Movie Review: Sepet by the late Yasmin Ahmad

Before Yasmin's death, her movies had generated much publicitites, controversies and mixed reviews from local critics. Among the positives from general audiences, there are also the negatives from conservatives. I never really took notice on her movies until she finally passed away. I had just stumbled upon the movie 'Sepet' from channel 110 in ASTRO. And there is only one word to describe such local movie from our dear country: 'Magnificent'!

Yasmin's movie(s) are examples of revolutionised local movies, in an excellent way. I noticed our local productions other than her's- either Malay or Chinese are simply self-indulging rubbish (a quote taken from Simon Cowell).
The Malay's usually feature stars like Saiful Apek and his Senario gangs. Though I find Senario is quite entertaining when I was young, I soon grew to dislike it, mainly because it barely connects with audiences not of their race are as it starts to be more annoying because they keep acting like they are a little too loony, kinda feels like the Charlie Chaplin's time where they try to make themselves funny, but in this case not. This is not a race-biased statement, I detest mainland China & Taiwan's entertainment too, they act in a similiar way which I find it particularly irritating. The local Chinese try to imitate Taiwan's teen drama where the actress act cute and innocent as though they are sweet young virgins and the guys either too cool or innocent or sweet in a same way, they converse and act too fake and fabricated to be real. Even the family shows start to feel too indecent as more adult content are injected into its content. None of it feels original.


But the movie I watched is so much different from what I had seen before. Aspiring, enlighting, diverse, funny, sarcastic, touching, open and harmonic it is: blend them into a cake mixture and you will have a wonderfully iced cake when you took it off the oven: nice to view, a taste buds' pleasure and nutritious in a way; compose it, and you will have one of the most memorable music you will ever enjoyed that it will win numerous prestigous awards and be preserved as one of the greatest classics of all times. That is my personal opinion, check it out if you never watched it. Buy its DVD if you don't know what more you should buy with your bonus cash because it is worth to be selected as your collection. The film itself has won numerous Best Film awards.

I'll keep the synopsis simple and brief to avoid spilling the juice. As all Malaysians would know (you're not one if you never heard about it), this movie is about a love story sparked when a Chinese boy and a Malay girl fell in love in the same time when they set eyes upon each other. You may wonder: logic please... But love is not logic: it does not formed by equating formula or chemistry, it is naturally sparked when two people, regardless of any differences, have the jodoh / yuan fen...something again never meant to be explained...

And no, both characters, Orked and Jason, does not have a too different family background. Both families and characters are open to the wind of changes and does not keen to be conservative at all. In the movie, you can see Orked's parent having some time for naughty pleasures (not explicit), Jason's parent having usual brawls (in this case, it highlights that women are no longer subjected to male dominance), the Orked's family clad in sarung (there may be another name for it, correct me if I'm wrong) and combing each other's hair in the staircase, Jason having another Chinese girl pregnant and he wrote to Orked confessing his sins, innocently claiming he will leave that girl after she gave birth, in which she left him for good etc. The family, although completely different race and religion, indirectly embraces each other, which I believe that there are some out there who are willing to accept their children to fall in love with someone not their same 'kind'. It gives hope for young chaps like us to feel free to love and not be restricted by senseless norms.

The movie also highlighted some issues, some scenes really intrigued me:
Orked received 5 A's from her exam and were given scholarship to England, Mak Inom expresses her gratitude for it, Kak Yam sarcastically said something like this : " Jason have 7 A's. "
It explores the inclining towards Western cultures of the Malaysian youths. Orked was also criticed heavily from her friend's boyfriend, ridiculing her for dating someone not of her race, which she snaps back with more solid claims. There is also a dilemma of love between different races: Keong, Jason's friends expressed his concern that if Jason ever decided to spend his life with Orked, he will have too change his name, his religion and have his foreskin cut.

'Sepet' also spot spaces for Siamese, Malay and Cantonese songs as the movie is multi-lingial itself, including Nyonya-slang Malay, Cantonese, Hokkien, Malaysian English as well as Malay of course. I never enjoyed a local production so much as you can savour the film as though you are having delicacies from different races altogether... The mixing of different cultures seems more colourful and strong than any other movies had ever made.

There are plenty of funny moments inside, it sort of tackles our selfish norms at the same time, carving out the gap that still exist between races. Yet, it is not heavy and dark like 'Crash'. It gives you the light, soothing feeling that makes you ponder issues at the same time... You would not feel distant from friends of other cultures after you watched it, you would want to get closer more... There are better topics to discuss rather than politics and unhealthy arguements. Yasmin's movie makes you feel like a Malaysian, it is not a movie made to entertain Malays but Malaysians, you will surely feel closer to home even though the ending is in a melancholy tone.
I finally understand why people would say Yasmin is the true 1Malaysian, a statement I could not understand before this.

Guys, if you are racist or discriminant towards a particular sector of people, let go of it. I remembered having bitter and sweet moments during my National Service times, the dark part also exceeds the light one. I became quite a racist after I left, forgetting the wonderful moments I had and the feeling of being someone who does not shy away from others. I almost forgotten the great times I had with friends like Imam, Ajim, Fariz, Syuk, Pratish, Aizat, Ai, Nazi etc. The way we think is quite unusual, sometimes we remember the bad things that are so ugly that they are not worth being kept in the heart. I finally let go of the load and reminisense the good times and it feels light and joyful, those moments are the ones worth cherished. And after I finished the show, it brings back once again the good feeling, I get Yasmin's message clear-
and I wish her the peace she deserves in heaven.