SEPET
'SEPET' refresh my trails of my failed romance ( or could-have happened romance) with Chinese guys. First, was my short-lived infatuation with a Chinese boy in my class when I was 13, the other was a recent crush which I think should remain a secret...hehehehe. A lot of friends who went to see the movie, came out falling in love with 'Jason". Well, the same happened to me too. Not only did I fall in love with his streetwise romantic side, I also find myself being able to connect and relate to his story.
I read an interview with yasmin in Kakiseni.com on the movie. It is very interesting to note that the main plot of the movie is LOVE. But, perhaps, the fact that the lovers are Malay and Chinese, people could not help diverting their focus to the RACE issue. Yeah, take for example, "Penarik Beca";it is about the love of a penarik beca and a lady from a rich family, but the issue of "class" is such a glaring theme that you cannot help replaying it in your mind throughout the movie. But still, in my opinion 'SEPET" delivers as a movie. Eventhough at first, I am damn ambivalent about watching the movie, halfway through, I felt relieved that I did not give in to my sceptism and preemptive assumptions. I guess I was tramautized with the decision I made to watch "Spining Gasing". Fortunately, the movie, in my opinion, turned out to be much better than 'Spining Gasing". Not once, did I felt that the main characters are trying too hard to fall in love with each other, nor did I felt cheated with the so called "Malaysian movie" gimmick. It happens just as Orked reiterated in the first half of the movie,..."because it happens. You love someone because you love someone". With sweet simplicity and touching honesty, the movie unravels the love story of Jason, a streetwise pirated CD vendor with Orked, a cute no-nonsense "baju kurung" advocate. In the old fashion "cinta pandang pertama" style, they fell in love within 2 seconds and set their eyes only on one another from that day onwards. Although there is no typical plot like opposition from family or "antara dua darjat" syndrome, the complicatedness of the relationship is contributed by the fact of who they are before they meet and what comes along with that. Race, becomes the inevitable noticeable issue but throughout the movie, there is a sense of motivation or reaffirmation that love is possible regardless of your racial background. From Orked `s explanation of Frantz Fannon writing and marital background, the fact that Jason` s family is conveniently consist of his mom, a baba, Jason and Keong `s censored conversation regarding the origin of Baba Nyonya, these short scenes are mocking back at me with a one-liner : "hey, love is possible!" What with the scene where Jason performed his version of Malay dance to the "Dia Datang" tune, subtly hinting the possibility of someone enjoying and intepreting the culture of the others to his own beat and style, what `s more growing to love a person who is totally different from him. Hence, despite the melancholic taste to the storyline with the tragic but questionable ending of Jason' fatal accident, every inch of Yasmin `s work potrays her optimism and hopes that it is possible to erase prejudice and the threat of communalism with this tool called "love". A very idealist outlook, but not an impossible one.
I walked out of the cinema with a big heart. Despite the 8 censored scenes and dialogues, the movie still sailed smoothly to its ending, but of course me and my friends cannot helped feeling angry with FINAS `s foolishness. We play a lot of guessing games during the movie, trying to predict what could have been so "ganas", subversive, "lucah" or unsuitable for public to view? Among the hillarious comment I read from FINAS is that the movie would most probaly be a lot more accessible and become a "hit" with the public if Jason converted in the end. Accessible or social conditioning? Will inter racial relationship be as easy as that?
I will never know Yasmin `s intention of making the ending as it is, but I took some creative liberties and try to interprete the ending myself. I guess there is no other "safe" ending and I guess Yasmin does not want to succumb to the typical ending which most directors in the country finds a lot more accessible. I mean, what if Yasmin decides to end the movie with Jason and Orked decides to stay who they are and commit themselves to a serious livelong relationship without apa-apa ikatan? or Jason does not convert, Orked did. These endings do happen in our society, but like a shameful ugly piece of house decor, we hide it in the closet so that no visitors to our house could see it and start making some rude remarks. With the lack of (or absence of ) progressive minds behind the censorship operation in our country, one could only hope that the creative minds in the film industry will join hands and advocate for their rights to express themselves. The society deserves better choices of entertainment and I believe they are ready for that considering what the existing entertainment has done to their minds and lifestyle. We need more of "SEPET" or other film which sincerely potrays the Malaysian issues plus the realities. Its interesting to think that while Yasmin stressed that her attempt at directing is derived from her intention of telling her stories, she is in fact telling our stories too.
So, Yasmin, I guess you should keep on telling "our" stories so that I will watch more Malay movies!
I read an interview with yasmin in Kakiseni.com on the movie. It is very interesting to note that the main plot of the movie is LOVE. But, perhaps, the fact that the lovers are Malay and Chinese, people could not help diverting their focus to the RACE issue. Yeah, take for example, "Penarik Beca";it is about the love of a penarik beca and a lady from a rich family, but the issue of "class" is such a glaring theme that you cannot help replaying it in your mind throughout the movie. But still, in my opinion 'SEPET" delivers as a movie. Eventhough at first, I am damn ambivalent about watching the movie, halfway through, I felt relieved that I did not give in to my sceptism and preemptive assumptions. I guess I was tramautized with the decision I made to watch "Spining Gasing". Fortunately, the movie, in my opinion, turned out to be much better than 'Spining Gasing". Not once, did I felt that the main characters are trying too hard to fall in love with each other, nor did I felt cheated with the so called "Malaysian movie" gimmick. It happens just as Orked reiterated in the first half of the movie,..."because it happens. You love someone because you love someone". With sweet simplicity and touching honesty, the movie unravels the love story of Jason, a streetwise pirated CD vendor with Orked, a cute no-nonsense "baju kurung" advocate. In the old fashion "cinta pandang pertama" style, they fell in love within 2 seconds and set their eyes only on one another from that day onwards. Although there is no typical plot like opposition from family or "antara dua darjat" syndrome, the complicatedness of the relationship is contributed by the fact of who they are before they meet and what comes along with that. Race, becomes the inevitable noticeable issue but throughout the movie, there is a sense of motivation or reaffirmation that love is possible regardless of your racial background. From Orked `s explanation of Frantz Fannon writing and marital background, the fact that Jason` s family is conveniently consist of his mom, a baba, Jason and Keong `s censored conversation regarding the origin of Baba Nyonya, these short scenes are mocking back at me with a one-liner : "hey, love is possible!" What with the scene where Jason performed his version of Malay dance to the "Dia Datang" tune, subtly hinting the possibility of someone enjoying and intepreting the culture of the others to his own beat and style, what `s more growing to love a person who is totally different from him. Hence, despite the melancholic taste to the storyline with the tragic but questionable ending of Jason' fatal accident, every inch of Yasmin `s work potrays her optimism and hopes that it is possible to erase prejudice and the threat of communalism with this tool called "love". A very idealist outlook, but not an impossible one.
I walked out of the cinema with a big heart. Despite the 8 censored scenes and dialogues, the movie still sailed smoothly to its ending, but of course me and my friends cannot helped feeling angry with FINAS `s foolishness. We play a lot of guessing games during the movie, trying to predict what could have been so "ganas", subversive, "lucah" or unsuitable for public to view? Among the hillarious comment I read from FINAS is that the movie would most probaly be a lot more accessible and become a "hit" with the public if Jason converted in the end. Accessible or social conditioning? Will inter racial relationship be as easy as that?
I will never know Yasmin `s intention of making the ending as it is, but I took some creative liberties and try to interprete the ending myself. I guess there is no other "safe" ending and I guess Yasmin does not want to succumb to the typical ending which most directors in the country finds a lot more accessible. I mean, what if Yasmin decides to end the movie with Jason and Orked decides to stay who they are and commit themselves to a serious livelong relationship without apa-apa ikatan? or Jason does not convert, Orked did. These endings do happen in our society, but like a shameful ugly piece of house decor, we hide it in the closet so that no visitors to our house could see it and start making some rude remarks. With the lack of (or absence of ) progressive minds behind the censorship operation in our country, one could only hope that the creative minds in the film industry will join hands and advocate for their rights to express themselves. The society deserves better choices of entertainment and I believe they are ready for that considering what the existing entertainment has done to their minds and lifestyle. We need more of "SEPET" or other film which sincerely potrays the Malaysian issues plus the realities. Its interesting to think that while Yasmin stressed that her attempt at directing is derived from her intention of telling her stories, she is in fact telling our stories too.
So, Yasmin, I guess you should keep on telling "our" stories so that I will watch more Malay movies!
posted by GEE at 9:44 AM
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