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I haven't watched many since High noon, but I went through something yesterday:
Love conquers all
Tan Chui Mui, 2006
I watched this (my first Malaysian movie) because I was in the mood for something very exotic. And to a point -it's true that there are some noticeable differences- it ended up being the contrary. It looked strangely familiar. It seems Malaysia or at least Kuala Lumpur is quite more heavily influenced by the Western culture than, say, Japan or South Korea. Most details of the city looked exactly how a Spanish suburb would.
That set aside, my biggest pet peeve with the movie came with the narration of the main storyline. In fact I found myself enjoying every other aspect of the movie better than the fate of Ah Peng. And what bothered me in special was its abuse of ellipsis. I understand if this resource is brought to get rid of unnecessary information, but in this movie the ellipsis is used to keep the spectator two or three steps behind everything that happens. The logical coherence of the character through the different scenes is something we have to build ourselves, and fill the holes that are left. The last thirty minutes or so in special were a huge downer for me. That is, I could understand some part of the basis in the girl's decisions through the context, but the latter decisions she makes are affected, in terms of the narration, by the lack of a coherent development through the rest of the movie (she is supposed to be in love but this love is developed in bits and pieces), therefore making them very hard to understand.
On the other hand, I found it very strangely evocative in the visual level. Not because it is really original in that sense, in fact it takes the same slow and contemplative style that many authors try, but the mere observation of the space, the depiction of the city as something rather distant, the use of silence, etc. made the merits of this movie.
It is also noteworthy the presence of some kind of cynicism. That is, the movie despite the topic it deals with (which I won't reveal for the sake of spoilers), takes a rather sober viewpoint; in that sense the final scene was totally unexpected and to me very twisted, ending in a really outstanding note.
In short, I didn't love it and I didn't hate it either. This was an interesting experience but not something I'm really going to keep in my memory for long.
Love conquers all
Tan Chui Mui, 2006
I watched this (my first Malaysian movie) because I was in the mood for something very exotic. And to a point -it's true that there are some noticeable differences- it ended up being the contrary. It looked strangely familiar. It seems Malaysia or at least Kuala Lumpur is quite more heavily influenced by the Western culture than, say, Japan or South Korea. Most details of the city looked exactly how a Spanish suburb would.
That set aside, my biggest pet peeve with the movie came with the narration of the main storyline. In fact I found myself enjoying every other aspect of the movie better than the fate of Ah Peng. And what bothered me in special was its abuse of ellipsis. I understand if this resource is brought to get rid of unnecessary information, but in this movie the ellipsis is used to keep the spectator two or three steps behind everything that happens. The logical coherence of the character through the different scenes is something we have to build ourselves, and fill the holes that are left. The last thirty minutes or so in special were a huge downer for me. That is, I could understand some part of the basis in the girl's decisions through the context, but the latter decisions she makes are affected, in terms of the narration, by the lack of a coherent development through the rest of the movie (she is supposed to be in love but this love is developed in bits and pieces), therefore making them very hard to understand.
On the other hand, I found it very strangely evocative in the visual level. Not because it is really original in that sense, in fact it takes the same slow and contemplative style that many authors try, but the mere observation of the space, the depiction of the city as something rather distant, the use of silence, etc. made the merits of this movie.
It is also noteworthy the presence of some kind of cynicism. That is, the movie despite the topic it deals with (which I won't reveal for the sake of spoilers), takes a rather sober viewpoint; in that sense the final scene was totally unexpected and to me very twisted, ending in a really outstanding note.
In short, I didn't love it and I didn't hate it either. This was an interesting experience but not something I'm really going to keep in my memory for long.