka Wild Bill) Thomas • Julian Feder as the young Sam • Valentine Payen-Wicaksono as Sam’s mother • Edmund Chen as James Lim • Russell Wong as Winston Cheng • Zhang Wei as Uncle Weng • Wendy Toh as Joo Ee • Christian Matthew Wong as Xiao Qiang • Kay Tong Lim as the Tiger General • P. J. Lane as Ferguson, Navy Seal in the first episode • Cleave Williams as Nate Crosby, sailor in the first episode • Ernie Dingo as Robert (aka Robbo) Andrew Collier in the ninth episode
Produced by the Australian Broadcasting Company, Media Development Authority of Singapore, HBO Asia, ScreenWest, Lotterywest, Great Western Entertainment, Infinite Studios • Broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Company, HBO Asia, RED by HBO
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