Local drama Last Madame’s Best Asian Drama win at the Busan Film Festival Asia Contents Awards 2020 was impressive because it received top billing with the hit Korean drama ‘When The Camellia Blooms’.
The latter is a unique K-drama because of its unconventional roles and gripping ‘whodunit’ murder plot. The leading lady is a single mother who runs a bar/restaurant and is despised by her neighbours, while her love interest is a bumbling, heartlandish police officer. While their romance develops, so does the mystery over a long-standing unsolved murder case. It was TV storytelling at its finest.
With Singapore’s meWATCH original dramas, we tried watching ‘From Beijing to Moscow’ and it was frankly, unwatchable. I also tried watching ‘Kin’ and Dick Lee’s ‘Fried Rice Paradise’. I don’t think I watched beyond 2 episodes. We really, really do want to enjoy local dramas, but so far, the programmes don’t sustain our interest.
So, with Last Madame, the hopes are high now. Also, my heartiest congrats to the Ochre Pictures team!
Here’s some buzz that the win has generated online, with even Minister Ong Ye Kung recognising what an achievement this is:
Last Madame also edged out popular K-dramas ‘Crash Landing On You’ and ‘Kingdom’ (Season 2). The other nominees were K-drama ‘Hyena’; Taiwan’s ‘Someday Or One Day’; and China’s ‘The Bad Kids’.
Earlier, Last Madame’s lead actress Joanne Peh posted about the win on Instagram. She plays a brothel owner, Feng Lan, who was conned and sold into prostitution. The story is set in 1930s Singapore.
Catch the ‘Last Madame’ on meWATCH: