twist-irony-surprises

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Ramblings.

I've never liked Malay movies, wanna know why? They lack substance. Cicak man, Kl menjerit, so on and so forth. There was an era where there were hypes for low budget movies too, like Mat Jutawan or I guess it goes something like that. Those movies were favourites mainly because its stupid, hilarious(to those certain "audience" anyways) and definitely its a big favourite among the directors too coz firstly its cheap and takes up less time to produce and the output triples or should I say so much satisfying compared to high budget movies.

Once you've taken literature, or more exposed to Arts, or just much into Arts, pretty much everything change before your eyes. Movies that seemed to be light now seems much heavier in meanings, makes you gawk in awe and leave you so much to ponder about. However, certain movies could just turn you off because it insults your intelligence and disturbs your sensitivity because of how cheapskate they are and it leaves you wondering how could they downgrade themselves and the society by producing such low quality movies.

I say downgrading because if you could compromise on quality just to earn big bucks and make the people love it, it shows how shallow and similar you are to other "buaya and cicak kobeng" out there. Secondly, when the society could degrade their standard to watch such low-class of production it shows just how oblivion our society is.

Get it?

However there are other brilliant Malaysia directors out there such as Yasmin the story teller(is that her name?) and so on and so forth (im sorry but i just cant remember directors names). But, i do remember movies okey?

I find Puteri Gunung Ledang to be quite moving and spectacular for a Malaysian standard. Grand setting, moderate acting skills, but still its high in quality (of course! it is because it took 2 mil to produce it). Then there is Sepet, and other production of Yasmin Ahmad (is that her real name?)

Last but not least my current favourite Malay movie is Cinta. Full with meanings, artistic values, and a true reflection of the City Kuala Lumpur and the people that inhabit it. Not to be forgotten I just love how they potray Love in the movie.

Love is subjective and the movie potrays Love in many angles. Apart of Love being the theme, i feel like infidelity and loyalty is the major ones too. Before getting into the theme, I'll just start off with certain aspects of the movie that I find interesting.

In the movie, everybody is in pursuit of love and happiness. Isnt that the element everybody is looking for? However it compromises different kind of stories, potraying different kind of love and different kind pursuits. What I find interesting is this, even though every story is different but they unite through the settings. I find that the director did a good job with how these different characters look at each other as ordinary strangers but they meet coincidentally in one setting.The sharing of settings to me symbolises the bond that they share in pursuit of Love.

Secondly, how each story has it own irony. Its pretty hard to explain, but each character that evolve around the play oppose each other. For example, Dian a successful architect is single and rich, but she is in love with a married man. She said not everybody finds a married life ideal opposing to her friend who is married with a kid. Meanwhile her friend whats-his-face, sorry i can remember his name but lets call him Y, thought he was happy until his wife left him for another man who thinks love is the thing that must give her constant happiness and by leaving her sweet husband for another man will just give her that. These kind of women make me feel angry, they think love is like a fairy tale. Back to the point, I feel like these two characters meaning Y and Dian are totally different but a perfect jigsaw puzzle. If they were to come together, everything that they want and need will be fulfilled. But as what malays like to say "takde jodoh, jadi nak buat macam man?"

Then there is Dhani, the younger brother to Dian who in opposed of Dian's life, live with a meager income as a street artist, drawing potraits of random people on the street. They are in constant fights because Dian thinks he could be much happier if he were to sell his paintings and have them up in galleries. However Dhani thinks he is so much happier living his life as the way he wants it instead of living like his sister, who is a big shot architect but couldn't find true love and lives miserably.

To me this two instances show how perfectly opposite these people are but their attributes compliment each other IF only they were to put aside their differences and unite. To me its ironic and confusing. Its like everybody is living in one vicious cycle of love, where one need the other but the other is in pursuit of another, and the third party is in pursuit of another, and everybody is in the race but they dont realise is that what they need is already in front of them.

That was what Dian said to her brother, everybody is in pursuit of something uncertain until they forget to celebrate the things that they already have.

Writing this thing out is really confusing me more. But this movie is highly recommendable if you are to watch something simple, sweet yet eye tearing (is there such a word?). I love the settings, it shows the true side of Kl and its people. Its hubbub and also the kampung side of KL where nobody gets to see. I love the trains especially and it has more depth to it when a character (Taufik) who lives by the rail said, "All the windows and doors are open, if u were to scream everybody would hear and then rescue you. But the only time when they cant is when the train passes by and everything that is said between us is just meant between us". awww sweet rite?

I found my ideal and perfect husband to be in that movie too. I told myself I wont get married unless i find a man who knows what i need and who respect me as a woman, and by getting entangled to him I wont lose my rights as a woman. I am a feminist and feminist just detest marriages. The character that goes by the name Taufik is a gem for every ladies and if there is such a man like that, do ring me okay? He's not a man of many words, but his action speaks louder than his few spoken words. He understands what you need and would go to that length to provide you with the things that you need without flaunting it or say "hey i got these things for u ok, i worked hard for it so i hope you u would appreciate it and not belittle my effort".

Besides he's the man that would do all the small gestures but full with sincerity. I just adore small gestures. I hate men who display their love through grand dinners and big diamond rings. It doesnt work that way with me honey. Anyways, enough of my rambling. Go to the nearest Cd store and get one of em Cinta cds ok? Probably you would like it as much as I do, and gawk at the sweetness that Taufik possesses.

by Zephyr at 10:00 AM |