the past few years, we can always count on Jack Neo delivering a new movie during the Chinese New Year festive season.
Several of his movies – from ‘I Not Stupid’, ‘Just Follow Law’, to the more recent ‘We Not Naughty’, ‘The Lion Men’ and his two biggest hits ever ‘Ah Boys To Men Parts 2 & 3' – have laid the foundation of a solid track record of Neo's social comedies resonating with audiences during the festive period.
This year, delivering much more than just social commentary and laughter, Neo wants to take us on a nostalgic trip back to the early post-independence kampung days, with his aptly titled ‘Long Long Time Ago’.
Based largely on Neo’s own childhood experiences of growing up in a village, the movie’s ambitious narrative spans from 1965 to the early 1970s, following Zhao Di (played by veteran Mediacorp actress Aileen Tan) and her family as they journey through the transition years from living in a village to a HDB estate.
The story begins when a heavily pregnant Zhao Di is forced to return to her maternal family in the village with three daughters in tow.
She gives birth to a pair of twins, Shun Fatt and Su-mei, and due to unfounded superstitions plus economic pressures, Zhao Di is forced by her harsh patriarch father (Getai veteran Wang Lei) and her second brother (Mark Lee) to give up Su Mei for adoption.
Zhao Di survives one adversity after another with her family members and friends. As she struggles to make her living, she bears witness to some of the major challenges and milestones that our fledgling nation faced in the early years.
SOLID VETERAN ACTORS PERFORMANCES