Boh... Rem... Han....
Today, I read in the newspaper about a new Malay movie entitled “Bohsia, Jangan Pilih Jalan Hitam”.
Have we run out ideas for Malay movies?
This film is directed by Yusuf Haslam’s son, costing RM1.5 million. For that amount of money, he could have thought of a better storyline.
This film is about two bohsia who got involved with some bad guys, one of them a Mat Rempit. For those who don’t know what a bohsia is, it is actually a girl (usually under aged) who is willing to go to bed with a man just for a ride on his bike and a cup of tea the next day. These kind of girls are quite prevalent these days, and they usually come from broken homes.
And a Mat Rempit? He’s the guy with the motorbike. He participates in illegal street racing (at nights usually) involving under bone motorcycles or scooters. They are quite rampant on Saturday nights, infront of Dataran Merdeka, and the strange thing is, they are hardly nabbed by the policemen even though they are such pests.
Anyway, I’m not planning to discuss about the bohsia and Mat Rempit here.
What I’m trying to argue is, why Malay film producers are so fascinated with stories of Mat Rempit & bohsia in their films? We’ve had Rempit 1, Rempit 2, Ramp It, KL Menjerit, Impak Maksima and a few other titles yang sewaktu dengannya. Semua ni cerita pasal budak2 merempit tengah malam and their social activities.
I’ve not seen any of these films (except for KL Menjerit, itupun tak habis), so I can’t tell what the moral of the story that they are trying to portray. Even if there is one, I don’t think it is something that will leave a huge impact or lesson to the viewers.
Tak ada ke jalan cerita lain? Buatlah cerita macam Benjamin Button ke, Slumdog ke, some heavy drama ke… like in Hollywood. Give us some GOOD movies, barulah orang nak pegi panggung tengok wayang. Kalau setakat cerita Bohsia or Mat Rempit macam tu, I think beli VCD pun I tak mahu.
I’m not trying to put down our local film industry, but that’s a fact. Tell me how many good Malay movies that you have seen so far? I can count with jari sebelah tangan sahaja. Even Indon & Thai movies have better quality and storylines than ours, so don’t blame us when we choose to watch foreign films.
Sometimes I feel sorry for our local film industry. Macamana nak maju kalau buat cerita tajuk “Anu Dalam Botol”. What is that? Come on lah! Firstly, you know this kind of movies will not pass the censorship board. It’s very controversial. Why make it in the first place? You’re just wasting your money!
Secondly, can’t you think of a better theme/title? Buat lah cerita pasal keagamaan ke, pasal keluarga ke… Like that Slumdog story, it’s such a simple storyline but with great acting and strong plot, it managed to win several Oscars.
When we argue about this, people in the film industry complain that they don’t have enough budget, no support, tak dapat enough slot in the cinemas etc, etc. They blame the public viewers for preferring to watch foreign films than our own local films.
But hey, kalau cerita hampas macam tu, siapa nak pegi tengok? Siapa nak allow viewing lama2 at the cinemas? You come up with a good story, then only people will come in droves to watch your film.
My BIL said that new cerita hantu, “Jangan Tegur” is quite good. It’s scarier than Jangan Pandang Belakang (which I think is quite funny because hantu dia kelakar!). Perhaps I’ll just buy the DVD. Kalau tak best, I can just turn it off !
Have we run out ideas for Malay movies?
This film is directed by Yusuf Haslam’s son, costing RM1.5 million. For that amount of money, he could have thought of a better storyline.
This film is about two bohsia who got involved with some bad guys, one of them a Mat Rempit. For those who don’t know what a bohsia is, it is actually a girl (usually under aged) who is willing to go to bed with a man just for a ride on his bike and a cup of tea the next day. These kind of girls are quite prevalent these days, and they usually come from broken homes.
And a Mat Rempit? He’s the guy with the motorbike. He participates in illegal street racing (at nights usually) involving under bone motorcycles or scooters. They are quite rampant on Saturday nights, infront of Dataran Merdeka, and the strange thing is, they are hardly nabbed by the policemen even though they are such pests.
Anyway, I’m not planning to discuss about the bohsia and Mat Rempit here.
What I’m trying to argue is, why Malay film producers are so fascinated with stories of Mat Rempit & bohsia in their films? We’ve had Rempit 1, Rempit 2, Ramp It, KL Menjerit, Impak Maksima and a few other titles yang sewaktu dengannya. Semua ni cerita pasal budak2 merempit tengah malam and their social activities.
I’ve not seen any of these films (except for KL Menjerit, itupun tak habis), so I can’t tell what the moral of the story that they are trying to portray. Even if there is one, I don’t think it is something that will leave a huge impact or lesson to the viewers.
Tak ada ke jalan cerita lain? Buatlah cerita macam Benjamin Button ke, Slumdog ke, some heavy drama ke… like in Hollywood. Give us some GOOD movies, barulah orang nak pegi panggung tengok wayang. Kalau setakat cerita Bohsia or Mat Rempit macam tu, I think beli VCD pun I tak mahu.
I’m not trying to put down our local film industry, but that’s a fact. Tell me how many good Malay movies that you have seen so far? I can count with jari sebelah tangan sahaja. Even Indon & Thai movies have better quality and storylines than ours, so don’t blame us when we choose to watch foreign films.
Sometimes I feel sorry for our local film industry. Macamana nak maju kalau buat cerita tajuk “Anu Dalam Botol”. What is that? Come on lah! Firstly, you know this kind of movies will not pass the censorship board. It’s very controversial. Why make it in the first place? You’re just wasting your money!
Secondly, can’t you think of a better theme/title? Buat lah cerita pasal keagamaan ke, pasal keluarga ke… Like that Slumdog story, it’s such a simple storyline but with great acting and strong plot, it managed to win several Oscars.
When we argue about this, people in the film industry complain that they don’t have enough budget, no support, tak dapat enough slot in the cinemas etc, etc. They blame the public viewers for preferring to watch foreign films than our own local films.
But hey, kalau cerita hampas macam tu, siapa nak pegi tengok? Siapa nak allow viewing lama2 at the cinemas? You come up with a good story, then only people will come in droves to watch your film.
My BIL said that new cerita hantu, “Jangan Tegur” is quite good. It’s scarier than Jangan Pandang Belakang (which I think is quite funny because hantu dia kelakar!). Perhaps I’ll just buy the DVD. Kalau tak best, I can just turn it off !
Comments
Aiyah! no need to watch la ;)
Jom kita tengok ultraman, lagi bagus :D
Nampaknya itu ler trend filem kat sini...bila sorang buat citer hantu, semua buat citer hantu...smpai le ke rancangan TV tu pun. Bila citer rempit, semua pun nak buat rempit.
Next MB meet nanti, one of the agendas is MBs gathering ideas for plot filem. Haa...bila produce, sure meletup gitu :D
I've left some more suggestions @ TM's post on baking.
your silent reader
i feel that yusuf haslam is one of the people whom is glorifying social ills.. bohsia,bohjan, rempit..etc..and making tons of $$$ out of it.
byk lagi real life stories yg boleh depict ..itu yg dipilih..
shows the level of mentality la kan..tapi pocket dia very deep la pulak..hahahaha..
MrsN, hari ni i dah tgk air palang pagi 3 kali.
hahahahaha..
It's true ~ why glorify the social ills? There are so many other stories to tell, balik2 pasal tu. Maybe it's controversial and so they think this kind of films will sell. Err... I don't think so.
Yes! Tengok Ultraman lagi best!
My daughter asked me, "Siapa nak tengok cerita macam ni?" I guess, you've answered her question.
Anu Tersepit Lagi? Hee.. Hee... that's hilarious!
That "Anu" woman lagi sorang. Tak habis2 nak buat cerita controversial. Black Widow lah, and a few others after that, tapi semua tak masuk panggung. Bila filem dia tak laku, dia marah kat semua orang. Please lah! I think, there's something wrong with her.
p/s Kalau MB come up with a storyline, sure meletop filem tu, babe!
I guess you're right..
Accidental Writer,
Thanks. Now I know I'm not alone in feeling this way about our local film industry.
That ITM guy is Prof. Madya. Razak Mxxx. Sometimes I wonder, these people pandai buat films ke tidak? Can't they think of better stories than the usual cintan cintun and joke bodoh yang orang tak gelak tu?
Sigh... tapi betul jugak kata you. Rumah YH tu melaut besarnya. Who are we to say his film doesn't sell?
p/s You are really tickled by Nizzar's antic, ya? Nanti bila balik M'sia, make time to meet him and his Mummy, ok?
Yasmin Ahmad's films are "different" and worth watching. I like Sepet the best. Gubra is a bit "overblown", Mohsin is ok lah. I haven't watched Talentime, tho. My daughter says it's good.
I don't see any positive values in the malay movies lately...producer dia cina si David Teoh tu...dia tau melayu senang dan cepat leka.
Masalah ini sepatutnya UMNO dan parti melayu lain ambil tahu....bukan nya bawak Mat Rempit yg useless tu pergi Kutub Utara, terjun kat sana dan pulang di beri sambutan red carpet...what good does it bring to the youth? For all I know....projek mcm tu akan membuat Mat2 Rempit ni lagi suka nak merempit,sebab dpt free holiday ke North Pole...all paid for.
Kalau setakat movies mcm tu...I haramkan anak2 I pergi temgok....jgn harapla dpt tengok.
Sorry la terlebih sudah I ni ye....
But the story line - if based on what you wrote - I must say, sadly dear - that's the true part of what msians don't want to see. It's like the scenes from slumdog millionaires that received much protest from some upper indian class society (those who've been to india or read much about it would know some of those gruesome scenes are very similar depiction of the truth there though!)
It's not easy convincing the middle & upper middle income group of our country that THIS IS an existing social ill in the country. With TOO FAST TOO FURIOUS being so glamourously glorified, almost full house each time at the local movie theaters - that surely make this YH movie sound so crap. But the fact of the matter - it is nothing but the true horizon of KL at the very least.
Mat rempit, bohsia, etc - it is a true phenomenon of our society - which unfortunately - is something very distant to a lot of middle & upper middle income group.
Pls don't say police have not tried to nab these people. They have and will continue to do so, risking their lives while doing so too (p/s err...saya anak polis... mintak maap!! i do have some insights to true stories not shared wth public). This kind of news don't appear on star online my dear! If once in a while we change our weekend lepaking venue from the aircond bistros and spend some sweaty hours in the hotspots in KL ( err... i.e warong without aircond), we'll easily see such scenes. Including how police would try desperately to nab these youngsters. Infact on the way back from Onair's house last weekend, via kajang cheras highway, we saw with our own naked eyes (from inside the car) how the police with just 2 patrol cars had to deal with throngs of mat & minah rempits racing on the highway!!! It was past midnite. AS you can imagine, if not on the road, we would otherwise be in the comfort of our airconditioned bedroom or lepaking croaking in redbox at the curve maybe? Far from the 'crime scene' altogether.
We are 'lucky' family kita disimpangkan dari masaalah sebegini. Ini tidak bermakna ianya bukan satu fenomena sebenar di bumi kita.
Whether it's worth making a movie of it or not.... it leaves much room for debate. Some msians kutuk bagai nak rak Cicakman, Kluangman, Papayaman; yet celebrate to no end Spiderman, Incredible Hulk & the like. Technical wonders put aside, a glass is either half full or half empty - depending on how you look at it.
I think though - there are different movies for different segment of the market. Yasmin's & Afdlin's may fare better for the taste of the middle class & upper but unfortunately the audience may not reciprocate willingly to depart with their pocket money to watch their movies - as easily as they would to watch Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise or Van Diesel.
Yusof Haslam's movies on the other hand - fare better for the larger lower middle income malay audience, who perhaps like to watch his movies because 'cakap melayu' - hence why his screenings are sold out more compared to those of Yasmin's & Afdlin's.
I for one, am guilty as charged for not supporting local movies as much as I have compared to the number of "outside" movies that I watched. Mostly disney movies though - due to anak2 ku. TAPI Ipin & Upin tak bawak pi tengok pon? Kenapa ya? Salah saya lah sebagai Ibu yg tak bawak they all pi tengok Malay cartoon kan? Sighhhh...
Tepuk dada tanya selera.
p/s as you can tell - i'm on leave...hahaha...sbb tu panjang la pulak mengomen.
p/s I am in no expert in movies - but I'm involved like or not in customers' insights study. Hence I think Yusof Haslam's pandai study the market to ensure his returns of investment in making movies berbaloi. One doesn't have to grad from harvard to master the essentials of "returns on investment".
Let me reply to your comment first since it's still fresh in my mind.
Perhaps you are right, these are the real scenes in a Malaysian life which not many want to see. Much like the Slumdog, you said. Agreed.
But Slumdog is a story about the poor and deprived. We can do the same story. Ada ramai orang yang melarat kat Malaysia ni, macam dalam "Bersamamu" kat TV3 tu. These, I think, would make a good story.
To me, there are just too many Malay movies that revolve around prostitution, gangsterism and the likes. Is there all there is to it? Kalau dia buat cerita yang seksi or seksa tu, ramai lah orang pegi tengok, walaupun the acting is lousy. What's the point?
Sometimes I feel, Malay dramas on TV lagi bagus quality nya dari malay films.
Maybe what you said about segmentation is correct. Some films are for the low-mid class while some are for the upper class. But I honestly feel they should add more "quality" in the low-mid class movies .
Thanks for your thoughts. Yeah, I guess as much you must be on leave. :) Take care, Ibu and have a nice weekend!
Mat Rempit pegi Kutub Utara and came back with a red carpet reception? Hmm... this is news to me. I'll surely check this out.
Thanks for dropping by!
I hardly go to cinemas and I tak pernah tgk those kinds of movies you mention, memualkan and memeningkan kepala. But last school holidays, we went to see Geng-Upin dan Ipin. Mengekek2 my kids ketawa.
Once I was in Alor Star, we saw the police trying to nab the mat rempits with long galah. One guy fell down and knocked my niece's new car. Ceh!!
Geezzz...can't remember when was the last time I watched a MALAY movie on big screen.
People like YH, and that Prof from UiTM (ee...maleh nak sebut his name, he ws my batch when I first started teaching there) are all very much businessmen at heart. They do not give two hoots if the movies they produce leave no moral or social values behind. It's all about "ka-ching" and going to the bank with loads of $$$.
Boycott je...tak yah gi tengok, anyway tickets TGV and the rest yg seangkatan dengan nya bukan murah pun. Kalu pi one family, mau kena swipe credit card. With that money (errr tambah skit lagi kot), I'd rather treat my kids to a nice dinner.
And yeesss...tengok Ultraman confirm lagi best. Tak caya tanya Nizzar kan :)
You have a nice weekend!!
Yes, i heard Udin & Ipin tu is quite good. Tapi I tak tengok lagi.
I suka jugak kadang2 pegi TGV tengok wayang cerita Melayu. But tengok tajuk lah. Dulu suka pegi dengan MTT, but now that she's not around, I tengok with my office mates. Kadang2 pegi sorang.
Alamak, kesian Mat Rempit tu kena tackle dengan galah! Creative jugak polis Alor Star, ya? Hee.. hee..
Betul, I think they are just in it for the money. That's why cerita entah apa2. Ultraman lagi bagus! Hee.. hee..
Sbenarnya dah ada org yg buat cerita yg u mintak. Tp masalahnya only u and a few others yg nak tengok.
At the end of the day its about business. The producer give what the audience wants. They've tried to give wht u want but it didn't make money. If u can't make money, how can u afford to roll the money for another movie?
TaleNtime only raked in RM400+K. Dah bagi tapi takde pulak nak tengok. So, camne skrg? Bagi salah, tak bagi pun salah.
Indonesia, Thailand N Philipines can afford to have both heavy N lighthearted storytelling bcoz they only have 1 market.N they do come up with crappy films cuma takde distributor yg sanggup nak bawa masuk sini.
We Malaysia have at least 5 markets to cater for those who speaks Malay, English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Tamil etc. Our 26 million market are segmentized by different languages.
Indonesia with 200+ million population universally speaks Bahasa Indonesia. Same goes with Thailand N Philipines.
The economics of Malaysian movie making is a bit complicated. Macam main Russian Roulette, kekadang menjadi dn kekadang nak balik modal pun susah. At the end of the day, terpaksa bagi aje lah what the bigger majority wants, hence u get things like Bohsia & Rempit.
Selagi mindset org M'sia x berubah, selagi tu lah M'sian movie tak kan berubah. But I'm confident, slowly N surely we're heading in the right direction. Sabar yea.
how do i contact u?
Semalam I watched "Los and Faun", ada la parts yg lawak, but the plot biasa je..predictable.
I think cerita P.Ramlee lagi best la..tak leh lawan langsung dgn movies sekarang.
I think Malay movies (kebanyakannya) profit oriented. Kalau buat filem and tak untung... susah jugak.
Industri filem Melayu ni susah nak ´ke depan´....
I pun tak tau..dulu dulu ada gak the Esok trilogi kan? P ramlee tu pun lagi berbaloi daripada si rempit.I totally tak nak tengok and neither do I wantto see the mamimami...
Oklah, I take ur view as a challenge. ni 16th May ni I am attending Scriptwriting Workshop kat FINAS, lepas ni kita buat movie yang baekk punya, boleh.:)
I agree some of them made bad Malay movies (bad dalam erti kata sebenar). As their work is to make movies, let them be as time will tell (even P.Ramlee's movies yg akhir2 before his death were nothing to shout about compared to the earlier ones).
I once watched a foreign movie (Portugal) on Astro channel; kononnya menang anugerah. It was a simple movie but as always as in 'their movies', sure have case of close proximity and relationship terlarang (yet dpt award). I regretted watching that movie.
Let's hope Shamsul is able to make movies to the liking of the elite and professionals. Salam Mrs N.
U want to try aikido in KDE. Meh datang on Saturday at 8.30pm, kat studio upstairs..
Bila u nak mai..give a call at 016-9930946, tq
I sungguhlah setuju apa u ckp ni...lagi byk cerita mcm tu kat TV lagilah bdk2 tu seronok, femes lah katakan...
dulu masa cerita sembilu keluar, my friend beriya2 ajak, siap nak belanja sbb dia nak tgk second time...i tanya best sungguh ke cerita ni, she said, best smp nangis2 dia tgk...so i pun pegilah KOMTAR nun semata2 nak tgk cerita tu, lagipun time tu i baru la putus chenta kan..ok gak layan cerita chenta....hmmmm i tgk je..lama2 i rasa nak tido pun ada jgk..last2 i baling2 popcorn kat budak2 seat depan sbb dari 2 kepala dah jadi satu kepala, apa depa buat?? haha sungguh la bosan i nak tunggu cerita tu habis....grrrrr
pastu cerita anak mami and yg sewaktu dgnnya...gelak, mmg la i gelak jugak tgk tapi bila makin lama tgk naik meluat la pulak...
buatlah cerita yg menjana minda skit....anu dalam botol??? eiii dgr tajuk pun dah meluat, mcmana nak pegi tgk kan...
Thanks for your thoughts. Well, if he made RM2.2m out of it, who are we to say that's a bad movie, huh?
But I still don't like it when they play on the same issue again and again...
Are you the one who's conducting the Aikido class at KDE? My God! I've been wanting to go since ages ago but never actually go and check it out. KDE is so near my house. Will keep your number for Aikido and other reasons as well. Hee.. hee..
Actually, I quite like Sembilu. Cerita sedihlah pulak. Like you, masa tu baru lepas putus cinta. Memang sesuailah cerita tu. Hee.. hee... Tapi the sequels I tak berapa suka. Only the first one.
That Mami Jarum is quite funny as well. But Anak Mami tak best sangat.
Hope you've settled down well in your new abode.
Even comedy films like "sell out" and "adults only" are films that won international recognition such as Cannes, Berlin and Venice Film Festival that should be watch and these are actually films produced by malaysian artist.
Do expand your horizon beyond maintream media, and you are able to see some really good films. As for "... dalam botol", you can see that an article was written about it on the New York Times. How many malaysian film can generate that much interest? films like "...dalam botol" that will make our films progress, these are the films that will break the control of goverment in films. it have to happen slowly.
Films in malaysia are so controlled that the development and progression of films produced are an evolution, not revolution. when people talk about malaysian films, they tend to forget the independent films out there that has really good not only storyline, but music and good acting as well. They forget such directors as Woo Ming-jin and Deepak Menon.
People also tend to forget that Malaysia still lacks the manpower, financial and technical knowledge beside the tightly-controlled media in malaysia that hinders such progress of malaysian films.
Thanks for your thoughts.
I do like watching independent films as I know they are of better quality in terms of acting and storyline. But they are hard to find. The publicity is limited (unless i'm not looking at the right places), hence, I'm not aware of their screening.
Somehow I don't agree with you about getting publicity in the NY Times with that kind of movie. I think it's more of the controversy than anything else. But let's just wait and see how the movie fares. Has it been shown already? I've lost track.
Thanks again for your comment and have a nice day!