Diversity in Malaysian Cinema | Video Essay
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Accented Cinema - Episode 85
In the West, it's common for people to assume an Asian country is homogenous. But that is rarely the case. A simple look at films made in Malaysia can immediately debunks such notion.
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As a Malaysian, I can say we all jump with excitement at any mention of our country in any way. Malaysia is a weird case of a diverse population. The main prominent races of Malaysia are, Malay, Chinese and Indian due to their global prominence, Malay as they make up the majority of the country, Chinese because of China, Indian due to India. Our representation of diversity in Malaysia on screen is accidental and on purpose at the same time. A lot of movies and films from Malaysia are funded by the government, and Malaysia's main political policy is to maintain peace and harmony among all the races because we do not want a repeat of May 13, 1969. So a lot of films have people of different races being nice to one another to encourage people to stay united. But beyond the propaganda, the writers of a lot of prominent Malaysian films include people of different races not because they are promoting a movement or trying to be progressive but rather because it feels natural as most Malaysians have lived among people of different races their whole life.
But what tends to be neglected in what seems to be diverse on screen even in progressive societies are the indigenous people, also called the "Bumiputera" directly translated to as Prince of the Land. The Malays are technically also considered Bumiputera but I (well I am a Chinese so I might be biased) personally think that is a bit misleading (this is a whole other issue that I won't get into). This issue becomes more prominent when you look at one state in particular, Sarawak. Sarawak is an absolute hodgepodge of people from different races and ethnicities. The prominent indigenous people here are the Dayaks, generally spilt into the Land Dayak, Bidayuh and Sea Dayak, Iban. They probably have been here longer than even the Malays themselves. The government hates them. I am going to simplify things here but it far more complicated then just that. They are hated by the government mainly due to land administration issues, as a lot of resource rich sites are their ancestral homes.
Just as a fun fact, they are a few universal things that unite the people in Malaysia no matter who you are, 1) our hate for the government, 2) our love for food and 3) our support for our sport athletes.
nteresting perspective, although, if I might say something, your simplification is still pretty long ngl.
Malaysian here. Agree, our government can shove it.
@@Gabriel-l Then you may not want to hear the longer version. It's just too long.
bro I legit know close friends who joke about wanting to ulang balik 13 Mei for fun, it's not all sunshine and roses sadly. I'm Sarawakian and it's tough and painful, hoping for things to change knowing it won't come fast but takes time and generations to cycle through the differences, and especially when the gov isn't particularly interested in removing some institutional racism enshrined in the constitution. At least we're not... Cambodia, or the Phillipines who recently elected a literal dictator I guess?
@@Sercotani That's actually kinda sad. Tbf to your friends, according to my parents at least, 13 May didn't affect Sarawak as much so they could be making the joke insensitively due to ignorance or lack of understanding of what really transpired. But honestly, Malaysian aren't exactly up to date with progressive values. But yeah, the constitutional enshrined racism is a sad part of our country. It's also an interesting case study regarding reparations and it's effects.
I'd never thought I'd see the day where Accented Cinema would do a short essay on my home country, but here I am. I've been away from Malaysia for so long that returning to it now feels all somewhat foreign to me despite the nostalgia I had felt for living in overseas. Words can't express how much this means to me as you're analysing these films while giving some insights on the country, so thank you.
If you're interested in Malaysian directed short films that covers the social aspects, diversity and struggles in Malaysia, I highly recommend checking out this director by the name of the late Yasmin Ahmad. She's done some memorable adverts spanning from the 90s and the early 2000s that are still relevant till this day. Cheers.
The first intro movie Sepet was done by her too and she passed away too soon ❤️🥲
Malaysian cinema is struggling to find a direction these days
It’s clearly sponsor by malaysian goverment, many content creator are sponsor by goverment to promote malaysia
@@JEMXliveChannel don't see much good content tho
@@TheMasterofComment and that’s a problem of your country represention,
Speaking as an Malaysian, Jagat is by far the film most grounded in reality among the ones here. It contrasts the light-hearted family comedy of The Kid from the Big Apple and Rise: Ini Kalilah (meaning This is It/Now is the time), I think it really shows the two extremes Malaysians can at times feel about our country. It is hope, happiness and optimism for common understanding and harmonious living, and it is the suffocating, creeping bile and seeping poison of poverty, racism, suffering that breeds eternal misery. For example, Rise is now considered a highly ironic film, the democratic government was overthrown within two years, and an unelected, Malay-supremacist, ethnoreligious government consisting of the same corrupt elite was put in place. Stick with Jagat if you want to understand the Malaysian (and more specifically Malaysian Tamil) plight.
Another one is Jibam, it's a dramedy but pretty much relatable for most locals who lives in that environment. And in the spirit of Jagat, Anak Halal was also great.
dude..Rise : Ini Kalillah is the most cringiest and cheesy film ever made in Malaysia..
@@mybraintalks It is up there on the list
While Malaysian cinema can, and do put out incredibly impressive movies with a multiracial theme, more often than not it’s being overshadowed with comedy, gangsterism, and trashy soap operas for the past two decades. The latest of which went viral for having a raunchy trailer featuring scenes probably inserted by someone with a maid fetish. As a Malaysian and a HUGE movie buff myself it’s incredibly depressing to see those being the limelight instead of what actually deserves it- the incredible multiracial movies that I mentioned.
Also, while on the subject of Malaysian movie recommendations, allow me to suggest Ola Bola. It’s based on the true story of the national football (or soccer for peeps in the US) team trying their damnest to qualify for the 70’s Olympics, culminating in a final match between South Korea and Malaysia for the 1980 Moscow Olympics. While on their way, we saw the team’s struggles with juggling their life and their dedication for the game. This had a profound effect on a massively wide audience as there were ample representations of different races and family backgrounds, which includes nostalgic, comedic, and harrowing peek into how a Malaysian would live during the 70’s. All while including admittedly cheesy and patriotic “heroes band together” scenes where these players learned to trust each other, bond over, and protect each other’s backs, and also a side plot of a particularly famous sports commentator with an incredibly unique and catchy narration. When this movie was released it was significant enough that there were even actual theatrical plays all over the country. Personally, it was beyond the hype amazing and in a way briefly made me patriotic. Lmao.
Either way, thanks for covering Malaysian cinema! I’ve seen most of the movies mentioned here, and while there were some bad and good things to say about it, for the most part it’s not bad. Can’t wait to see other video essays!
Ola Bola boek terukssssss aaaaaa! we need more of these type of movies
What's the name of the raunch trailer you were talking about?
@@malithaw Serach for "perempuan itu" here on CZcams.
Ola Bola feels tragic and delusional given how Malaysian football went nowhere even to this day, yet that's all the society is banking on since childhood
@@inconemay1441 But now we can finally say that we are qualified for Asia Cup 2023.
wow. I don't think Malaysians have much of an awareness for the local film industry, myself included; I think it mostly stems from an assumption that the local film industry is either underfunded or overfunded with lackluster content/narrative; and so the product is presumed to be underwhelming.
Thanks for shining a light on some of these movies, while the budget looks subpar, the content sounds very interesting. The cinematography of Jagat in particular looks very impressive; I'll definitely give it a watch.
Same haha, Malaysian here and also didn't really notice our own filming industry 😂😂😂 nowadays don't have time to watch movies liao
We got an actor sitting inside his car. When some lady's purse got snatched, he got out and chase him by foot instead of using his own car.
Blame FINAS for our current status on film industries
@@SiPakRubah Bingo. Also it's a systemic problem with local networks. They want to churn out tv series or films fast with really awful scripts in a ridiculous budget. Even if the budget is bigger, you can be guaranteed it only fits certain types of genres (IYKYK).
For Malaysian films, the gems are in indie films.
this guy deadass asks our tourism board to update their website in the one video he makes about them 🤣💯🔥 thanks man
The last movie you reccomend 《Rise: inikalilah》 doesn't age well in terms of the political narrative yikes 😬. But in terms of the humanity perspective I can personally relate coming from a Malaysian point of view.
Wei Shen, your game needs a sequel.
@@AccentedCinema I also hope for a sequel comeback as well, since there's recent news of Square Enix selling their gaming IP to other company. (Which sleeping dogs published by square)
''Man who never eats pork bun is never a real man''
May I ask why it didn't age well? As a fellow South East asian, my country just had a historic national election this May 9 that almost mirrors the movie Rise (and so I felt even envious of the results about, still feeling remnants of strong emotions) except it went the other way and we seated a corrupt son of a fascist dictator instead
@@diegoalcantaras5580 there's many factors in regards of the politics in our country that is going to be very difficult to explain. To basically summarised, corruption is still a massive problem regardless of which party you vote. Najib the most controversial prime minister in Malaysia still able to manages to get out for free without having any consequences even with the charges file against him. Racial policies still haven't been solved, power struggle among higher class people example politicians, rich corrupt business people that call themselves vip or datuk (a term we use in Malaysia for elites) is still a thing in Malaysia. Education still lacking, poverty issues is also a problem within our country especially the indigenous people in both West and East Malaysia which affected the most. the gap of livelihood between the rich and the poor is huge. We also got problems in regards of the land and housing issue where massive building industry from the elites taking over lots of massive space to build massive condo that even people from the middle class can't even afford housing due to insurgency of prices rising, even the food and oil price is rising as well.
Jagat is underated, even amongst my community. I watched the movie feeling appreciation for my grandparents who overcame a system that still discriminates against us. While it hasn't changed much, my generation has the privilege to reflect on the past while being change makers for the times ahead of us. Man I feel proud to be Malaysian
Ngl the story really hits home for me because I have listened someone like appoy but not to extreme about his life .
Jagat definitely does well to mirror the frustrations and fears that Malaysian Indians have here. In light of everything that's been happening to an ethnicity like mine, with all the unfair imprisoning and lack of treatment as well as the recent execution of Nagaenthran in Singapore, I feel very scared to be in a place like this. I still have my mind set on leaving elsewhere permanently, because why must I stay in a place where I'm treated as second rate, despite being told we're all the same? I've had my fair share of racism being hurled at me disguised as "jokes" - you can only be apathetic to it for so long before it really starts affecting your psyche.
I'm Malay and yeah, it's sick how people treat the Indians in Malaysia. It's 2022 and our country is still backwards... Even though I didn't get treat like a garbage (because I'm the majority of the population), I still feel like I want to leave this country and go find a better place somewhere else.
@@frog6054 holy Sh*t..did you listened to your self when u said this? how bad actually the indians are being treated in Malaysia? they cannot be doctor? they cannot be MPs, they cannot be artist? they cannot own business? they cannot be federal ministers..do you know how that the Malaysian indian are coming from which caste? do u know that, if they are still in India (their motherland), they cannot even go to school because of their caste? what a bulls*it..Malaysian, especially the Malay majority never see indians based on their caste..so what sort of racism ever done to the indians in Malaysia?
as for me sabahan i don't really understand the movie but i guess because that not a problem in sabah
our problem is the illegal immigration from philippine also many muslim from philippines come here granted citizenship easily than the non muslim philippines while most them are the sulu ethnic or the abbu sayyaf people they are scary like how they can be traitor to our country whenever they want to and go back to their country to hide the sultan sulu will protect them.
like how it happen back then in 2013
i also feel like i want to leave this country
@@sorafromgenshin I think you’re xenophobic babe
@@dorkiecookie lol
Thank you very much for covering Malaysian cinema. I worked on Jagat and the director has seen this video as well
Tq
Hey! Great to meet someone who's been involved in the film. I'm really intrigued by the fact there are no Malay characters (at least ones with active roles) It's interesting to look into the issues dividing people of the same ethnic community, that can persist even if we don't segregate ourselves
I love Malaysia, I worked there for two years, producing and hosting a show with new media digital network. I was there in 2018 and it really was moving to see how so many people came together over the issues of governance. And I have seen many movies there, some really good choices! While I consider Thailand my home, Mayalsia feels like my home away from home.
My family used to watch those Chinese New Year films in cinema every year, it was like a little tradition for us. They were good until they became a cringe and uncreative annual cash grab. I have not watched any Malaysian movie in a long time, but I am glad there are people that watch and appreciate the movies from my country. Maybe I should catch up with the films again! Great video as always! 🇲🇾🇲🇾
First off, so grateful for your mention of our country's cinema!!🇲🇾🇲🇾 I have a Malaysian film to recommend: Astro Awani's THE GARDEN OF THE EVENING MISTS （夕雾花园）it is a novel adaptation that talks about the post-Japanese-colonisation Malaysia. It might be a bit distant from us right now, but the film was so beautifully made I just had to tell people about it. It focuses more on the Chinese community although it gives accurate representation of all races at Malaysia at that time. Really hope you guys will give it a try!!
I watched it in the cinema and yeah, I really loved it. ++
The book is way better. Written by Mr Tan
agreed, The Garden of the Evening Mists is well presented 👏🏻
Oh I didn't know they made a film adaptation! I loved the book, I will seek out the film to watch.
Im an Indonesian, few years ago i stayed at Kuala Lumpur (13th Malaysian Scout Jamboree), Malaysia and Indonesia is known for it's conflict/rivalry, from politics to cultures, but Malaysia still get a special place in my heart for the experiences i got when i was there. Got lost at train station, an indian-malaysian taxi driver stopped and helped my group to get to Menara Kembar, will never forget that moment. If there's a chance, i wanted to go there again, there still so much to uncover, see you next time Malaysia.
- Sending loves from Indonesia :)
As a Malaysian, I've never heard someone use "blagak" before, except "berlagak" but that's for show off
I'm not sure if blagak means dumb in Indonesian, but I think he meant "berlagak", which kinda means a "show-off".
Blagak shorterm for berlagak here..blagak isn't mean dumb..it mean showing off..the word dumb that we used to is bongok/bangang/bengong..
@@pawehbsam5872 I can help added the Malay words for dumb, if you don't mind
-bodoh
-sengal
-biol
-bahlol
-sial
And a lot more that I might've forgot or from other dialects lol
lmao the people correcting him for understanding berlagak that way. It's understandable, from the tone you know the other dude isn't being nice to OP.
Anyhow, I hope our two countries won't be known for our conflicts, maybe sports rivalries sure, but no violence, please. Celebrate our commonalities, not our differences, which these days are way too politicised and heated to the point of illogical insanity.
As an Accented Cinema fan, and Malaysian, was so pleasantly surprised to see you feature Malaysian films! For such modest country, didnt think we could even be on your radar! But thank you.
Hope you can make a standalone video to talk about one of our late Malaysian legend: Yasmin Ahmad, the lady speaking @ 0:20. Her story, commercials, and her films often touch on racism (which is a prevalent issue in Malaysia, or globally) have made significant impact to film industry. Check out Talent Time, Sepet, Tan Hong Ming in Love (ad) etc.
For older legends, check out the late P Ramlee. A genius in the 50s-60s, prolific singer-songwriter, pianist, director, actor, writer.
Can we appreciate the fact that JAGAT is getting some mentions, also thanks for watching and shedding light on that film @Accented Cinema! :)
Really lovely cinematography for a low budget Tamil film. The kid is brilliant as a young actor.
As a Malaysian, I'm excited to watch this video.
Same same!
as your neighbour me too
Tq , Accented Cinema , I watched Jagat 2x times on tv (like Tv3 this deepavali & TV2 as known Public Funded Broadcaster in malaysian version of BBC) .
As a Singaporean, I always have much to be inspired by our Brethren across the causeway simply because they have been learning to adapt and overcome challenges after challenges. And this is definitely manifested through their films which SG pales in comparison despite its efforts to promote and highlight its local talents. I don’t know if MY has widespread campaigns to recognise their talents, but I feel that even with little, they can easily produce something remarkable just by the skills and talents of their individuals w/o any reliance or push factors from above.
After all, a number of SG creative talents have been MY born as well.
Great video!
I'm a (white) Canadian who was also there during the 2018 election. One thing that I found quite striking is that despite Malaysia being a very multicultural country, it is a very different type of multiculturalism than the one espoused in Canada. The cross ethnic friendships and romantic relationships depicted in Rise aren't non-existent, but they are relatively rare - there is enormous self-segregation amongst ethnic lines, and there's an element of that built into the constitution itself with various built in preferences for Malays. This is not actually controversial, and in fact prior to the 2018 election the governing coalition which had been ruling for almost 70 years was in part made up three different ethnic nationalist parties.
Anyways, even to talk about these things is considered slightly taboo in that it might risk "inflaming ethnic tensions."
Yeah.... I think in real life, Malaysian multiculturalism is more like a polite coexistence of races. There isn't much friendships between races, You don't really hate the other races or anything, it's just that you are more used to your own race. That's why some ethnic Chinese in Malaysia connect more to the Chinese speaking world such as Hong Kong, China and Taiwan. This is just my opinion, and some facts may be untrue because I'm just a secondary school student.
@@yokelengleng That tracks with my experience and research. There was also a thing over the past 20-30 years where a lot of money from Saudi Arabia in particular came in to fund more radical forms of Islamic education and to orient ethnic Malays away from Indonesians (with whom they have an almost identical language) and toward Arab languages and countries.
I had the most trouble understanding the Indian minority, as not is it the most marginalized but it's not even monolithic (lots of different languages and ethnicities within it).
yeah that's not really different from india. india has same situation as well polite coexistance with each other.
Come to East Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak), you will feel a very different atmosphere. It's a more different multi-culturalism than Peninsular, where Dayak and Kadazan Dusun is the majority of each state.
@@synnell88 This is my one major regret from living in Malaysia. We were in Johor, we were so close! My wife and I joke that almost everything on mainland Malaysia is terrible, and everything on the islands - we loved Tiomen and Penang - is great. Sabah and Sarawak being great would have further confirmed this theory.
Thanks so much for giving our little country a shoutout. It's not always you get to see good things about us on a global scale. If you're looking for more film recommendations, I suggest Roh if you're looking for gorgeous arthouse horror (or Soul, as it is called in English). Prebet Sapu (Hail, Driver) is a pretty slow-paced, melancholic drama about the harshness of living in Kuala Lumpur. I wish I knew more films in other languages, especially those from East Malaysia, so these are pretty much Semenanjung/West Malaysia biased recs.
Or if you'd like black and white classics, anything by one of our greatest performers, P. Ramlee, is a good start.
Both of the movies u recommended seem interesting to me, thanks. it would be my first foray into Malaysian cinema
@@diegoalcantaras5580 Happy to help. We don't get a lot of options on TVs or at the movies either, so you may try your luck with Netflix or Mubi.
Roh definitely impressed me. Great score and sound effects.
@@diegoalcantaras5580 "Fly By Night" is a crime/heist film set in Kuala Lumpur with English, Malay, and Mandarin dialogues. "Puteri Gunung Ledang" is about the legend of a local princess. These two films are currently on Netflix Malaysia. "Guang" is a Mandarin film of a savant and his brother, available to stream on Disney Hotstar and Apple TV. "Sepet" is a lovely film about interracial love in Mandarin and Malay dialogues. I'm not sure where you can find this, but there are some news articles pointing to the CZcams video of the full length film.
All very different films, but with great stories and varying production values.
As a Malaysian video essayist, I cannot say how grateful I am that you're covering Malaysian films and providing an outside in perspective. There's some great hidden gems here and Sepet, Jagat and Guang are fantastic films in their own right. If anyone watching is interested, I'd add a couple of recommendations, including One Two Jaga, Prebet Sapu which was our submission to the Oscars, as well as the films of Edmund Yeo if you're into something a bit more reflective and challenging.
i wholeheartedly recommend Guang. It's beautiful, with incredibly talented actors
@@vjgxxzg hear hear! of all the Malaysian films, I have to say Guang is the one film I can safely recommend to ANYONE!
Wow, I’ve been following this channel for the longest time and had no idea there was such a huge Malaysian fan base! Uh, APA KHABAR guys 😂
Same lol. Khabar baik!
as a malaysian, appreciate Accented Cinema for creating such wonderful insight on our cinema and culture
This feels... surreal. Never would I have thought that I'd see anyone dive into my home country's cinema, let alone this channel. Awesome.
As a Malaysian and a fan of this channel, sincere my thanks to you for featuring our flawed yet beautiful nation of Malaysia. Funny enough, I haven't watch any of the three films picked here and the criticism on the third movie is mostly from hearsay from other critics I trust. Still, we have tons of good movies that I hope you can touch again in future installments. Like P Ramlee films, Yasmin Ahmad and so on.
To those curious enough to watch any Mysian films, u may skip Rise ini kalilah and watch the other two or most of the suggested in the comments.
I really lol at the jab on our Tourism Malaysia website haha.
Southeast Asia is really diverse. Westerners don't know but within each SEA country there are so many races and cultures. And you get a rich diverse hodge podge of culture. Its beautiful!
the malaysian film industry never disappoints when it comes to churning out garbage movies; it makes me sick, honestly. but i can't help but fall in love with malaysia all over again whenever i watch the very few and rare gems we have here. this is mostly why yasmin ahmad means so much to me, and this channel just giving a quick and simple shout out to our film industry makes me hope more people would check out her movies. thanks very much for this video.
5:20 Ok, about that....this is one problem with Malaysian websites especially from the government. They were commissioned by higher ups who have a boomer mentality. Thus most of the websites look bland.
We honestly need a Squarespace deal all of our own - most of our sites feel like we are stuck in 90s time warp complete with dialup speeds and functionality
Fr I remember when I tried to apply for matriculation. The application design was so poor, it made me scroll down through the cities in Malaysia just to find mine. It doesn't even let you search them by first letter..
that's a more positive take on that issue honestly. I'm more inclined to believe that it is more related to corruption. I'm not saying the actual website developer is corrupted, but I'm not surprised if they are paid much less than what's been budgeted for the project (due to subcontracting practice).
@@bruhhhh--- late reply ^^; Yeah, same experience with me when I wanted to apply to matriculation.
@@bruhhhh--- You guys have it rough, honestly I don't know why don't they just put the choice to apply for matriculation in the UPU website just like in our time.
I remember in college I had a friend at my dorm from Malaysia and once I referred to her as Malay, thinking that was the term for the nationality, and she gave me a very helpful lesson about the different ethnicities and historical context of it.
in malaysia majority people who watch malay movie is malay, majority people watch chinese malaysia movie is chinese malaysia, majority people watch india malaysia movie is indian malaysia. we rarely have movie that depicted all social life of this 3 majority race. the only movie that unite us all is hollywood. movie.
"Mukhsin" by Yasmin Ahmad (2006) was a pretty good one. I'm Malaysian, but lived abroad for most of my younger years and it was the first Malay movie I watched and loved. It made me miss Malaysia a lot, watching it.
This is a great list and showcase of Malaysian cinema, particularly the choices of showing the rural poor of the forgotten class of Indians (not to mention indigenous people all across peninsular/west Malaysia) as well as the urbanites who grew up often oblivious to some of the most pressing issues in Malaysian societies.
Unlike most South-East Asian countries, we are incredibly diverse, with West Malaysia alone with close to 60 ethnic groups. Despite being a Federalized country, most Malaysians' knowledge of our country's rich history is often neglected, primarily due to the Malay/Islamic domination of the government from Peninsular Malaysia. One example is the "bumiputera" (prince of the land) first policy in the form of the New Economic Policy arising from the May 13th 1969 racial riots has effectively allowed bumiputera to be prioritised in Malaysia in many areas of civil service and economic sectors. This coupled with the institutionalisation of the Islamic faith as well as becoming a divisive tool for politicians, our country's ideals have strayed far away from what was initially imagined.
Many undemocratic incidents happened during the domination of peninsular Malay politics especially in West Malaysia such as in Sabah "Project IC" where it was used to alter the demographic patterns and with regards to changing the electoral voting patterns.
The founding of the country Malaysia is a precarious one, our people have literally nothing much in common except the rule by the British Empire. The country Indonesia and the Philippines early on had even strongly opposed the country's formation. However, despite so our founding fathers went ahead with the ideals that we can forge a new identity not based on ethnicity or religion, but under a new nation.
There are a lot of issues in Malaysia we never address or perhaps never will, all repress under the pretence of preserving peace between different ethnic groups which resulted in some of the most negative impacts of socioeconomic policies being implemented. However with the historic election in 2018, we have hopes this will start a new chapter in Malaysia and as a society renew our understanding of this nation, despite the current continuance of turbulence in politics - the people here continue to yearn for change for better.
Thank you Accented Cinema, for showing this relatively small nation in south-east Asia and its beauty through the cinemas - I continue to believe we need more Malaysian movies to not just show the beauty of Malaysia, but the difficult questions within our society that have gone unanswered for too long.
Some additional movies from Malaysia if any of you are interested.
- Nasi lemak 1.0 and its sequel Dir: Namewee
- Talent Time. Dir: Yasmin Ahmad (Same dir for Sepet and it's sequel Gubra)
- BABI. Dir: Namewee
- Ice Kacang Puppy Love. Dir: Ah Niu
- Ola Bola. Dir: Chiu Keng Guan
- Puteri Gunung Ledang. Dir: Saw Teong Hin
- Prebet Sapu. Dir: Muzzamer Rahman
- KL Gangster. Dir: Syamsul Yusof
- Adiwiraku. Dir: Eric Ong
Just a few clarifications:
"Unlike most South-East Asian countries, we are incredibly diverse, with West Malaysia alone with close to 60 ethnic groups." Correction: EVERY Southeast Asian country is incredibly diverse. Even in Thailand with a presumably homogenous image, the people of Chiang Mai are very different from Bangkok.
"...effectively allowed bumiputera to be prioritised in Malaysia in many areas of civil service and economic sectors." Not all bumiputera, though. Mostly the well-connected, if you know what I mean. It is widely reported that the establishment distributes handouts to the masses to retain their support but (fortunately) not everyone is convinced.
Tbh , the most things really ticks me off is how people keep rambling that bumi are privileged even though the biggest problem are our networking culture is toxic and corruption growing like cancer .
Btw yasmenn Ahmad is kino
Sees Sepet, instant like. But also, there's old P Ramlee films (tho English subtitles are hard to come by for those). P Ramlee is the nation's beloved film maker of the 1950s-60s.
Thank you for shedding some light about my country's cinema. If you want a film that unites all Malaysians, it will probably be the film called Ola Bola.
Ola Bola made me feel so patriotic, loved that film
Fr I think this is the most popular Malaysian film
Ola Bola has some problems too. Like a goal scored by a Sabahan of Hakka descent instead being portrayed in the movie as being scored by an unknown Malayan Malay player.
i really enjoy and appreciate the fact when you talk about asia and or asian media you include all of asia, southern parts too. makes me feel like i actually exist as a bengali
Yeah... Usually Asian just means Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese and Korean to foreigners
Instant click! This definitely caught my attention as a Malaysian. I don’t watch a lot of local films but I have a huge fondness for the ones that I have watched. There’s just something about local cinematography being so unabashedly heartwarming, real, and raw.
Thank you for showcasing Malaysian movies! I always felt ours are overshadowed by their Singaporean/Thai counterparts in the world stage, so it's really nice to see someone appreciating them.
patron supporter here ... thank you for featuring my home country, my "tanahair" (literally "land and water"; colloquial term for referring to our homeland) ... keep the content coming
Seeing the sets from the kid from the big apple makes me so nostalgic, from the milo tins to the kopitiams to the bicycle rides with friends... it all feels like home.
Whenever I feel hopeless or disappointed, I think of how Yasmin Ahmad envisioned this country and its people. She really saw the best in us.
Prebet Sapu is one of my fav as well.. Living in KL/Selangor all my live, I never really thought about the people who come to this city from other states and how they survived in this metropolis.
I have several friends who are so called “perantau” or migrators who came to KL for a job but most of them have degree or diploma thus they never really had any problem finding a “good” job. Prebet Sapu or Hail, driver really depicted the reality of working in KL
So glad I came across this video. First off I must say im VERY impressed at how much you know about Malaysia - it was pretty much spot on and as you mentioned, not many foreigners know about our local culture. I’m even more impressed that you are aware of the local movie scene. Makes me feel kinda bad as a Malaysian as Ive barely watched any local films, due to the film industry having a stereotype of producing mostly bad films/national film committee banning any films with more provocative subject matter. Im definitely gonna support the local scene more after this, maybe there is hope after all… thanks for making this video!
Dude. You want commercially successful local made. Catch Pulau in Singapore cinemas. Not sure if is still playing but i can assure you this has naked sex scenes in Singapore cut but Malaysia cut does not and its chopped down just 90 mins. Original international cut is 120 mins. This is the ultimate local we should benchmark next. Hahahaha.
Oh wow I had to do a double-take when I saw Malaysia in the title. Thanks for highlighting our culture and film industry!
I'm Malaysian and minored in film in college abroad. To see Accented Cinema cover Malaysian cinema makes me really proud :') Our local films are always a hit and miss sometimes, but they all have their own charm.
This is so cool! I'm a Malaysian and I absolutely love your videos, and you tackling this topic is just so so awesome to see.
This is eye-opening. Would love to see more videos dedicated to each country's cinema.
Thanks for shinning Malaysian cinemas! If this came out earlier, it would helped out my bachelor's assignment in film studies two years ago! Overall thanks again for analysing Malaysian cinemas!
I can also introduced other Malaysian films like Fly by Night, Prebet Sapu, One Two Jaga!
I had no idea Indian Malaysians were even a demographic. What an interesting insight into a country I sadly know little about.
Because you’re not Malaysian
I would recommend Namewee's movies, his movies are the most controversial and thought provoking, always ends up with troubles in its premieres in Malaysia
Sadly his movies are pretty bad haha.. the production, effort and history behind his movies I find more interesting, considering all the hurdles and difficulties he faces
@@TheMasterofComment mind you he is not a corporation with millions of disposable money and the government is usually targetting him, his movies aren't made to be the best but an average lighthearted comedy that relates to Malaysian society
@@ApostleOfDarkness I know
Namewee? Please lah. Controversial, yes. Thought provoking?? For 5 year olds maybe. Look I watched his films, not bad for the lols, but calling them "thought provoking" is really a stretch.
namawee ? the 3rd rate 'influencer' that promote online gambling and think he's progressive by simply berating the country without thoughts and always jump on whatever bandwagon that's hot ?
he is naught but a clown, sorry not sorry.
Oh my goodness. I never thought I'd see the day Malaysian Cinematography would be the discussed here. I wonder if Ola Bola was one of the films that didn't make it into the cut, but I'm really happy to see 3 films I recognised mentioned in the video (Sepet, The Journey, and The Girl From The Big Apple).
Although I feel like the brief description of The Journey is only scratching the surface of what that movie is exploring, given there's also the interactions between the old man and his estranged daughter (before she started reconciling with him), as well as a certain subplot in the film involving a homemade-hot air balloon
If you wanna discuss about diversity in Malaysia's movies, those 3 aren't good choice to begin with.
I'll recommend "sepet"(by Yasmin Ahmad) , "ola bola" (by Chiu Keng Guan) or even "babi" (by Namewee).
"Kids from the big Apple" is not bad but to portray the conflict between 2 cultures/languages within Malaysia, personally I'll prefer "The journey" (by Chiu Keng Guan) .
ola bola is so good, that film really portray how united we can be as Malaysian, plus the quality and cinematography of the movie is top tier
Lol the 1MDB scandal. I could never look at Leonardo DiCaprio the same again.
I am sooooo shocked and excited that you covered Malaysia! I feel like our country is often overlooked by the glamorous Singapore or larger and older Indonesia when our area of the world is brought up anywhere. Feels so awesome to be seen!!!
!!! So shook to see this in my notifications! Never expected you to cover Malaysian cinemaaaa ahhhhh
Your comment and understanding on Malaysian kids in school is very accurate and impressive.
YESSS!!!!! MY DREAM CAME TRUE!!!!!! MY FAVORITE CZcamsR FINALLY MADE A VIDEO ABOUT MY COUNTRY'S FILMS
am happy :)
I love to know more about other cultures from your channel! I think you bring an excellent perspective to the scene, always retaining to critical thinking and materialistic approaches. Cheers from a long time fan!!!
Wow! Really did not expect Malaysian cinema to be featured on your channel. Awesome and unexpected pick!
"You don't need to be the same to be friends," this is it. As an Indonesian, I can't say there's one single thing that binds all of us together, other than the innate human desires such as a need for love, belonging, control, to just live our lives, and to vent our anger. No grand ideas really bound us all, but ultimately, most of us just... get on with our lives, and sometimes make friends across cultural boundaries. Sure, there are separatists and people who wish they're a separate country, but a lot of us just wants to get on with our lives and when a lot of people together live their lives, most learn to bare minimum of tolerating each others and sometimes become friends. It's as simple as that.
Another awesome presentation from Accented Cinema that explores a rarely-presented topic for international viewers. Bravo!
Not gonna lie, as a malaysian, especially as a sabahan, i really dont really like malaysian films because almost all of them are what you'd expect, studios that get a suspiciously high amount of funding, yet theyre really low effort movies with shitty camerawork, really bad stories that makes absolutely no sense or manipulated to please a certain race/culture and "A grade" malaysian actors that cannot act for shit. In other words, the dramas you see at 8pm in TV3.
But glad to see you've managed to shine some light on some of the hiden gems that i never known about, it gives me a little hope in the future of art thats being currenly being severely underappreciated in malaysia.
Speaking of which, i suggest watching "Back to you", its a telemovie that aired on TV8, idk how to explain it but its about a chinese girl was kicked out by her father since birth and was adpoted by malay parents. She grew up, struggling of course, but managing to get through it before getting a call from her long lost brother than wants to reunite his family with her. Its a cheesy film but it at least sends that message right.
yes this. The high budget yet braindead writting definitely soured my appetite for the local film industry. But that Jagat movie looks decent with interesting cinematography.
and the good ones, like some showcased here, are hardly promoted unless it became viral via word of mouth...
I still yet haven't watched the "Back To You" telemovie, but so intrigued to watch it due to the topic it talks about
@@SiPakRubah Ngl, the movie is average. The story is interesting but the way its executed and shown is somewhat bad, like what you'd expect from a malay drama.
But i would still recommend it since its the first and only movie ive watched that was made in 2020s that isnt too bad.
Those TV3 drama makes me depressed of how shitty they are but my mom love them lol.
I love these types of videos that talk about things that aren't really shown light on, learned a lot today, will definitely search up these movies ^^
I had the pleasure of traveling to Kuala Lumpur in 2019 and it was easily the most diverse place I've ever been to, a world city.
So happy to see a video essay on Malaysian cinema! And absolutely appreciate and love the fact you pointed out the multi-cultural and ethnic composition of the country, in fact there are many more groups which are under-represented in Malaysian cinema (Iban, Kadazan, Dusun, etc). Hope these films would be good gateway into more Malaysian films (our picks: Year without a Summer by Tan Chui Mui, Sell Out by Yeo Joon Han, Mukhsin by Yasmin Ahmad)
Also noted on the burn on the tourism website :P
I have been a subscriber of your channel for a while and I never expect you to do a video on Malaysian cinema! Thank you for featuring the works of our humble country and I'm glad you find joy and entertainment out of them. You did your homework well, I didn't pick up anything that you said that is inaccurate at all. I love you that featured films that even Malaysians don't all look for.
I think it is pretty spot-on that a lot of Malaysian cinema attempts and tries very hard to reinforce the idea that our culture is beautiful even with the scars of racial discrimination and politicisation. It was a warm bed for grassroots topics, and if you're going to talk about grassroots topics, race will almost always be the top#1 theme to explore. Sepet is the most classic one by our proud Yasmin Ahmad. Without her trailblazing we would never have these other stories to be told.
Again thank you so much for your feature on Malaysian cinema.
I can't express how grateful and happy I am watching this video. I was born and raised from Malaysia and I appreciate this video so much. Not just you have covered the Malaysian movies, you also mentioned the issue that nobody wants to openly discuss. Thank you, Yang Zhang. 谢谢你。
its a surprise to see you make a video about films in my home country.
Malaysian here, really like this video haha, would love to see you have a video essays on other countries
Good job on the research...Love this video essay. It touch close to heart.❤
A real surprise Malaysian cinema would make a foothold in your channel, thanks for highlighting it!
Our film industry, while has much potential, is still young and often limited by govt censorship and lack of local support. I would definitely suggest Guang, The Journey and Sepet for those who are interested.
great analysis!!! as usual!! aaaaa i'm waiting for indo cinemas
never would have thought accented cinema will cover this topic about my home country. thank you. nice insight!
Thanks for the Malaysian film review. Well curated and accented.
much respect for you man. you appreciate the cinematics of my country more than I could ever be. they mostly made the good stuff back in the 90s 00s .the spirit of multiculturism is still strong that time even without government "enforcement". I've got disillusioned by the showbusiness of my country as the market is saturated with cheap soap operas with the same storyline (poor girl fell in love with a rich dude who will take over his family business and their relationship is opposed by scumbag mother or smth) and our artist only ride on cheap publicity to their fame and talentless hacks whom only selected for their looks(and socmeds reputation like wth). also don't get me start on the trend of rich "entrepreneur" who got too much money too spend and joining the showbiz despite not having any talents because they thought throwing more money into their production somewhat makes them a good artist.
greetings from Malaysiaaaa
im waiting for this.. Good job bro!
I love you made more videos about southeast asian cinemas! Watching this make me realized that we also have the similiar problem about diverse society here in Indonesia
Love your videos from Malaysia :D
Keep up the good work
Wow just yesterday for the first time I saw your sholay review and now this,
Bloody amazing
Thank you very much for taking the time to unpack and bring to light the nuance of culture and diversity in our film industry. I think there is such a range of emotions for Malaysians in hoping to overcome our adversities as a country
Other films I wholeheartedly recommend that were not mentioned in the film and comment section yet:
Talentime
天天好天 (Great Day)
初恋红豆冰 (Ice Kacang Puppy Love)
Awesome video as always my guy 😎
Thank you for featuring my country's film industry. Also, the setting for The girl from the big apple is not rural Malaysia. They are filming it at a condo block that's similar to HBD flats in Singapore.
Yang, you always manage to shine such an excellent spotlight on interesting films, as much as the places they come from. I almost feel like the cultural context is more interesting than the dilm analysis sometimes
yay so glad to see a video from you finally about my home country
Thanks for reviewing Malaysia. Now I must binge watch all of these movies.
finally... movies from my home. 😍thank you for showcasing them...
glad to see Ti Lung still doing great things with his acting! gotta check that movie out
Yet another great video. I've been wondering whether you have considered looking into documentaries as well?
Off the top of my head I remember watching both the A-series from Mori Tatsuya and the semi-official film covering the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo. Extremely different films in every way, of course, but each very interesting on their own. They also make for great insights into the "genre" and it's various film making challenges - for lack of better words. At least for a casual observer and cinematic layman like myself.
I can only guess at the many other interesting movies that must be out there, that I just don't know about yet.
Thanks for the video essey. Loved it. Simple and concise
ok, after Thailand and Malaysia, now i'm waiting for you to create a contect about Indonesian movies
Words cannot describe how excited I was as a Malaysian when I saw you uploaded this video. Though it feels weird that there wasn't a Malay film featured in this video other than Sepet which I personally wouldn't consider it as one. I also wished you would feature P. Ramlee and/or Namewee, one being Malaysia's legendary film creator and the other being one of Malaysia's most rebellious film creator who had been voicing out for 15 years through his music and film. But overall, I'm more than happy that we got a spotlight, even if it'll be just once.
Unfortunately, the films I can choose is limited by availability. Malay film is just very difficult to find. It's something I'll have to spend more time to work on in the future.
@@AccentedCinema try mubi, I believe you can get a lot of Malaysian movies there (VPN maybe). Don't worry on difficult to find too, even Malaysian sometimes has difficulties to find a good Malaysian movie.
I absolutely am glad you decided to cover this topic and I think most of my thoughts have already been said by other commenters, so I hope you don't mind that I hijack the comment section to look for local movie recommendations that involve an indigenous cast (Orang Asli or Dayak, doesn't matter) :D
Nice jab at the tourism website, by the way; I find that M'sian government websites in general aren't really that helpful most of the time LOL
Thanks for this beautiful piece from a fellow Malaysian!
This might be one of my favourite videos from your channel Malaysian movies aren't very talked about and I find this video opened up my mind I known about movies like Sepet great video
As a half Chinese Malaysian the description of the girl from the big apple hit home definitely adding that to my watch list.
I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me lol. Glad to see my country on your channel. 🇲🇾🇲🇾🇲🇾
As a Malaysian, it's heartwarming to watch this video of you breaking down about Malaysia even if it's from the movies, thanks for making this video essay.
I really enjoy when you do these videos about film in SE Asian countries. I know basically nothing about SEA countries and love learning more about their cultures! The video on Indian film was also really cool and interesting!