Virtual Epistle: Text and Image of the Film 7 Letters in Celebration of Singapore’s Golden Jubilee Lo-fen I (衣若芬) 1) 【Abstract】 The title of the Singapore film, 7 Letters, may give the impression that it is an epistolary film. As a matter of fact, it is an anthology of seven short films, or “love letters”, each directed by a prominent local writer-director, in tribute to the nation’s fiftieth birthday. Produced by Royston Tan, the seven short films, in chronological order in which they are shown, are: Cinema by Eric Khoo, The Girl by Jack Neo, The Flame by K. Rajagopal, Bunga Sayang by Royston Tan, Pineapple Town by Tan Pin Pin, Parting by Boo Junfeng, and Grandma Positioning System (GPS) by Kelvin Tong. Unlike the movie 1965, also released to commemorate the Singapore’s Golden Jubilee, 7 Letters does not carry a distinct genre of patriotism and neither does it have a rich portrayal of Singapore’s history. On the contrary, the seven filmmakers depicted recurring motifs of separation, hope and loss, allowing the audience to retreat into reminiscence and revisit cherished memories. By taking an analytical approach to the seven short films of 7 Letters, this article examines the web of intertextual and intermedial associations of the film anthology with Malay horror film genre, traditional Malay folk songs, colonial history etc., and explores the visual metaphors and appreciation of aesthetics through the letters. Key Words: 7 Letters, Singapore film, text and image studies, visual aesthetics, film within a film * 싱가포르 난양공과대학교 교수 논문접수일(2019년 9월 12일), 수정일(2019년 11월 12일), 게재확정일(2019년 11월 20X일) ■ Contents 1. Introduction 2. The contents and similarity in “7 Letters” 3. The inter-textuality of the film directors 4. Film within a film 5. Image and sound 글로벌문화콘텐츠 제41호, 2019년 12월 31일, pp.157-171 158 글로벌문화콘텐츠 제41호 주제어 : 7통의 편지, 싱가포르 영화, 텍스트 이미지 연구, 시각미학 1. Introduction It is quite common for letters to be used as a literary material and main content of movies. Asian movies such as the Japanese movie, “Love Letter” (directed by Shunji Iwai, 1995) and “Miracles of the Namiya General Store” (directed by Ryūichi Hiroki, 2017), Korean film “Il Mare” (directed by Lee Hyun-seung, 2000), Malaysian film “Sepet” (directed by Yasmin Ahmad, 2005), Taiwanese film “Cape No. 7” (directed by Wei Te-sheng, 2008), Chinese film “Book of Love” (directed by Xue Xiaolu, 2016) and so on are examples of using letters as the main content. Although the title of the Singapore film “Seven Letters” indicates that it is an epistolary film, it is a collection of seven short films produced by seven directors respectively. On August 9, 1965, Singapore was forced to withdraw from the Federation of Malaya and became an independent republic. In 2015, Singapore celebrated 50 years of independence; the film was aired in time for the occasion. Co-director Royston Tan (1976-) mentioned that the film was the seven “love letters” for the country’s 50th birthday, hence the Chinese title was originally translated as “Seven Love Letters”. The sequence of the seven short films are: Eric Khoo’s(1965-) “Cinema”, Jack Neo’s(1960-) “The Girl”, K. Rajagopal’s(1965-) “The Flame”, Royston Tan’s “Bunga Sayang”, Tan Pin Pin’s(1969-) “Pineapple Town”, Boo Junfeng’s(1983-) “Parting” and Kelvin Tong’s “Grandma Positioning System (GPS)”. 1) The film “1965”, directed by Randy Ang, was filmed in celebration of the golden jubilee of the founding of Singapore. In comparison, “Seven Letters” did not have a clear patriotic theme and grand historical narrative. On the contrary, the themes such as separation, pursuit, loss 2) that the 1) https://variety.com/2015/film/reviews/film-review-7-letters-1201605259/ (Retrieved on 12 June, 2018) https://www.insing.com/feature/7-letters-directors-give-back-to/id-26723101/ (Retrieved on 12 June, 2018) https://www.insing.com/feature/review-7-letters/id-bd743101/ (Retrieved on 12 June, 2018) https://www.timeout.com/singapore/film/the-seven-filmmakers-of-7-letters (Retrieved on 11 Nov., 2019) 2) In an interview ,the directors said that they had not seen each other’s work before the premiere. When Kelvin Tong went to Pekan Nanas in Malaysia, he met Tan Pin Pin’s crew, he became worried that their contents