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Reviews
Tiga Abdul (1964)
A Slightly Above Mediocre Execution of a Fable
Tiga Abdul lured me in with a very cool intro to the movie that had me rather pumped. With Saloma singing the theme and the names taking the other half of the screen, it appealed to me as a snazzy intro to a movie somewhat flourished with style. And it was, for the first 20 minutes. Especially with the iconic performance of 'Bunyi Guitar,' and the overall set design of the film. However that quickly went away when I slowly start to catch on that this is another easy going fable. But lets put my expectations of a "cool movie" aside and actually look at it as just a film.
The film's soundtrack was just alright, with of course Bunyi Guitar shining above the rest.
ONCE AGAIN, A. Bakar Ali did not disappoint me with his cinematography. Although I felt this film's cinematography fell behind Pendekar Bujang Lapok's, A. Bakar Ali was still able to create something interesting on screen with a few great shots.
The script is alright I guess. It's decent in that it is a simple fable. I would have liked for them to take a different route or make the ending more interesting. Although it is a fantastical fable, some scenarios just seem all too awkward and easy, especially with the store robbing and house robbing, P Ramlee could have went with something a little smarter. However I understand that again, it's a fable and that's the route they've chosen to go with.
The film is also flawed in how it has an inconsistency. Where did the narrator go?? Did they suddenly give up on writing him in? Shouldn't he have ended the story? Did someone kidnap him? I guess we'll never know.
Another thing to ask is, why would Sadiq get so mad about being robbed and claiming he was 'bankrupt' if he literally JUST acquired Wahab and Wahib's properties???
The directing was also just okay. After watching Pendekar Bujang Lapok, I wanted to tell myself that it was just A Bakar Ali that made the film look good. But looks like the directing in PBL played a bigger role than I thought because here A. Bakar Ali was not enough to carry Tiga Abdul.
As a fable film, it is expected to carry a moral. But it is the job of the filmmaker to execute the delivery of the moral in a way that is not forced, overtly convenient and spoon fed, which I feel Tiga Abdul kind of did.
There are enjoyable moments in the film, don't get me wrong, I just didn't takeaway much from the film other than bedtime story lesson of why I shouldn't be greedy. Which I already know.
Pendekar Bujang Lapok (1959)
Not Bored Once!
Wow. What a movie. I thoroughly enjoyed near to about every second of this movie. Pendekar Bujang Lapok shines through as an infinitely better sequel to its original.
I need to start the review with the cinematography because it was just simply splendid. One of the biggest issues I had with the first Bujang Lapok was that the framing and cinematography in general was bleak, unprofessional and lacked any form of composition. Its sequel completely turns that around with beautiful shots and GREAT composition. There are some boring wide shots here and there but from the first second of this film to the end, i kept saying to myself how amazingly shot it was. Here's to you Abu Bakar Ali, I will DEFINITELY check out more of your stuff.
And man, the opening jetty scene. That was so wonderful. This movie has a way of being both comfortably natural and comical at the same time and that jetty scene is a great example of it. In addition the fight scene on the jetty was such a pleasure to watch. I would even go as far to say that that fight scene was WAYYYY better than the jetty fight scene in Mat Kilau. (2022)
The jokes were funny, the acting was funny and so much of this movie is pure genius + ridiculous enjoyable stupidity. Its directing was also great, but had its weak spots that I'm willing to let slide.
Overall, I had a BLAST watching this movie. If you're ever worried you'll be bored watching a movie from the 50s, watch this one. This one is one for the ages, and certainly will be a reeatch for me sometime in the future.
Mean Girls (2004)
With a Heart Beyond the Chick Flick Genre
Mean Girls was able to shine through its chick flick - teen comedy genre with some originality and heart.
It has a rather funny script with interesting characters. The script flows just nicely at the same time being able to glide over an entire school year's worth of events.
Its cinematography is also decent with some finely composed track-out shots, but nothing more other than that. The rest of the cinematography is just enough to stand out from "bleak tv blocking." There are some great visual consistencies/parallels created, like when Cady walks through the school with nobody staring at her and by the end of the movie, everyone's staring at her.
Waters' directing was also great. With many stylistic choices such as the talking head scenes and the ICONIC split screen telephone call scene. Waters understood the tone of the movie and mostly carried it out with success.
Which takes me to editing. The editing I believe is phenomenal. This film had great editing that was able to keep my eyes on the screen and be fully immersed in their world the entire time. The style of the film was also executed well in the editing, particularly with - again - the telephone call scene, the zoo noises and some hilariously effective cutaways.
The first issue I had with this film are the token characters. Although these characters perfectly fit the genre, this movie could have gone beyond that and subverted the stereotypes to play with something more interesting in the film. Some characters like Karen, Gretchen and even Mrs George could have taken on more of a role in driving the story but instead they are wasted as comic relief.
Another issue I had with this film was the ending. Matter of the fact is, I'm satisfied with the ending. But I'm not satisfied that I'm satisfied. Ya get what I mean??
The whole film took the chick flick - teen comedy genre and made it its own for a whole hour, but the ending appears to be a submission back into a cliché 'd ending. The ending gave the audience exactly what they wanted in their heart but I believe this film's ending had potential to be more than just an easy happy ending with resolutions to every issue. What the audience's heart desires at the end of this film isn't necessarily the best.
Even with that being said, I won't let the ending bring my rating down. It's one I'm still alright with.
Overall the film was very entertaining and proved to me why it deserved to be so iconic amongst pop culture. The film's heart reels you into its sass and drive before drawing you back into heartfeltness and good morals.
Hang Tuah (1956)
A retelling of a Malaysian classic in colour yet somewhat falls just short of "decent"
The movie goes over the legend of Hang Tuah in colour while covering his emotional and romantic tribulations that he must face as a warrior that serves under the king. It is a 2hr indulgence into the olden days of Malaysia with theatrical lingo and fantastical musical break outs.
However, I found the film overall to just be short of "decent."
Although the story covered the main conflicts of the original legend, there seems to be a lack of emotional payoff for me. Although the ending fortunately left me with some inkling of unease, pondering the dilemma between Tuah's loyalty to Royalty or his friend, it also had potential to be more impactful had it developed Jebat and Tuah's relationship more. Right now, it feels more like Tuah choosing his loyalty to the King over ONE of his pals, who he wasn't like best friends with. Perhaps they could have built more on that brotherhood.
I won't get into the debate between loyalty to Jebat or to the King because that's an age old debate that anyone could talk about.
The pacing was not bad, could have been better at some parts.
The fight choreography was impressive! Actually rehearsed and did not come off as corny at all. It's only improvement can be the cinematography of the fight scenes.
Which takes me to the cinematography: a lot to be improved. Of course, it's the late 50s, no one's gonna expect AMAZING cinematography. But the director could have take more risks taken to put more depth and life into the cinematography.
Soundtrack was good. Nothing more nothing less. Used somewhat necessarily throughout, however i felt like they could have used some in the fight scenes to spice it up. I also understand this movie is supposed to be Bollywood style with the sad strung out musical solos under the waxing moon and all that, but it got a little tiring after a while especially if there is a lack of emotion.
Performances were great! A lot of times, you'll find that in the 50s-60s, acting was more melodramatic but it's no problem since i understand movies were more theatrical then.
Set design was also well done, very pretty and definitely used the medium of colour in this film very well.
Overall it's a meh movie, but I don't hate it. Just a lot of potential that could have been realised.