Malaysian Films Research Articles

Representation of Disabilities in Malaysian Films: Stereotypes, Identities & The Others

Representation of Disabilities in Malaysian Films: Stereotypes, Identities & The Others

Transforming Islamic entertainment and values in Malaysian films

Building a society with high moral and values is imperative in Islamic teachings. As media technologies have changed the ways of human communication and offered new platforms for media content, it provides many opportunities to produce Islamic entertainment programmes that suit with the nature of various medium. Producing Islamic media content could play a unifying role for representing Muslims’ diverse cultures as well as avoiding a negative picture of Islam. Ideally, Muslim culture is derived from the cultural and communication heritage. Islamic entertainment and values are rich in terms of virtues and can be transformed into various genres of media products including films. This article will examine the debate of the Islamic entertainment particularly by examining al-Ghazali’s views ofal-sama’ (‘entertainment’) and subsequently contextualizing it to the Malaysian Islamic ambiences. Using narrative analysis, two popular melodramas (films) will be examined to manifest the process of transforming Islamic values into entertainment programmes. It is argued that the representation of values is considered essential in Islamic communication perspective. It encompasses social, religious and cultural foundations. Muslims must actively participate in producing media content so that it will strengthen both the form and content for communicating Islamic values across the world. Unity, brotherhood, equality, love and tolerance are part of the key formulas to ensure a better process of disseminating good connotations of Islam via media.

Familiarity and Overcoming of Uncanny Valley towards Computer-Generated Imagery Characters in Malaysian Film

Recently, the idea of the uncanny valley has drawn interest in robotics and other scientific circles and popular culture. Several scholars have discussed its implications and reactions towards human-like robots. However, only several previous studies examined overcoming the uncanny valley for realistic looking computer-generated actors in films and animation. This seeks to examine the familiarity of participants with the use of digital characters as actors. This paper explains how computer-generated imagery (CGI) was used to create actors in Malaysian films, the uncanny valley characteristics that may affect the audience’s attention. The researcher has chosen visual stimuli consisting of 1 genuine human character and 1 less humanlike subject. A self-administered survey (n = 127) with sample film footage and photos were delivered online via email and social networks to responders. Surprisingly, based on the data, the human resemblance of the humanlike characters was substantially higher than expected. This research concluded that the artificial CGI characters had higher perceived eeriness if the character was highly familiar to the audience. As a result, the digital actor’s replacement an impression of eeriness and disbelief, which confirms the uncanny valley theory.

Can We Not Just Talk About Men? The Bechdel Test, Narrative Salience and Female Voices in Two Selected Malay Films

Western feminist film scholars’ claim that female characters are often defined in relation to their male counterparts resonates well in contemporary film and gender studies. This claim highlights the representational biases towards male privilege and primacy as visible signifiers; the ramification of this biasness is the invisibility of female subjectivity that renders them voiceless. Therefore, inquiries into female subjectivity in films outside of Hollywood context are crucial. This paper aims at identifying and comparing the representation of female characters in two Malaysian films of two genres - romance and horror - to highlight the consonance between female voice with feminine consciousness and empowerment. This study administers the Bechdel Test on two films selected using criterion sampling - 3 Temujanji and Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam - and suggests a novel approach by adding the analysis of the film using the concept of narrative salience. The analyses using both methods revealed contradictory results. 3 Temujanji, although failed most of the test, is revealed through narrative salience as assiduous towards feminine consciousness and empowerment. Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam, which passed the test, ironically and ideologically contained female voices within the patriarchal value system. The finding contributes towards the theorisation that women's voices in Malaysian films can be considered as an integral part of the acoustic register of films that enhances film analysis technique. Scriptwriters and filmmakers can utilise the test as a reference in which women can define themselves 'not in relation to men', while creating female characters who progressively think beyond patriarchy and androcentrism. Keywords: Women empowerment, Malay films, acoustic register, narrative salience, Hollywood.

EXPLORING FILM ARCHIVING IN MALAYSIA OR PRESERVATION AND CONSERVATION OF VISUAL HISTORY

The Malaysian film industry has entered the digital industry when all production and national broadcasting companies shifted to digital equipment and facilities. This raises the issue on how to preserve local films from here on out regardless of the video recording method. While there are some government institutions tasked with digitising and preserving films (negatives) in Malaysia, little is known about the procedure, protocol, and priority of this development. Through in-depth interviews with key personnel from National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (FINAS) and Arkib Negara, the study investigates the fate of Malaysian films especially the ones produced using film format. Finding indicates that while there are intensive work conducted by both repository institutions to digitise archived films, priorities are given to film documentaries and government-related news coverage thus setting aside the jewels of Malaysian historical and classical feature films towards uncertain future.

Filmic Depiction of Malay Subjectivity in the Late Yasmin Ahmad’s Films

Besides P. Ramlee, Yasmin Ahmad’s name is synonymous with Malaysian cinema. The award-winning Malaysian filmmaker’s death impacted not only the Malaysian film industry but also those who admired her work. The late legendary filmmaker was a liberal Islamic Malaysian who explored Islam and humanity through interracial love stories. These filmic stories resonated with the ordinary Malaysians as they were compelling and courageous, often challenging the norms and conventions of other Malaysian films by daringly dramatizing and visualizing societal taboos and hypocrisies on the cinematic screen. The employment and integration of cosmopolitan themes of love, humanism, and humor in her films sets her apart from other local filmmakers. Yasmin’s films had attracted international attention and garnered awards at film festivals in Europe, North America, and Asia. This paper attempts to analyze her cinematic approaches of the construction of Malay subjectivity in all of her six films. For example, interracial relationships in Muallaf and Talentime is the dominant leitmotif of each, which connects the films with parallel events occurring in real-life Malaysia. The author interviewed production crew members who worked closely with Yasmin for her six films and tried to have a better understanding of the narrative motifs and themes in her films. These interviewees provided a comprehensive picture which drives her films, even now, to move beyond being focused on multiculturalism and to more socially, culturally and politically issues related to Malaysians.

Debating ‘Chineseness’ and ‘national identity’ in the Sinophone Malaysian films The Journey (2014) and Ola Bola (2016)

Adopting the theoretical framework employed in Sinophone studies, this article focuses on Sinophone Malaysian filmmaker Chiu Keng Guan, whose films mark the revival of commercial Sinitic language filmmaking in Malaysia. Through textual analysis of Chiu’s two filmsThe Journey(2014) andOla Bola(2016), this article examines how the narratives and languages used in these Sinophone Malaysian films portray the place-based culture and experience of the Sinophone communities and other ethnic groups in Malaysia. It also looks at how ‘Chineseness’ is employed by Chiu as a strategy to construct a collective identity and memory for Sinophone community members in order to connect them with their cultural roots as well as generate interest in the film, as demonstrated in the filmThe Journey. The example of the movieOla Bolais used to assess how the filmmaker Chiu, who is Malaysian Chinese, questions the idea of ‘national identity’ by twisting the film plot, which was itself inspired by a real event.

Gender Representation of 20 years Malaysian Films based on Andy Kirk Dynamic Visualization Framework

The role of visualization in journalism evolved when dynamic visualization was introduced. Previously, data visualization in media were constrained with the static nature of the media itself. Nowadays, front-end technology advancement allows for dynamic visualization included in journalism or as a standalone itself. Dynamic visualization ables to provide a compelling story and also effective in summarizing large amounts of data into useful insights. Using Andy Kirk’s framework of creating effective visualization, this paper aims to provide insightful and dynamic visualization on the evolution of Malaysian films in terms of its gender representation, box office success, budget, and genre. About 809 movies produced from the year 2000 until 2020 were sampled and processed prior to being visualized. The visualization shows that while male centric movies have higher box office earnings, female centric movies perform better in relation to their budget, implying that female centric movies can potentially earn better in box office sales if given a higher budget. The paper demonstrates the design, exploration, and implementation processes for an effective dynamic visualization.

AGAMA DAN KERAGAMAN DALAM FILM INDONESIA DAN MALAYSIA

This article examines the respresentation of religion in two Indonesian and Malaysian films. This article argued that filmmakers have succeeded in trying to portray diversity and religion in the two films. Methodologically, this article compared between two films namely the Indonesian Film, Mencari Hilal (2015) and the Malaysian Film, Wayang (2008). To analyze the film, this article used the theory of Representation by Stuart Hall (1997). This article contend that two films almost showed the same context of polemics between conservative and modernist spectrum of Islam as a dominant religion in two country.

“Say Cheese”: Family Photos, Modern Malay Masculinity and Family Narrative in Some Malaysian Films

Family photographs are often used as a prop in a set-up of a family home in a film. Employing visual culture approach, I would argue that through the use of family portraits both in figurative and artefactual forms, the narrative about family is often unravelled, challenged and subsequently validated. A close textual analysis of three P. Ramlee’s films that mark the dawn of modernism in the immediate post-independence Malaya and the formation of Malaysia in 1963 as a case study, this paper asks the following questions: What types of narratives are created through the display of family portraits? How do these family portraits reflect the changing conceptions of the institution of the family especially pertaining to modern Malay masculinity? And, how do family photographs inform family narratives? The analysis finds that, on one hand, family portraits are used to narrate the exteriorization of masculinity in trouble by revealing its castration anxiety. On the other, they also point to “the hero journey archetype” that apotheosizes masculine dominance as proven by the films’ happy ending. The implication of this study lies in the way family photographs in films can be understood not merely as props, but in visual culture sense, as locating the source of the conflict of modern Malay masculinity in the family itself. Although family portraits in these films are meant to be innocuous to Malay masculinity in crisis, it is ideologically a folie de grandeur about the family and what it means for the nation in transition. Keywords: Family narratives, family photographs, malaysian films, visual culture, masculinity.

Islamic Moral Comedy? The Representation of Islam in Malaysian Comedy Films Syurga Cinta (Paradise of Love, 2009) and Ustaz, Mu Tunggu Aku Datang! (Ustaz, I’m Coming! 2013)

This article examines how Islam is being represented in Malaysian comedy films: Syurga Cinta/Paradise of Love (Ahmad Idham, 2009) and Ustaz, Mu Tunggu Aku Datang!/Ustaz, I’m Coming! (Pierre Andre, 2013). As one of a popular genre in film, comedy and its comical narratives has the ability to critique social, cultural and political conditions within the specific context of Malaysia. Using film narrative analysis, this study identifies that both films revolve around a similar plot of a male quest for haram (forbidden) obsessions, such as fortune or women, and a return to morality (i.e. humility and true love). As these comedies attempt to illuminate the intersection between religion and comical narrative, the way they feature the main characters are not simply as sinful or immoral. Rather, they are portrayed as misguided, but equally amusing in dealing with misfortune and wrongfulness. This article found that the central element of both films lies in its incongruity between the traditional Islamic principle and trajectories which against morality. Besides the call for morality, this article also argues that Malaysian comedy is also shaped in response to the Islamisation of the public sphere, thus, underlines the ‘re-imagine social life’ within the Malay (sian)-Muslim context.

Critical Determinants of Box Office Success for Malaysian Films Industry

The study seeks to identify the factors that contribute to the box office success of Malaysian films. Data on 316 films were collected from the National Film Development Corporation, Malaysia. Multiple regression and selected non-parametric tests were performed on the data. The findings suggest that the two factors that impact the box office success significantly are the number of days and the number of cinemas a film is screened. Further, closeness of a film's release date to a seasonal Malaysian holiday is considerably consistent at producing a positive correlation. The local film industry generates an average revenue of RM50 to RM80 million (US$1 = RM4.2) a year and employs tens of thousands of people throughout the country. Thus, with limited previous academic literature on the Malaysian film market, such a study to boost the financial resilience of this industry, though exploratory, would prove important for many.

Re-inscribing Budi in Contemporary 3D Malaysian Animation Characters in Geng; The Adventure Begins (2009) and BoBoiBoy: The Movie (2016)

The success of Malaysian 3D animation films, Geng; The Adventure Begins (2009) and BoBoiBoy: The Movie (2016) in attracting local reception is partly due to their portrayal of the diversity of Malaysian ethnicity, traditions and moral values which the local audience may find relatable. Although these films portray modernity, the values represented are based on the traditional Malay concept of Budi re-inscribed in the characters’ personalities. The concept of Budi in this paper employs the academic study of Lim Kim Hui (2003a) and it includes my attempt to argue that this traditional asset can be re-imagined in the contemporary digital form which can be analysed through the main characters’ personalities in the selected films. Personality is one of the key principles of animation introduced by Lasseter (1987) for the 3D animation format and with it, helps shape characters to be unique and recognizable as depicted in their behaviours, habits as well as interaction with other characters. In addition, I employ Smith’s “structure of sympathy” to explain the spectator’s engagement with the fictional personalities portrayed on screen. The concept of Budi re-inscribed in characters of contemporary 3D Malaysian animation films proves that traditional values are not lost in modern times. Animation films are mostly watched by younger audiences, therefore Budi as a traditional moral concept can be sustained and disseminated to the younger generation in digital form.

The representation of Malay-Muslim women’s identity in contemporary Malaysian cinema

This paper explores the identity of Malay-Muslim women based on the religious foundation of Islam, feminism and gender in contemporary Malaysian cinema. The number of films produced in the contemporary era between the year of 2000 to the present have portrayed Muslim women characters of fervent spirit and intelligence, possess good values, authoritative, mentally resilient, and independent. Socio-cultural and political changes in Malaysia have encouraged major improvement towards Malay-Muslim women as representational subjects in contemporary Malaysian films. The Malaysian film industry has witnessed an increasing number of films with Islamic content especially towards the end of 1990s. The trend has become popular among Malaysian producers and been well received by the local audience. This scenario indicates a significant relationship between Muslim women and the Islamic related-issue, making it a substantial subject to be examined not only in a social-political context, but also in the cinema studies context. This paper will critically explore the representation of Malay-Muslim women in contemporary Malaysian cinema. The discussion will also consider how their representation intertwined with the religion and customs aspects which subsequently influence a trend in the representation of Malay-Muslim women in contemporary Malaysian cinema.

The articulation of anti-China-centrism in Sinophone Malaysian films

ABSTRACTThis study examines how Sinophone Malaysian films have engaged with China-centrism to advocate for local identity. Following the Sinophone concept, it specifically discusses the efforts of emerging Chinese Malaysian filmmakers, and how they promote local Sinophone identity in their films. The Sinophone concept, proposed by Shih Shu-mei, highlights a very important ideological intention: anti-China-centrism. Thus, this study further investigates these filmmakers’ level of resistance to China-centrism in constructing their local identities. Based on analysis of a few films, such as South of South, Nasi Lemak 2.0, Petaling Street Warrior, Woohoo!, and Ice Kacang Puppy Love, a narrative was found, proclaiming a “from China to local” identity. These films have maintained a distance from Chinese nationalism, and revealed the creole language of Chinese Malaysians used to create their local identities.

Unravelling the Family-based Haunted House Film Patterns in Malaysian and American Haunted House Films

In this article, we attempt to unravel the family-based haunted house film patterns in both Malaysia and America. Certain types of tropes and attributes have been used by horror filmmakers over the years to define the family motif-pattern of haunted houses in the media. Some of these elements have undergone change over time but most of them still adhere to the rules that constitute the family-based haunted house film patterns based on two Malay films and two American films. These rules were compared and contrasted by applying a combination of two theories which were formulated by Propp and Bailey. Application of these formulas has resulted in the findings of twelve plot functions as examined in this article. Upon analysis of the corpus, it has also been found that there are 10 existing attributes of a haunted house. The findings suggest that the haunted house film pattern is not merely a motif but it is also able to exhibit a number of themes which are considered prominent in haunted house films such as the Manichean clash between good and evil. The convergence and divergence between the Malaysian and American horror flicks show that cultural and religious practices govern the ways in which good and evil are expressed. Keywords: family; patterns; structure; Haunted House; gothic; horror

Lexical Features of Malaysian English in a Local English-Language Movie, Ah Lok Café

English, like other languages, is subject to change and diversity. The myriad of ethnicities in Malaysia contribute to the unique characteristics of English spoken by Malaysians, known as Malaysian English (ME, henceforth). The unique features of ME can be seen in various levels of linguistic analysis such as phonology, lexis, syntax, and semantics. Previous research on ME mainly has included sources from classrooms, media advertisements cartoon strips, TV talk shows and internet chat-rooms. Not much research, however, has been done on Malaysian films. This apparent absence makes this area a fruitful avenue for study. Thus, this study attempts to look at locally produced English-language movies as another source of ME, with a particular focus on its lexical features, aiming to establish the extent to which the data contributes to the defining characteristics of ME. This study employs a qualitative approach in data analysis, based on the transcribed dialogues and lexical features of ME established in previous studies; comparison with standard British English (SBE) is also made accordingly. The comparison is not intended to prove that ME is a sub- or non-standard language, but rather to establish its uniqueness as a variety of English that warrants linguistic explanation. It is hoped that English-language films produced in Malaysia will continue to be a useful source in the study of ME as an established variety of English.

Pain and pleasures of the look: The female gaze in Malaysian horror film

Abstract Female ghosts and other supernatural entities, including the pontianak, in Malaysian horror cinema are excessive psychosocial articulations of traditional Malay femininity gone awry. In Malay ghost stories, the pontianak is a vengeful spirit. She is the ghostly reincarnation of a pregnant woman who dies before or during the birth of her child and who then seeks vengeance on the living for causing the gruesome death that kills her and her unborn child. Since biological reproduction is the primary determinant of a woman’s social value in traditional Malay societies, the double death is devastatingly cruel. The pontianak thus embodies the horror of abject femininity associated with thwarted womanhood. Another recurring theme in Malaysian horror cinema relates to women possessed by evil spirits. Typically portrayed as lacking in emotional restraint, and therefore given to hysterical behaviour, such women are thought to be particularly vulnerable. Malaysian horror cinema has been adept at depicting psychosocial horrors of feminine excesses as such that transgress otherwise restrictive social and customary expectations for Malay femininity. This article examines the horror of abject femininity in two contemporary Malaysian films by female film-makers: Shuhaimi Baba’s Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam/Pontianak of the Tuber Rose (2004) and Zarina Abdullah’s Chermin/Mirror (2007). Both films collectively provide a spine-chilling commentary on female–female relations and motherhood that puts to play the female gaze and the monstrous feminine. This article argues that the themes of failed motherhood, death and the abject are salvaged by strong mother–daughter relations and the female gaze, making the two films a women-oriented rejoinder to spirit possession and the misogynistic tale of the pontianak.

Visualizing the Invisible: Social Constructions of Straight Identified Men Who Have Sex With Transsexuals and Feminized Gay Men On/Off Malaysian Film

This article examines an “invisible” group of Malaysian men who—although straight identified and gender socialized to eroticize and have sexual relations with natural-born females—also secretly have sex with transsexuals and/or feminized gay men, incidentally or occasionally. Specifically, the article looks at how these otherwise heteronormative men are socially constructed in 2 forms of social texts, namely, Malaysian films and interview-derived narratives of transsexuals and feminized gay men. These social texts are parsed through Simon and Gagnon’s (1986) theory of sexual scripting to yield 4 constructions of the men under focus: the accidental, the repentant, the volitional, and the cloacal. The contention of this article is that the invisibility of these men is causally linked to the prevailing cultural scenarios in Malaysia that are heavily shaped by political Islamism and weighted in favor of the heteronormative male gender/sex. The article argues also that the invisibility of these men does not render them static and that their sexual practices and the meanings they attach to them have been evolving radically since the mid-1990s, even as the cultural scenarios in Malaysia are becoming increasingly intolerant of nonheteronormative genders and sexualities.

MALAYSIAN FILM INDUSTRY IN TRANSFORMATION: CHALLENGES AND POTENTIAL

The aim of this paper is to discuss the challenges and potentials of the Malaysian film industry from the perspective of the industry players such as filmmakers and producers. Malaysian film industry is a relatively small industry that caters to the need of a population of only about 27.5 millions. In the context of globalization, this small local market presents a challenge for the government in promoting the industry as part of a creative industry with great economic potential. With the influx of films from abroad, especially from Hollywood, the industry is struggling to the hilt to survive, as the bigger portion of the audience prefers Hollywood to local productions. For the government, one way of achieving this is to promote local films at the international level. To understand this situation from inside the industry itself, this paper, using data from in-depth interviews with 10 industry players, discusses the challenges faced by the respondents and how they perceive the potential of Malaysian films to travel globally.