When Ah Loong/Jason and Orked had their first date, one of the questions he posed to her was what happened to Malay films. In that the great classics of the 1950s P. Ramlee films have given way to mindless comedies which were basically crap. Production-wise, Yasmin Ahmad’s brilliant film, Sepet (which means Chinese eyes) should be hailed as the coming-of-age of Malaysian films; a film by which other Malaysian filmmakers should refer to as an example that would put Malaysia on the map of East Asian film culture. That it remains a controversial film (detailed by Ahmad herself on her website) locally shouldn’t just be the only reason the film should be lauded.
The plot of the film is actually a simple one: the age-old story of star-crossed lovers. In this case, it is between Ah Loong, a Chinese VCD seller and Orked, a Malay girl, who met when she was searching Takeshi Kaneshiro films. I, for one, think Ah Loong should be commended for recommending Chungking Express to Orked upon their first meeting! The film is more than that however. It is about the racial tensions that underlie the seemingly harmonious multi-racial, multi-cultural Malaysian society. The director did a splendid job of depicting that by the colourful usage of 5 different languages (6, if one counts the Thai song that was playing at one point) when the characters were speaking to one another - Malay, English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien. While we’re counting, there were probably 2 to 3 different versions of Malay being spoken by the different characters. All of which succeeds at showing the mish-mash of Malaysian culture, and to a certain extent, the level of integration among the various races.
But of course, underlying this surface level of integration lies the deep-seated racial tension. The racial slurs the characters throw at the other races; the stereotypes each race has placed on the other and a non-discussion between Orked’s mother and her beloved maid about the difference in A-Level results between Orked and Ah Loong - Orked had 5As and Ah Loong, 7As - and yet, it was Orked who was awarded the scholarship to go to England. A story every Malaysian who had been through the education system would be eerily familiar with, and can add to. All these in between discussions about Malaysia’s relationship, as a colonised nation, to the main colonisers, the British, and how a hundred years ago, relations in the (not-yet existent) country seemed to be easier with the ‘creation’ of the Peranakan culture with the arrival of the Chinese, and their integration with the Malays.
Before watching this film, some friends had told me they were disappointed by it, saying that it didn’t go far enough in commenting on the social issues that the film was trying to raise. For what it’s worth, because of the subject matter of the film, there was only so far one could take the social issues discussion before you turn the audience away. The ending might feel like a cop-out (in fact, those of us who watched it earlier were mostly confused by it), but there was really no other way it could have gone. Some may feel it didn’t go far enough, I, on the contrary, thought it was a good start. At least the film acknowledges the problem, and dealt with it as a matter of fact. Since the truth is, this is a subject that is not openly discussed within Malaysian society and culture. What one sees on the film is pretty much what one gets. At the end of the day, it is a love story between two star-crossed lovers - hardly a platform to delve deep into the racial issues of the country.
The love story between the two characters, while brilliantly acted out by the young actors, didn’t do much for me. Some of the lines were too corny for my liking, but that’s just a personal preference. What I enjoyed though, are the supporting characters, particularly that of Orked’s family. Ah Loong’s mother, who spoke Peranakan Malay to her son while he responded in a mixture of Cantonese and Mandarin, while may be strange to some, would resonate a familiar connection to home for a lot of Malaysian Chinese watching this film overseas - myself included. I also especially love the usage of Sam Hui’s songs throughout the film, as well as the ingenuity of having Orked’s mother and auntie belt out the first two lines of “Shanghai Bund”: possibly some of the few things that really made me feel connected to the film, and to my childhood in Malaysia.
Here’s hoping Malaysian filmmakers would aspire to create a film that’s as original and as depictive of Malaysian culture as Yasmin Ahmad did in Sepet. Highly recommended for an entertaining foray into a multicultural society. Or, if you just want to experience watching a film that has the characters speaking in 5 different languages to one another at some point!
Sepet was shown in London in conjunction with the annual Firecracker Showcase 2005 East Asian Film Festival.
