Gol & Gincu

My first thought when I sat down to write this review is this: "I'm confused". The set-up is typical of teen rom-coms made anywhere: Girly-girl's in love with boy. Boy breaks up with girl because he's into Futsal (indoor football/soccer) and wants a girl who's a "striker" and not just a "cheerleader", which is practically what our girly-girl is. Girly-girl learns futsal to win back boy. Boy found a new girl who's a striker-girl. Girly-girl is determined to win back boy and beat striker-girl at her own game. Girly-girl learns a thing or two about life along the way. The end.
Directed by Bernard Chauly and written by Rafidah of 3R fame, this movie is touted to be the movie that can bridge the gap between the Malaysian mainstream and the Malaysian indie movie frat. Quite how they think typical Hollywood cheese coupled with beautiful cinematography can bridge that gap, I don't know.
I know I can easily dismiss this as just another piece of unoriginal mindless entertainment and not many will disagree with me. But, having seen the movie, I definitely can't do that. I just can't. I know it's as contrived (plot-wise & in terms of the characters and their lives) as contrived can be. But, credit where credit's due, the movie's got soul. That I'm sure of and is clear for all to see, if you decide to give this movie a look. Despite all the contrivances, the emotions you feel are real. And as much as you loathe the characters for being so 'fake', you still feel for them.
So now you know why I'm confused. There are parts of the movie which I absolutely loathe, but there are also parts which I simply can't help but love. And the culprit is clearly the script. I cannot fault the direction here at all. The director not only has a keen visual sense, but is also humble enough to step back and let the story tell itself at the approppriate moments. We might have here a wonderful new directorial voice who's unafraid to show his love for the characters and who's totally unconcerned with making things look 'cool' or 'different' but instead is concerned with how a camera angle, or stroke of light, or an edit or cut will affect the emotions in a certain scene and the storytelling as a whole. For a young first-time feature filmmaker, that's rare indeed.
As for the script, I think it's a classic case of trying to do too much. Sometimes, in our eagerness to succeed, we inevitably fail. Why? Because we can easily forget what can be done, and what shouldn't be done, regardless of our ambition. It's Rafidah's first script anyway, so I'll cut her some slack. You can't blame her for lack of ambition, that's for sure.
So there it is. Confused yet?

KL menJERIT 1

What a perfect way to start this review blog. I didn't expect much when I walked in to see this picture. I saw the original KL Menjerit and thought it was just alright and very mixed at best, just like Bade's other 'good' pictures like Berlari Ke Langit and Gangster, all of which fell victim to that most dreaded disease that plague most good/well made local films - films of 2 halves - one half great, the other so misjudged or incompetent that it pretty much nullified the great part.

Nothing of that sort here. Although there are one or two awkward moments, this is, IMHO, a beautiful, unpretentious film about young love and broken dreams reclaimed, made with its head high up in the clouds and its feet firmly on the ground, and with just the right amount of pretensions thrown in. It's beautifully and tenderly acted by its 2 young leads (Que Haidar and Sheera), the awkwardness of their line readings perfectly encapsulate that magical moment in time that we call the early stages of courtship. It has beautiful lyrical passages that does not feel like they're thrown in just to act as some sort of picture-postcard to help the Malaysian Tourism Board run its campaign, but feels absolutely necessary, and go a long way in helping the director tell his story.

It will no doubt do well at the box-office, as it targets the suburban and rural crowd, and of course, the Mat Rempits. And it will no doubt be dismissed by local film critics and 'serious' movie fans exactly for this same reason. But unlike other 'serious' local films that mostly cater to the more 'sophisticated' urban audience, this film - clearly and proudly made for the 'people' - has real people in it. The Mat Rempits have not only got a 'face', they have also found their humanity, thanks to this wonderful film. Of course, not all Mat Rempits will behave like the characters of Ku (Que Haidar) or Shahrul (Rosyam Noor) in this film. But at least now, even for Mat Rempits, as Jean Renoir often said - everyone has their reasons.

I love this film for the way it shows how you should or shouldn't behave towards other people. It shows you, with much delicacy, how to be decent towards your fellow human beings. It shows you, without being preachy or patronising, that a person can still be a decent human being despite being burdened with an unhealthy passion for illegal racing. I know I sound kind of ironic there, but believe me, Ku knows it's unhealthy to race illegally, but he loves to do it anyway, and you know that he'll always discourage you from doing it - such is the depth of the characterisation here.

As I pointed out earlier, the film is not without its flaws. Most films are anyway. It does have a clever (but unnecessary) twist in the end which fills up previous plot holes but at the same time digs up new different ones, and which also interfered with the flow in the last 3rd of the story. However, to again quote Jean Renoir, "If a film is perfect, the public has nothing to add... The audience should always be trying to finish a picture, ... fill in the holes which we didn't fill."

So obviously this is a film that I would seriously defend and champion. Why? Because I love the people in it, and I think the reason why people go to the movies in the first place is to see the people in it. And, like John Cassavetes once said, if the people are great in the picture, then suddenly the cinematography will also look great. If the people are bad, great technique counts for nothing. And you know what, even the technique here is great. They played fith the focus, they played with the film speed, they played with the lighting, they played with many things and the film looks gorgeous. But the reason why I love this film is that it 'feels' gorgeous.

I know that by now you're probably asking why I haven't given any synopsis of the film. Well, I think it's actually better if I don't give you that. I probably shouldn't have even told you that there's a twist in the movie. But I'll say this - Please go see the movie. I love it, and I think you will too.

Mission Statement

Why do I always hear people scoff whenever I hear the words "Malaysian film" mentioned? Why do these people scoff when they can proudly advertise on myspace or friendster that their favourite film is Sorority Boys or The Lizzie McGuire Movie or My Boss's Daughter? Why do people tolerate foreign rubbish but have no tolerance whatsoever for local (i.e. Malaysian) rubbish?

It is really sad that there's practically no serious literature on Malaysian cinema that you can find in local bookstores at all, except for one book which was not even written by a Malaysian, therefore making it liable to miss a hell of a lot valuable or worthy filmmakers worth championing.

My mission is to try to address that problem, even if only a little bit, as I will mostly be writing about Malaysian films that are currently playing in the cinemas. Of course I will also be writing about older Malaysian films that I see on home video, but probably not that much. Keep in mind that everything I say is strictly my personal opinion only. You can take it, or leave it. At the very least something's being said about our beloved cinema. Hidup cinema kita!!!