Wednesday 22 April 2009

Man with a movie camera


ROLL CAMERA ACTION by Yusof Haslam (2006, Finas, 402 pages)

Yusof Haslam is, as he reminds us, only a year younger than our Prime Minister. But since this book was published during the previous one’s tenure, the closing photograph has him with that other guy instead. (One of them is asking for the other one’s autograph, and I will let you guess who’s doing the asking).

Local cinema in the 1990s was pretty much dominated by Yusof Haslam. It’s not just that he had many hit films (his Sembilu 2 was for a long time the highest-grossing Malaysian flick) but he became a kind of shorthand for ‘commercial cinema.’ Snooty Malay critics (yes, there are a few!) spent lots of time and energy calling his stuff ‘Bollywood-influenced’ and so on. While they bitched, he worked.

Let’s admit it, much of the criticism was motivated by financial envy (he always flaunted his box-office takings) and also class condescension: he started off as a bus conductor, which I think is great, but which some people took as proof that he was in the wrong business.

The ‘Bollywood’ insult also willfully ignores that Malay cinema has always been inextricable from the conventions of populist Indian cinema. It’s a testament to the polymorphous and porous entity that is Malayness itself.

I have seen all his films and I fondly recall catching the first Sembilu in a cinema that has since closed down. There were people all around me who were mouthing lines of dialogue even before they were spoken; meaning this wasn’t their first time watching it. It was then that I realised I was witnessing a phenomenon!

His films weren’t about bus conductors; they had pop stars with swimming-pools (they never used them for fear of ruining their mascara – and those are just the guys), police personnel who spoke very grammatically, and drug-dealing villains with big hair. People always chose to converse in locations that had the KLCC or some other phallus in the background. And they always drank fresh orange juice.

His films were really about post-NEP Malays: they seem educated (but you never see books in their houses) and have disposable incomes (cue romantic shopping montages) and exist within a socially conservative framework. You can always tell a villain, especially in his Gerak Khas films, by their ‘non-Malay’ names like Castello and Karina. 

This book compiles his Berita Minggu columns from 2002-4. They aren’t always strictly about films: He cheers on any new leader (PM, DPM, Information Minister and so on) and hopes they will do their best for agama, bangsa dan negara. In fact the columns when read as a whole have a nation-building agenda. He sees himself as a ‘cultural worker’ (to use a communist term) but in the service of Malay capitalism. 

The conservatism comes from the fact that the basic organising structure of society is always upheld, such as his exhortation to stick with the tried and true in the 2004 General Elections. In other words: Don’t vote for Castello!

There’s also something quite moving in his insistence of a continuum of Malay cinematic talent. (He is of the generation and temperament in which Malaysian cinema is Malay cinema, full stop). There are tributes to hoary veterans which would be much more heartfelt if the next chapter wasn’t about some bureaucrat described in similarly glowing terms.

One of the veterans is described as mangsa kapitalis (an incongruous phrase in the whole book) but it’s more accurate to say Yusof sees guided capitalism as the best way to ensure Malays (and it’s usually about the Malays) are never again victims.

Speaking of continuum: His son Syamsul Yusof is now an actor-director as well, and his second film opens tomorrow. It’s the first local flick in ages to get an 18PL rating; does this mean that Junior is disregarding the nation-building values of his father? Ah, but the full title is Bohsia: Jangan Pilih Jalan Hitam … so it’s a movie whose ‘message’ is literally spelled out. I’ll be watching it this weekend, so the magic must still be working. Syabas, Pak Yusof!

(Malay Mail, 22 April)

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Shouldnt it be Syabas, Datuk Yusof? Must be proper mah!

Have been reading you since your perforated sheets days. dont read much newspapers now. So good that you reproduce yr columns here.

but I have not seen any of yr movies, kalau tak kena ban pun, I wouldnt know where to access them. Tak de Minggu Apresiasi Filem Amir Muhammad?

-atn

Amir Muhammad said...

I never use Datuk, etc. But sometimes the newspaper inserts those, so annoying.

A few of my DVDs are on sale at kedai buku Silverfish and at the Da Huang online shop ;-)

But if you want to see one in a crowd, keep the night of 7 May free :-)

Anonymous said...

hello Sir Amir,

i just came back from betong see pityamit tunnel.

I have read the side history of chin peng book

but now only I know that u did a movie. Where can I watch the movie? Got sell online?

I wanna go to chin peng village and meet them. Do you know his address in his village?

I could not find in internet.

do email me g u n s h e a d at yahoo dot com

Anonymous said...

It is such a relief to find someone like yourself [film/literature/cultural aficionado?] not maligning someone like Yusof Haslam. There are so many directors, dops, film school grads who are so elitist they can't see past their own noses. Unlike you I have not watched all of his films,but have enough conscience in me not to call his films, or any other director's,"filem jamban" etc. "Karya", of any kind, should be appreciated "seadanya".

Amir Muhammad said...

But that doesn't mean we can't also have fun ;-)

fadz said...

cayalah amir, nice review on the book!

Obefiend Weiland said...

coming up next by samsul yusof

"haruan makan anak - jgn rogol anak anda"

this is then quickly followed by

"black metal - jangan jadi kapir"

ha ha ha ha

ten sen norgay said...

Amir, bodek and sarcasm in equal measure, it's just like you.
I think Dato' Yusof Haslam most probably get the bodek part but not sure the rest,and that's good for you. i hope Pak Yusof will one day give you money to direct some 'real' films.

And as far as i'm concerned and as a 'penonton'I say this to him.Fuck Yusof Haslam. He's no better than that other joker, A R tompel's son Badul.

I don't ask much but I'd be happy if somebody just plagiarize or copy Quentin Tarantino or the Coen Brothers rather than making these retarded films.

Anonymous said...

so only tarantino and the coen brothers make 'real' films?

BrightEyes said...

"Bohsia: Jangan Pilih Jalan Hitam"


Man, I thought the word 'bohsia' is so 90s? :D

Looking forward to your review on this movie... in the meantime, I'll make sure all my "jalan" are concrete or dirt roads...

ten sen norgay said...

Anonymous @ 20.38;

Who said 'only'?

Uthaya Sankar SB said...

Oh, the "Bohsia" guy is Pak Yusof's son? That explains everything.