Malaysian Cinema 2006: An Overview

Khairil Bahar’s Ciplak, despite its super-low budget nature, was picked up by GSC for its International Screens, and just recently, sprung another surprise by winning Best Alternative Cinema at the Anugerah Skrin awards.

Meanwhile, young writer-director Arivind Abraham’s S’kali, another independent digital feature, about a group of friends and their interracial ties, got itself onto Cathay’s screens for a limited run. He’s now working on his next film, reportedly a comedy.

The mainstream scene continued to be deluged by mediocre efforts. As with every year, some form of controversy arose, first with Yasmin Ahmad’s Gubra, with its scene of a religious man patting a dog, and then with Metrowealth’s Remp-It, with its “sexy” scenes that got some people hot under the collar. Well, the scenes aren’t really half hot, but hey, this is Malaysia. Remp-It depicts the lives of a group of “Mat Rempit,” a term used to describe motorbike gangs comprising rebellious youth that have become a notorious trend in the capital city. Naturally, the controversy ensured the box-office success of Remp-It, with the film collecting more than RM4 million.

Another head-turning news involved Misi 1511, a big-budget action-comedy. Rumours were rife that the film had received a huge financial loan from the National Film Development Corporation, raising questions about why such a sub-standard film was afforded big support while many other filmmakers, especially the independent ones, were not. This prompted the Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage to come out with a statement that future projects will be more carefully vetted before loans are approved, although in the news reports, the film that was given the RM2.5 million loan was never named. Rumours aside, Misi 1511 tanked big time at the box-office and was pulled from the screens pretty quickly.

The biggest controversy this year involved Amir Muhammad’s The Last Communist, which became the first Malaysian film to be banned locally. The road movie-cum-musical documentary was originally approved for general viewing by the Censorship Board, but the approval was later retracted by the Home Ministry. One politician was quoted in the papers as saying the film failed to show the atrocities perpetrated by the Communists during the Emergency. Amir joked that it meant the film was banned for not being violent enough!

Things were much more interesting towards the later part of the year when some anticipated releases came along. Among these were Oliver Knott’s The Red Kebaya, Bjarne Wong’s Possessed, Kabir Bhatia’s Cinta (Love), Michael Chuah’s Seed Of Darkness, and the Malaysia’s first big-screen superhero Cicak-Man. Unfortunately, in terms of artistry and storytelling, all were disappointments. But Cinta and Cicak-Man went on to make a killing at the box-office. At last count, Cicak-Man also collected more than RM4 million and looked strong enough to head for the big 5. (The all-time highest grossing record is still held by Yusof Haslam’s romantic drama, Sembilu 2, at RM6 million, according to Malay-language newspaper, Utusan Malaysia.)

When all’s said and done, it still looks like hope lies with the small but intrepid group of independent filmmakers who continue to go out into the world with their work. Although their films may not be box-office hits, they constantly garner attention at international festivals. Tan Chui Mui was recently selected for the Cannes residency programme, while Ho Yuhang and upcoming director Liew Seng Tat, known for his whimsical and offbeat films, received the Hubert Bals digital production grant.

Ho is hard at work developing the scripts for his next films, The Trouble With Daylight and At The End Of The Daybreak.

Amir has completed his sequel to The Last Communist. The Malay title is Apa Khabar Orang Kampung, based on the title of a popular song and roughly translates as “How are you, villagers.” The English title of the film is Village People Radio Show.This time, Amir explores the lives of the Malay former communistswho live in a village in southern Thailand. Of course, the fate of the film this time will be very closely watched by all quarters.

Meanwhile, Yasmin Ahmad, who is a great supporter of the independent scene, is also currently developing a script for Muallaf, a story about the plight of a Muslim convert. Yasmin had originally planned to make May 13, set during the 1969 racial riots, but has since shelved that project indefinitely because immediate funding came in for Muallaf.

Special thanks to Amir Muhammad for the lists of films for 2005 and 2006.