Judging from the reviews and ratings that it has garnered, Sangkar could be the impetus for more quality Malaysian films

by AZALEA AZUAR

SANGKAR (picture), a film that revolves around the world of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), seems to have generated quite a huge hype on the Malaysian cyber space.

One Twitter user @nazrironaldo7 said he enjoyed the film so much that he had watched it three times. He believed that Sangkar would be the best movie in 2019.

Another Twitter user Ahmad Shakir rated the film 10/10. Within a week after its opening, the film managed to record a hefty box-office collection of over RM7 million.

Sangkar tells the conflict between two MMA fighters, Adam and Johan.

Johan ends up badly injured after a fight with Adam outside the ring. Seeking redemption, Adam decides to help Johan’s family by participating in underground fights and sharing the winning money with them.

The film also features cameos by real-life MMA fighters, the British James “The Sledgehammer” McSweeny and the Terengganu-born Saiful “The Vampire” Merican.

The film was directed by Kabir Bhatia, an award-winning director known for Setem, Sepi and Gila Baby.

According to Gayatri Su-lin Pillai, one of the film’s producers, Sangkar is different from other Malaysian action movies as it offers a mix of human elements such as love, drama and humour.

The film also explores the flaws of the protagonist instead of having a stereotypically perfect hero.

Judging from the reviews and ratings that it has garnered, Sangkar could be the impetus for more quality Malaysian films. There’s still hope yet for the industry, it seems.

Recognising Quality Films

At the recent 30th Malaysian Film Festival (MFF) this year, Malaysia’s version of the Academy Awards, Crossroads: One Two Jaga was deemed the most prestigious film.

The film explores controversial issues of corruption in the police and immigration departments.

Crossroads: One Two Jaga, which ended up with six awards, was directed by Nam Ron and produced by Bront Palarae, who also acted in the film.

The film follows the journey of an abused domestic worker who wants to escape to Indonesia. It also features the struggle of a cop who wants to fight corruption.

Due to its controversial nature, the film was produced with various constraints and rejected many times in its initial stage of production. The filmmakers began working on the film back in 2014, and only shot it in 2017.

Apparently, Bront had to get approval from the Royal Malaysia Police before they could start shooting the film.

Crossroads: One Two Jaga earned a paltry box-office score of only RM343,200. Language Does Not Equal Quality

In 2017, the MFF was lambasted for its decision to split the Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay awards into Malay and non-Malay categories.

The decision might have robbed critically acclaimed films such as Ola Bola and Jagat from receiving the Best Film category.

Many were expecting the two films to become a beacon of hope of sort for the local film industry.

Local filmmakers also expressed their dissatisfaction with the National Film Development Corp Malaysia’s (Finas) move.

Actor-director Afdlin Shauki boycotted the 28th MFF, while award-winning cinematographer Mohd Noor Kassim graciously returned his MFF trophies in a black plastic bag to then-Finas DG Datuk Kamil Othman.

The director of Jagat, Shanjhey Kumar Perumal felt that the separation was deemed disgraceful and immature to the film’s visual storytelling.

Jagat, which earned a ticket collection of RM224,300, is set in the 90s. The film explores issues faced by an Indian community that has to move to the city and face harsh circumstances after their estate owners abandoned them.

Many of them end up working with minimum wage and living in squatters. The protagonist is a boy who wants to be a criminal like his uncle and is against his father’s wish to put him through school.

Jagat has been praised for its gritty yet beautiful cinematography and the powerful performances of the cast members.

Just like how music is universal, the quality of the film should not be recognised by its language.

You do not have to speak the actor’s language to understand the plot. An audience can even understand what the film is about through the actor’s body language, the lighting techniques, cinematography and even the score.

Finas later decided to remove the Best Malaysian Film and Best Film in National Language awards and replace it with the Best Film award.

Uniting Malaysians through Film

On the other hand, Ola Bola is a film that captures the spirit of being a Malaysian.

The film is set in the 70s, based on Malaysian football legends Datuk Soh Chin Aun, Hassan Sani and Datuk Arumugam “Spiderman” Rengasamy.

It centres around a team of multicultural footballers who hope to enter the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. They set aside their own personal problems to compete for the nation.

Although this film is about Malaysian football, viewers do not need to be a football fan or even understand football jargon.

Ola Bola is one movie where you come out of the cinema hall with tears of patriotism. What is beautiful about this film is that it shows the unity of a team from different backgrounds, where they play for a country they love.

If there is anything else that can unite Malaysians other than food, it’s sports.

Ola Bola is listed as the seventh-highest grossing local movie, with a box-office record of RM16.67 million and was directed by Johor-born Chiu Keng Guan.

Chiu is also responsible for the success of The Journey, another film that topped the highest grossing list in the local cinema.

Following the film’s success, Ola Bola has been made into a musical, which is directed and produced by Puan Sri Tiara Jacquelina.

Animated Movies a Hit for this Year

Since it was first aired in 2007 on TV9, Upin & Ipin became a big hit among Malaysian audience.

The animated show created by Les’ Copaque Production Sdn Bhd has run for 12 seasons.

The company’s previous movie Geng: The Adventure Begins became the highest grossing movie in 2009 with a ticket collection of RM6.2 million.

This year, Upin & Ipin: Keris Siamang Tunggal has shown remarkable improvement by collecting a whopping RM25.2 million.

Keris Siamang Tunggal was directed by Adam Amiruddin, Syed Nurfaiz Khalid Syed Ibrahim and Ahmad Razuri Roseli. It recently won the Best Feature Film award at the Montreal International Animated Film Festival 2019 in Montreal, Canada.

In this film, the famous five-year-old bald twins Upin and Ipin come across a keris that will take them to a magical kingdom.

If you are a fan of Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series and Rob Minkoff’s wuxia film The Forbidden Kingdom, you would surely enjoy Upin & Ipin: Keris Siamang Tunggal.

The film shares similar elements to the Percy Jackson series and The Forbidden Kingdom where the main characters enter into another world and interact with key figures from ancient folklores.

Costing almost RM20 million to make, Upin and Ipin: Keris Siamang Tunggal has been crowned the most expensive Malaysian film ever made.

However, Les’ Copaque Production recently “lost the crown” to Animonsta Studios Sdn Bhd, a rising star on the Malaysian animation scene.

In fact, eight members of the original team from Les’ Copaque Production are the people behind Animonsta, the company that produced BoBoiBoy Movie 2 that made headlines when it collected RM27.7 million in only 26 days.

BoBoiBoy Movie 2 is currently ranked as Malaysia’s No 1 animated film of 2019.

The film features an ancient villain who hunts down BoBoiBoy for his superpowers so that he can take control of the galaxy.

The first BoBoiBoy movie was also a box-office hit in 2016, garnering a ticket collection of RM15.77 million.

BoBoiBoy:The Movie is also currently the 10th-highest grossing film of all time in the Malaysian box office.

BoBoiBoy was first aired in 2011 on TV3 and ran for three seasons. The show was rebranded as BoBoiBoy Galaxy in 2016, where the settings take place between the events of the BoBoiBoy television series and The Movie.

Horror Films Top Malaysia’s Highest Grossing Films

We live in a society where traditional beliefs, superstitions and faith play an important role in our lives.

For example, the Hungry Ghost festival is celebrated every year among the auspicious Chinese communities.

During this period, there are many taboos that one must follow so that they would not get into trouble with the otherworldly spirits.

For example, one must not sit in the empty front rows of live performances because these seats are reserved for the spirits. If they do so, it will cause bad luck to that person.

With all these taboos and superstitions found in different beliefs and communities, it is no surprise that the two highest grossing local films of all time are horror films.

Leading with a box-office record of RM37.74 million, Munafik 2 is the highest grossing Malaysian film of all time.

Starring and directed by Syamsul Yusof, the film is about a freelance preacher who gets his faith tested when helping a woman who is struggling to battle her demons with a cult leader.

The film is enjoyed not only by Malaysians but also by Indonesians for its horror elements and religious message.

The first film, Munafik, also made it into the list of top 10 highest grossing films in Malaysia, earning seventh place. Munafik recorded a ticket collection of RM17.04 million.

At second place is Hantu Kak Limah, recording a box office of RM36.23 million.

Unlike Munafik 2, Hantu Kak Limah is more of a comedic film with horror elements, so it is not that scary to watch.

The film centres around the ghost of Kak Limah, Kampung Pisang’s senior citizen who recently passed away while her spirit ends up haunting her neighbours.

Hantu Kak Limah is the third instalment in director Mamat Khalid’s trilogy of the same name.

The first film being Hantu Kak Limah Balik Rumah and the sequel Husin, Mon dan Jin Pakai Toncit.

Hantu Kak Limah also features cameos by entertainer Erra Fazira and cosmetics entrepreneur Datuk Seri Hasmiza Othman, or better known as Dr Vida.

Meanwhile, Paskal the Movie made it to the third spot, with a box-office record of RM30 million.

Directed by Adrian Teh, the film is based on true events centred around the Naval Special Warfare Forces (Paskal) unit, the equivalent of US’s Navy SEALs, who are on a United Nations peacekeeping mission.

The film is also based on the successful rescue of a rescue tanker which is hijacked by Somalian pirates.

Paskal was praised for its realism and although it has a low budget of RM10 million, it could be on par with Hollywood action films.

Abang Long Fadil 2, which is part of the Kuala Lumpur Gangster universe, ranks fourth place on the Malaysian highest grossing films, earning a box office of RM18.15 million.

The film follows the story of Fadil, who ends up in the hands of gangsters which are led by Taji Samprit and his son Wak Doyok (yes, the social media influencer).

This comedic film, directed by Syafiq Yusof, has a lot of easter eggs regarding Malaysia’s film industry, from Datuk Yusof Haslam’s cameo to a scene playing the Polis Evo theme.

Speaking of Polis Evo, it made it to fifth place in the highest grossing film in Malaysia, just below Abang Long Fadil 2.

The film, directed by Ghaz Abu Bakar, made a box-office score of RM17.74 million.

Polis Evo is about two cops with different personalities, which they have to set aside in order to complete a mission.

Although the buddy-cop storyline seems a bit clichéd (think Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw and Rush Hour), the film is praised for its well-choreographed action scenes.