Mata Sepet?

It’s amazing how this movie is spreading around like wildfire among the Malaysians here at the UofM. Yeah, everyone has that 336MB Real Player file, right?

I read about this movie a couple of months back from the Star Online. I thought that it was really interesting since it involved a really relevant issue here on campus. It’s also a pretty original concept for a Malaysian production.

It’s not surprising that we Malaysians are extra critical about local productions and this film is no exception. Oh come on, has anything Buatan Malaysia really made waves outside our shores? But overall, I’d say it was a pretty valiant effort. I don’t think it can beat the grandiose Puteri Gunung Ledang though.

Here are some of my thoughts about the film:

Likes:
i) The scene where Orked mouths-off one of her ignorant male friends. I thought that was pretty cool.

ii) The mix of languages was pretty nice. I miss listening to Johor Hokkien (it’s really Kuching Hokkien), man.

iii) The disparity of a pretty modernized Malay girl and a Japanese-wannabe Ah Beng further widened the gap of their differences.

iv) The boldness expressed through the use of some vulgarities was a good sign that the Malaysian Film Industry may finally be ready to break out of its goody-two-shoes shell. Also the relatively daring wardrobe (or lack of) together with some rather unconventional displays of physical affection are evidences of this.

v) Injection of a little humor here and there. Wasn’t too little or too much. It was just enough to support the overall somber tone of the movie.

vi) A handful of pretty artistic video work here and there, though they are pretty rare.



Dislikes:
i) The camera work is pretty shabby. There are scenes where the camera just sits there when a change of view would have been more suitable.

ii) A lot of the scenes were a tad too long. So long that it had trouble retaining my attention. There was a lot of unnecessary dragging of scenes with really trivial material.

iii) Casting was ok, I guess. But the typical Ah Beng-ness of the Chinese guys sort of ticked me off. I guess it’s really ok, since that’s what VCD sellers and Ah Kaus look like.

iv) The ending was a little confusing. But I think I know what went on. But still there wasn’t really any conclusion, which may leave viewers feeling rather unfulfilled.

v) The inconsistencies of the subtitles. A lot of the dialogue in local dialects weren’t translated. Some rather critical parts were omitted.

vi) Seeing Harith Iskandar and Ida Narina frolicking around in Sarongs to Thai music. *shudder!!

vii) Seeing Harith Iskandar in his tighty whities.

viii) I’m still convinced that the most convincing actors in the movie were the gangsters. Even they weren’t that fantastic.

ix) Who goes out on a date and sits side by side with their partner? Sitting arrangements were really weird, especially the scene where the three were sitting all in a row. WTH?

Once again, a pretty valiant effort from the Malaysian front. According to the website, this film has gotten a couple of accolades under its belt. Hah, but as we all know by now, those Mat Sallehs are suckers for anything remotely resembling a culture not of their own.

I thought mata sepet meant cross-eyed, and not slit-eyed?