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SINGAPORE: Are you a Mandarin and Cantonese-speaking voluptuous siren who enjoys dancing naked with a two-metre snake coiled around your body?
If so, Eric Khoo has a job for you.
MediaCorp Raintree Pictures and Zhao Wei Films have joined forces to bring the legendary "Queen of Striptease", cabaret dancer Rose Chan (picture), to the silver screen, telling her fascinating but tragic life story to the sweet tune of $2 million.
"This a film inspired by her unique life. We're looking for someone, preferably unknown, who can play this amazing woman from 17 to 35 years old. We're hoping to find not just a face and body that can engage, but also a personality that can enthral the audience, just like Rose herself did, some 50 years ago," said Khoo, who is helming the tentatively titled "Chinese Rose", at a press conference at Goodwood Park Hotel on Monday.
"She was not a victim but an incredibly intelligent, witty and nice person. This film is a discovery of her as a human being, rather than a sexpot. She's part of our history. She's our icon," added scriptwriter James Toh, who also wrote Khoo's "12 Storeys" in 1996.
Chan was something of a legend across then-Malaya in 1950s, combining cabaret routines with striptease and daring circus stunts, including wrestling pythons. She even took her act around the world, performing in Australia, Germany and France. The daughter of acrobat parents died in 1987 at the age of 62.
Remarking that there will be nudity in the film but that it's "not as risque as Lust, Caution", the 42-year-old director is hoping that there will no longer be an R21 rating when the film comes out in 2009.
"I want our younger generation to be able to watch it and recognise what a special lady she was. If I am going to have problems with the language and rating, I am very prepared to release this film elsewhere and not in Singapore." - TODAY/ar
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