Kings of Convenience – Street Kings

Surprise, then, occurred on a number of levels with regards to this movie. Surprise that first of all, there was little else that was not Korean at the cinema. “See, I told you that ‘Iron Man’ is not out yet,” I said to Tony, my friend. We had planned to do something after picking up his laptop from the service centre, and plumped for the movies. He had initially thought that Iron Man would be released; I, while doubting that it would, went along for the ride, just in case. “So it’s either ‘Bucket List’, ‘Forbidden Kingdom’ or ‘Street Kings’.” You can make a wild guess (and I do mean wild) which one we eventually settled on.

The second surprise was the fact that it’s distributed by Fox Searchlight. A division of the main Hollywood studio itself, Searchlight has been financing independent movies; in fact, I figured that its very motif is to create and promote independent movies. You know, heartwarming crowd pleasers like ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ and ‘Juno’. Whether there’s a lot that’s actually independent about these movies is one thing (given how it’s become more and more Hollywood), but nevertheless, I didn’t think that movies about corrupt cops fit that particular motif.

What The Doctor Ordered – Sicko

If Amir Muhammad is the funniest Muslim filmmaker in the world, Michael Moore may well be one of the funniest…full stop. Of course, this was not an impression that was made due to ‘Sicko’; rather, his latest film merely reinforces that which is already there in my mind.

What, however, is indeed there? On the outside, at least, Moore appears to be the most typical of American stereotypes: a living, breathing redneck, bumbling across borders with the ever-present cap magically nestled on top of his nest of hair no matter which way he turns his head. His obvious body mass index also makes him a most ironic of candidates to be making a film related to healthcare. But that’s on the outside, where the superficial can never tell the whole truth. Having said that, neither can the inside, but nevertheless, despite all that I have written above, there is one thing that I will stick my neck out for: Michael Moore may well be one of our generation’s most gifted filmmakers.

A. Samad Said vs Hollywood

“No, I don’t watch local movies,” said the interviewee. She was being interviewed by Marzuki, the roving ntv7 reporter, who interviewed people on the streets. “I don’t think that they’re very good.”

Her comments sparked a fire in me, and I waved in exasperation to the studio presenter, who was surprised by my reactions, but pleasantly so. Of course, the people at home couldn’t see all this happening; they’re being fed the live feed from Pavillion.

Soon enough, my chance came.

Lonely – In Between Days

One of the first shots of the film shows a shot of the Canadian skyline at dusk. The camera is still, as a girl’s voice narrates over the lifeless proceedings. “Now that I’m going to school here, I’ve made lots of friends,” she mumbles depressingly. “My friends are white, black, Chinese and Japanese, too. Isn’t that amazing? And Mom’s working hard two, so don’t worry about us.”

The narration appears to be excerpts from letters to her father. From this, then, a snapshot of the film can be taken. One is that the film explores the feelings of being ‘the other’ in a foreign country, the sense of isolation that can be rather deafening at the best of times. Indeed, the theme of the company of others becomes central in the film, and not just in the foreigner’s identity sense (in fact, not so much, though readings can be made here if you want). ‘In Between Days’ explores the feelings that a young girl feels in direct relation to the family, friends, and even absent figures.

Shut Up! – Quiet City

“Mumblecore is an American independent film movement that arose in the mid-2000s. It is primarily characterized by ultra-low budget production (often employing digital video cameras), focus on personal relationships between twenty-somethings, improvised scripts, and non-professional actors.” – Wikipedia

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There is some irony in the title. New York city served as the location for this film, but though I’ve not been there, I do realise that the term ‘quiet’ and ‘city’ probably won’t appear in the same sentence together when it comes to describing it. Nevertheless, this irony is one that I perceive, with emphasis placed on the word ‘perceive’.

You Can’t See Me: The Anonymous Filmmaker

For all of our filmmaking talents in Malaysia, there’s not many outlets for short films in our own country. Filmmaker Anonymous, then, is one of the few that provides much-needed oxygen to our short filmmakers (not necessarily filmmakers who are short, though ). In light of the upcoming 6th edition of the screening, we collar the organiser, Filmaholic. Despite our best efforts, he (she?) really didn’t want to reveal anything about him(her?)self.

Not even his (her) gender.

Hitting Rock Bottom – The Wrestler

Number one: this is a Darren Aronofsky’s film. I like Darren Aronofsky. He’s a filmmaker who always attempts to reach for something higher in the logic stakes. Afdlin Shauki apparently once described such films as “filem kerut muka”, or a “scrawny face film” (literal translation). I say apparently, because it is as second hand as information gets, so don’t hold me to court for it, but I do like the expression nonetheless.

Number two: coming out of the closet time. I am a big fan of professional wrestling. Similar admissions to smaller audiences have usually in ridicule, but I see it for what it is (and isn’t); I’ve often reckoned that the world of professional wrestling and the world of filmmaking are not all that different. Both depend on highly orchestrated illusions to draw in the audience, without necessarily being rooted in reality. Of course, they have different elements and constraints, but cutting a long story short, they essentially work their asses off to suspend disbelief.

Mind Pollution – The Air I Breathe

First of all, ‘The Air I Breathe’ is causing quite a stir in Korea, primarily because the director, Lee Jieho, is a Korean. A Korean-American, to be exact, but a Korean directing a Hollywood film nonetheless. Not even the Korean masters like Park Chan Wook has done that. Technically it’s not backed by any of the major film studios, but rather the shady sounding NALA Films. And no, they’re not inspired by Simba’s girlfriend from ‘The Lion King’; rather, the major backing comes from Mexico. But never mind all that. For all intents and purposes, it is a Hollywood film.

Secondly, I know that the more common arrangement of Asian names places the family name after the first. But that’s the American way of doing things. It may work for them, but it’s not something I agree with. I still call football ‘football’, not ’soccer’ (as even David Beckham is referring to it nowadays), and so I shall refer to the director as Lee Jieho (actually, the proper pronunciation is ‘Ee’; I have no idea why and where the extra ‘L’ comes from).

And we’re not in America anyway.

DePalma Springs – Redacted

There is a growing number of Iraq war movies that’s been made over the past few years. A fair amount of them looks at things from the American perspectives; ‘Home of the Brave’, in particular, looks at the psychological impact of having been involved in such conflicts. The documentaries, on the other hand, casts a more critical look at the illegal war America is currently waging. It’s not particularly surprising, since America has a tendency to look back on themselves and their history. Take a particular movie from any particular weekend, and if you read deep enough between the lines, you’ll get a peek into an aspect of American society.

It’s not a bad thing, though, this mode of reflecting upon the self. Truth is, I think we ourselves could do with a fair amount of that. It is a comment made by a film director some time last year that stuck with me: “Malaysians don’t like to look at themselves on the screen,” he said (lectured would probably be more accurate, but no matter). “We like escapism, we like to laugh and watch our stars frolic in the movies. But we don’t like to look in that mirror.”

Songs to Remember – Chants of Lotus

I have to admit, the last place I would expect to be able to watch an obscure Indonesian movie is in my ‘Director’s Analysis’ class. A surprise, because the class itself was actually held. The past few weeks have done much to dent my confidence in my teacher’s punctuality and strength of word, for he has already cancelled two classes to date, and was late for another. Later on, with assignments, homework and projects piling up, we will no doubt have to reschedule things later.

Fortunately, this particularly class wasn’t replaced. Or delayed.

I say fortunately, because ‘Chants of Lotus’ sang songs that absolutely mesmerised me.