SEPET

Ah... Finally, a local movie that makes me proud! Man, this is like a movie that I felt as if it should have made a long long time ago! A truly honest movie on cross-cultural romance which avoids many cliches that are rampant in the genre. And wat's more, it has a strong Malaysian flavour!!!

I've heard 5 languages/ dialects spoken throughout the movie (English, Bahasa Melayu, Mandarin, Cantonese & Hokkien), and I'm proud to say that I'm the only 1 in our group that understands all of them without any help from the subtitles! Although I think the subs could do a better job (occasionally some of the conversations are not translated), but at least it does help audience who're not familiar with them to comprehend the outline of their conversations.

I really like the way how the characters and events are portrayed realistically, and although there are some minor stereotypes here and there, they're neglectable bcuz they're juz so minimal. Humour were sprinkled here and there, but some may be annoyed by how purposeless the scenes are (I kinda enjoyed them though). The chemistry between the 2 lead characters is believable, and performances are generally above average.

The only few minor gripes I have about the movie is the rather ambiguous ending, and the lack of emotional impact from it. It's really sad to watch a rather disappointing "pfzzzt..." instead of a loud "bang!!!" after the rather touching & emotional climax. The ending is not really bad exactly, and I admire director Yasmin Ahmad's courage for such an unusual ending, but somehow I feel that there's potential for it to end better.

Also, there are moments when the tone of the movie does get a bit preachy. I truly enjoy the political subtexts that are brought up in the movie, but sometimes, as a critic puts it, "the film loses control of its own political subtext and the dreaded message starts to rear its ungainly head" & "sound like she’s spelling out the movie’s manifesto". I think the Singaporean movie "I No Stupid" did a better job in this particular category.

Lastly, although many issues are brought up in the movie, the director seems to take the path of less resistance by pushing them aside when the couples' love for each other blossoms. Come on, isn't it a bit convenient that their parents are liberal minded and all? Surely there should be a more intense parental oppositions and all. And then there's the question of religion and all. I can't help but get the feeling that the movie barely touch the surface of all these rather controversial issues, but I guess perhaps it may not be a bad thing after all, considering how sensitive some of the audience could be...

Nevertheless, this is truly an impressive movie, considering how low budget it is (*cough* Puteri Gunung Ledang *cough*), and the fact that it's a local movie and all. Highly recommended to all fellow Malaysians!!! Oh and to all non-malays, guys, this is not juz another Malay movie k? Somehow I encountered lots of pessimism from my friend about the movie juz bcuz it "appears to be a Malay movie". With all the different languages/ dialects in it, I think "Malaysian movie" will be a better term!