Malaysian Film Festival Part 1

Like I said, I've been going to the Malaysian Film Festival for a couple days now after work, and seen three movies so far. And you know what, they've got a lot more balls than I'd care to admit.

Let's start with the shittier ones.

Paloh was vaguely comprehensible at best, but that was mainly because of an extremely fractured timeline. When will people learn that unless you're good at it, it's best to leave it linear? Wicker Park was a prime example, and now this. Flashback followed by flashback within the span of a few minutes spells trouble, especially when you have a cast of over ten main characters and you don't even know who to follow initially.

I'll give them one thing though, they're fuckin' ambitious. It's set in the 1940's, during the second world war, with Japanese troops (well... more like local turncoats) and the Chinese Communist Party running around and planning ambushes and the like. There's a lot of angst, and it's really too bad that the main thread is a forgettable love story with no chemistry between the leads. In fact, the presentation of this was so coy I wasn't even sure they were supposed to be a couple.

And I also fell sleep somewhere in the first half hour, which doesn't help trying to make sense of a fractured timeline. It was rather pretty though.

Finally, boo for recycling a few actors from the next movie, Spinning Gasing.

I don't know how this movie travelled to so many festivals. I guess having it aimed directly at the foreign market helps - entirely in English, expository explanations of local cultural practices, etc. That's just cheap. Band movie/road trip/interracial romance/girl finding herself. Yawn. Been there, seen many many others do that, and do it much better. Bad acting (across the board, except the female lead) doesn't help. The less said the better.

But you know what, from what I can see, they don't seem to be afraid of the censors over there. If anything, they're even more paranoid than ours, it being a Muslim country and all. But these people... well, like I said, I have to give them credit for not giving a fuck. Racial, political, religious themes, themes that a Singaporean filmmaker would run away with his tail between his legs from (I blame the government - boo authoritarianism), they embrace. Kudos to you for that.

Finally, the only movie I can endorse, Sepet. Yes, it's unashamedly sentimental. Yes, it's about an interracial romance. But by making this the focus instead of losing it in a plot about so many other non-related things, it works. I admit, it does start off pretty shakily, with the scenes establishing the two leads' love for each other's culture a tad heavy-handed. But it recovers and goes on to deliver a sweet little movie, albeit rough in spots. Overly long conversations tend to do that, although if it was along the lines of Tarantino's dialogue, I might have forgiven them for it.

The leads are great. That's the best thing about using not-so-established actors. or even non-actors: Sometimes you can get such genuineness out of them, such sincerity, that no matter how cliched your lines may sound, they pull it off. Not that established actors can't do it too, case in point Spider-Man 2, but it's always a lot cooler when non-professionals do it.

The Philip Crippen school of film theory states that good movies are about pretty people kissing, in pink, with monkeys. This doesn't quite have them. They don't kiss, because, well, good Muslim girls aren't supposed to. There's not much pink, and I don't believe you see monkeys. Although I might be wrong, this is Malaysia after all. But damn, they're pretty people.

It's strange how many of the scenes that "get" me in movies aren't necessarily the ones calculated to "get" the audience. Yes, I do go "aww" sometimes when I'm supposed to, but often, it's a throwaway shot, or line, or scene that reaches in and grabs hold of my soul (if I have one, that is). Like in this movie. It's all very sweet and all, but the one scene that made me really cry (well, not bawl, just... ah, you know what I mean) was comprised of one static shot. An old blind busker plays on his keyboard in the middle of a busy market. Passersby walk across screen in front of him, and behind him. And he keeps playing. Sounds like nothing, doesn't it? I don't even understand myself.

I admit, I'm a closet romantic. Godammit.

Now quit laughing.