Thai Epics - We Can Only Dream To Match Them.

Thai filmmakers are getting more and more ambitious with their movies. Ever since Tanit Jitnukul's massive hit Bang Rajan was released in 2000, Thai filmmakers, who can pool millions of dollars for their quest of producing epic movies, have tried to better it.



One such filmmaker is Prince Chatrichalerm Yukol whose Suryothai in 2001 sort of set new standards for the Kingdom's epic movies.



Such was Suryothai's impact in global cinema, that Francis Ford Coppola agreed to lend his name as Executive Producer in the re-cut international release.
Award winning filmmaker, Nonzee Nimbutr, whose horror flick Nang Nak, became a massive hit domestically and internationally, also tried his hand at directing an epic - the 2008 movie Queens of Langkasuka. Nonzee's movie, even with its faults, to me was the best Malay epic ever produced in Thai language. Those who watched it know what I mean.



However, it is Prince Yukol that sealed his status as the Kingdom's best epic filmmaker. He stamped his class with his Naresuan Trilogy.



The first part was released in 2007. Part two, released as Kingdom of War overseas was released a year later. However, the final part (Naresuan 3) was only released earlier this year.
Budget-wise, the trilogy is the most expensive produced films in Thailand's history.
And if you had seen any of the three, you can see why.
I haven't seen Part 3 yet, but Part 2 was a truly amazing epic.
Eventhough the story is a little convoluted due to the many palace intrigues and the politics of ancient Siam, the pay off at the end is worth the wait.
The final battle scenes which lasted easily an hour in duration is also breathtaking.
Watching Naresuan makes me believe that unless we really have similar kind of funds, we shouldn't even try to make epics.
Naresuan makes both Puteri Gunung Ledang and Merong Mahawangsa look so pitiful. Not only in technical terms, but also in the storytelling department.
Just look at the trailer of Naresuan 2 and you'll know what I mean.



Catch the movie, be patient in trying to remember the names of the princes and lords, the numerous kingdoms at war, the beautiful heroines and the numerous colorful tribes involved in this bit of Ayuthiya history, and enjoy the movie as it sends you on a rollercoaster ride in the last act.

Do Malays really care about their heritage and past?

This post is not about movies. Like I said, sometime I would write about something else that I think is important to me, and hopefully important to others too.

The title of this post as one can read is "Do Malays really care about their heritage and their past?"

Why of a sudden?

Well, I believe not many knew of plans for a Museum of Malay Civilisation. It was to trace the origins, traditions, beliefs, history and diaspora of the Malays and was to be located in Putrajaya.

I thought that this museum should have been constructed and set up a long time ago because I believe not many Malays actually understand their heritage and better still not many non-Malays appreciate the Malay race - its history, its culture and traditions and its origins.

Unfortunately, this project and proposal didn't see the light of day.

If I am not mistaken, the museum that was supposed to house the Malay civilisation permanent exhibit has now become the Museum of Natural History in Putrajaya.

I am not sure why the museum was scrapped. Maybe someone in the government believes that such a museum is not politically correct. If this is so, it is sad.

This talk for the above museum was maybe five-six years ago. Now it is a forgotten chapter in our history. Not even a chapter, hardly a footnote even.

Then sometime back, about two years ago, there was talk of turning the old Istana Negara into a Museum Di Raja Malaysia. This historic building, previously owned by a famous Chinese millionaire Chan Wing.

Wikipedia states:

The palace was originally a double-storey mansion built in 1928 by a l

ocal Chinese millionaire,Chan Wing. During the Japanese occupation from 1942–1945, it was used as the Japanese officers’ mess. After the surrender of the Japanese, the building was bought by the Selangor State Government. It was then renovated to become the palace of His Majesty the Sultan of Selangor until 1957.

The Federal Government then bought the palace in 1957, to be converted into the Istana Negara for the newly created sovereign post

of Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaya which was about to achieve independence that August as scheduled. Since then it has undergone several renovations and extensions. But the most extensive upgrading was carried out in 1980, as it was the first time that the Installation Ceremony of His Majesty DYMM Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong was held at the Istana Negara. Prior to this the Installation Ceremonies were held at the Tunku Abdul Rahman Hall in Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur with the first one held in 1957.

In about a year's time, the new billion over-Ringgit National Palace will be completed and it will be the new official residence of our Yang Di Pertuan Agong.

So the old Istana Negara will be vacant.

I thought then the idea to turn the old Istana Negara into a Royal Museum was long overdue.

Malaysia's constitutional monarchy is unique if not the only one of its kind in the world. The Malaysian Agong-ship is as old as the nation, created in 1957 when the country achieved its Independence.

But whilst the Agong's position is only 54 years old, the Malay Sultanate is much older. Quite old, in fact, and its history should not only be recorded, but should be exhibited and made known to all Malaysians and other interested parties in a single museum.

The content in such a Royal museum would be educational, interesting and entertaining.

Simple facts like the Melaka Sultanate is not the first nor the old

est Malay sultanate in the Malay Peninsula should be made available to the public, at least to correct misconceptions.

Little forgotten facts like the late Sultan Abdullah of Perak, who was exiled to Seychelles when wrongly found guilty by a kangaroo court of being involved in the assassination of Perak Resident J.W.W. Birch.

The British exonerated the Sultan and allowed him to return to Malaya albeit without allowing him to claim to his rightful throne. However he managed to retain the title of ex-Sultan of Perak upon his return to his homeland.

Whatever it is, the Malays hold the Malay Sultans or Rajahs in high esteem. They have daulat. The Malays lay all their hopes in terms of upholding religion (Islam), budaya (culture) and ras (race) on this system of monarchy.

It would not be far fetched to say that without the Malay monarchy or the Malay Sultans, the Malay race would be nothing.

So, archiving everything about the history of the Malay monarchy is akin to archiving the history of the Malays.

And since the museum of Malay civilisation was stillborn, I was really hoping that the plans to turn the Istana Negara into the National Royal Museum would materialise.

Unfortunately, my hopes were dashed.

I hear commercialisation again wins the day.

Reliable sources recently said that the proposal to turn the old Istana Negara into the Royal Museum has been officially scrapped and now, it seems, someone has won a negotiated bid to turn the 83-year old property into a 6-star luxury hotel.

Another one bites the dust.

What is again frustrating is that if my sources can be relied on, the proposal for the Royal Museum has been approved by various levels of government including the Economic Planning Unit. Yet, it was rejected without rhyme nor reason.

A building listed under the National Heritage list somehow manages to slip through leaks and into the hands of hoteliers who want to commercialise the area into something I believe will not be appreciated by most Malaysians.

Remember the old Majestic Hotel? Destroyed. Remember Bukit Bintang Girl School? It's now the Pavilion.Remember St Mary's Girl School? Flattened. Remember Pavilion Cinema? A carpark. Remember the old Museum of Kuala Lumpur in Dataran Merdeka? Now it's a restaurant.

What next? The Parliament building? The St John's Institution? Victoria Institution?

That's just in Kuala Lumpur. What about the hundreds of other historical buildings in danger of being torn down to make way for modern buildings.

If Istana Negara can be turned into a 6-star hotel, what can we say about other buildings with lesser historical impact?

I think the powers that be should really take pause, and realise that sometimes, the conservation of heritage is more important than dollars and cents. Their decisions can embarrass and even insult the people they promised to serve.

Malay movies raking money! Or is it?

If we were to take the Finas box office charts as official, then the last quarter of 2010 seems to be the beginning of a new era of Malaysian or Malay movies. The numbers that were being coined are above anyone’s wildest imagination and expectation.
The top five movies of 2010 and including the first six months of 2011, all broke the six million ringgit mark.
Whilst most people thought Mamat Khalid’s Hantu Kak Limah Balik Rumah was the box office king, according to Finas’s list, which according to its site is accurate as of April 2011, the horror comedy Ngangkung, produced by MIG, is the current box office king with RM8.18 million in ticket sales.
Khurafat, directed by last year’s best director winner, Shamsul Yusof, took in RM8.08 million which pushes Mamat's Kak Limah into third place with RM7.90 million.
Another MIG production, Adnan Sempit made the top five list with RM7.66 million.

Many thought Adnan Sempit’s box office take was a fluke for Malay movies, having been the first local production to amass takings that exceeded the previously untouchable RM7 million mark. But now, four movies have since passed that mark within 12 months.
KRU’s convoluted and confusing and hardly ‘Malay’ movie Merong Mahawangsa: The Malay Chronicles, took in RM6.5million to date and just made it to the Top 5 list. However, as most industry people already know, MIG’s Kongsi directed by actor-director Farid Kamil, has already bypassed Merong’s take within a week of its release.
In fact, David Teoh of MIG is confident Kongsi will be the first local movie to break the RM10million barrier.
Whilst some are calling the last 12 months an exciting period for Malay movies, with 5 movies taking in a total of nearly RM50 million, what they fail to notice the other titles that fell on the wayside. Amongst these include Associate Professor’s Razak Mahyidin’s horror flick Ratu and M. Jamil’s miserable Momok 2.
Others that didn’t even show on the radar include Senjakala, Seru, Haq, Dalam Botol, Di Sini Ada Hantu, Cun!, Di Larang Masuk, Penunggu Istana and Kembar Siang.
Ratu was the worse performing movie having only taken RM200,000 at the box office. James Lee’s Di Sini Ada Hantu did better by getting RM1.2 million. Momok 2: Jangan Panggil Aku took in less than half a million. However, I cannot seem to get an official box office report for Antara Dua Alam.
These are all rought estimates as listed on FINAS’s website and as most people in the industry knows, 50 percent of the take goes to the cinemas and distributors. Therefore the producers only take half of the box office takings.
These means, Ratu’s take for the producer is about RM100,000 whilst Di Sini Ada Hantu’s producers Double Vision and Tayang Unggul take in less that RM600,000.
If the average cost of producing a local movie is in the region of RM1.5 million, then in actual fact, not many producers are actually making a profit from their movies this last 12 months.
Merong Mahawangsa, reputedly made from grants totalling in access of RM10 million, had a box office take of over RM6 million but take away the cinema’s owners take of RM3million, their net take was only RM3 million plus. Therefore, they are still RM7 million in the red. Their only saving grace for KRU is that the grants given to them for the movie are ‘grants’ and not loans.
These figures are also only revenue earned in Malaysia. Therefore news of sales of Merong Mahawangsa made by its producers that the movie has been sold to overseas markets for more than RM20 million ringgit is be good news to everyone on board KRU and the institutions that gave them the grants. The movie, if the sales figures announced are true, is therefore a financial success.
Other producers. Are now sweating cold beads waiting for the release of their films. Grand Brilliance's Nur Kasih went head to head with the latest installment of Pirates of The Carribean. Movies with clout like Thor and Fast And Furious are still pulling in the crowds taking away possible revenue from local filmmakers.
However, Nur Kasih is not really being affected by the foreign movies but rather of Kongsi’s phenomenal showing in the same week. The coming week’s school holidays will be crucial to Nur Kasih’s success. More so since the reportedly production cost for this movie based on TV3’s successful series cost RM2.8 million to produce.
On the other hand, Datuk Yusof Haslam would be relieved to see Kongsi’s screen success as his latest movie, directed by Shamsul, is also of the same genre entitled KL Gangster, and he would be happy if it could match Kongsi’s take.
Other movies waiting on the sideline nervously include 321 Cinta, Rasuk, Sekali Lagi, Tolong Awek Aku Pontianak, Karipap Karipap Cinta, Libas, Flat 3A, Hantu Bonceng and Raya Tak Jadi.
All except Libas, are either comedy or horror. Libas, is a comedy-sports-action movie in the vein of Stephen Chow’s Shaolin Soccer.

VIEW FROM THE OSCARS 2011

So The King’s Speech took home the grand prize at this year’s Oscars. What is it about? About a King’s struggle to give a speech free from his stuttering problem. Of course, the story is not that straight forward but from a small royal affliction, Tom Hooper, created a beautiful tapestry of characters, conflicts and human resolve.

Of all the films that were nominated (ten of them), I personally thought that 127 hours was its main competition. The Danny Boyle movie, based on a true story, struck a chord with me about a man facing great odds who sacrificed his hand to gain freedom and reclaim his life.

I wasn’t much of a fan of Nolan's Inception nor Finch's The Social Network.

Let’s compare to what we have been throwing accolades to last year. Best movie? Magika? Best director? Shamsul Khalid for KL Drift 2?

Is Magika something that we would be proud of in world cinema where critics prefer movies like Sin Nombre from Mexico, Departures from Japan, Ajami the jont venture pic from Israel and Palestine, Old Boy from Korea, Uncle Boonmee from Thailand and Laskar Pelangi from Indonesia.

Don’t we have good stories to tell the world?

Sure, FINAS is helping us tell something to the world through their international documentary funding projects but what about world cinema? What do we have?

Nothing much actually.

How about the people from the indie scene? Well, maybe we could consider former indie turned main stream filmmaker James Lee’s Sini Ada Hantu? A horror comedy for world cinema? Why not also throw in Nangkung and Mak Limah Balik Ke Rumah too?

Maybe in the near future, the foreseeable future we could show or be proud of Uwei’s latest opus Hanyut or Yusri’s epic Merong Mahawangsa. But on the other hand, we are just guessing since the two movies have not seen the light of day yet.

Would Yusry’s epic be as grand and as cinematic as Thailand’s Suryothai which even cuaght the eye of Francis Ford Coppola, or is it going to disappear from the global cinema radar like Indonesia’s Fatahillah?

Uwei’s Hanyut, inspired by Joseph Conrad’s novella, is also something that we look forward to especially when he has not directed anything of note for the past ten years.

Meanwhile, the indie movement led by auteurs like Ho YuHang, are making their own mark worldwide with their Chinese-Malaysian movies. Recent interesting movies include Chiu Keng Guan’s Great Day or Ahnui’s Ice Kacang Puppy Love.

Without sounding like a bigot, these Malaysian pieces of cinema does not actually show Malaysia but are quite Chinese in spirit and landscape. Nevertheless, I don’t mind because good cinema is cinema, and good cinema is not race-based. If a Tamil language Malaysian movie wins an Oscar for Best Foreign Language movie so be it.

Furthermore, the Malaysian Malay-language cinema will not be jolted from their state of narcolepsy. They are comfortable with their mind-numbing comedies, mat rempit movies and horror shlock. It mints money, so what do they care.

It really doesn’t matter that the movies they make doesn’t promote positive Malay values or culture. Nor does it matter to them if the movie does not tweak even a 14 year old's intellect. It makes money. That’s the yardstick for success and good movie making in Malaysia. Makes money - mut be good. Didn't make money - it has to be crap.

No matter how good your movie is, even if it wins awards at world cinema festivals, when it doesn’t make a dent at the local box office, you are deemed a failure. Simple as that.

So if you wanna wait and hope that local filmmakers can come out with movies like Sin Nombre or 127 hours or Black Swan or Biutiful or Departures, don’t hold your breathe.

HANTU POKOK PISANG COMES ON SCREEN AGAIN

Some years back (2003) I did a direct-to-video production entitled Histeria (not to be confused with the 2008 James Lee movie of the same name). It starred the late Hani Mohsin. The movie was based on a few local and urban legends. It was also remade as a stage presentation called Hantu Hantu Yang Saya Kenali. It was remade (with permission) into a VCD production again entitled Momok by M. Jamil and then the format is repeated (without permission) in his movie Momok.
James Lee's latest movie Sini Ada Hantu produced by Double Vision and Tayangan Unggul also rehashed two of my old stories - Hantu Pokok Pisang and Kereta Mayat (which was a short story in one of my earliest horror anthologies called Teater Seram). I reworked Hantu Pokok Pisang again into one of my episodes in Bilik No. 13.
It's always nice to see how others do it.

MFP'S RAJA BERSIONG (1967) DIRECTED BY DATUK JAMIL SULONG

My father's last movie for Malay Film Productions was Raja Bersiong based on our first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman's original story. It was also the first widescreen color movie to have come out of Jalan Ampas, but not the first color movie - Ribut and Hang Tuah having been released in color a few years before.
Unfortunately it was also claimed to have been the movie the broke Jalan Ampas's back - having been the studio's most expensive movie to date and it wasn't a box office hit.
I have watched the movie many times but of recent the copy has been missing. No DVD copies around. So it was heartening to find out that someone had actually posted the movie on Youtube.
Do view it. Most people are put off with the dialogue which was unique - it was presented in pantun form, one of the few Malay movies to do so. Another movie directed by my father done in this manner was Bidasari.

Here it is: Jamil Sulong's Raja Bersiong based on Tunku's story and produced by MFP in 1967.























Hope you enjoyed this movie. One of my dreams is to actually take this legend onto stage and present it at Istana Budaya. It has all the elements - conflict, tragedy, horror, history, music and an epic feel.

PROBLEM WITH PERSATUANS – AGAIN

(I wrote about the persatuans about two years ago)

During out shoot recently, the authorities came for a visit. To check on my crew and staff and artistes. They actually checked our membership status to the four main persatuans that Finas endorses – SENIMAN, Profima, FDAM and Karyawan. Of course there are others, but these are those that are usually on set. SENIMAN is basically for actors, as is Karyawan but anyone can actually be a member. Profima was previously Persatuan Pekerja Pekerja Filem Malaysia (PPFM) but because their acronym clashes with Persatuan Penerbit Filem Malaysia (PFM), they decided to change it to Professional Film Workers of Malaysia or something like that.

Anyway, to produce anything in this country, you must be a member of one of these associations (persatuans). Legally I’m not sure how secure this is. I was once a Union member as a journalist and I know how that works but in the chaotic world of filmmaking, could Finas actually enforce such a ruling if it is legal.

I’ve actually asked a lawyer friend and he said that at most the requirements are just advisory but not mandatory. Why? Because one can question the standards of each persatuan and what they offer to the industry. There is no pre-qualification like the architects or engineers.

The persatuans within the film industry are merely a social association working with the framework of the Rules and Regulations as set our in the Registrar of Societies.

If persatuans are that powerful, every industry would have to bow to the thousands of associations out there. Kesatuans are different as are associations of professionals i.e. architects, engineers, contractors, builders and such. There are various bodies and authorities and agencies that monitor the standards of their work.

Anyway, back to my location shoot. Half of my crew were not Profima members. And at that moment, we were shooting a scene that was supposed to be Australia in winter. And to make that scene authentic, we need kweilohs. So we got a casting agency to get some kweilohs for extras.

Hahhaha...we forgot to mention to our agent that we need kweilohs who are members of Seniman!

Jeez..how can we forget that!! We also needed special permission to use foreigners in that scene. Fuhhh lagi problem. Luckily for us we just got a memo and a warning – for using kweilohs who are not Malaysians and non-Seniman members, for hiring crew members that were not members of Profima.

Wokey.

WTF do I need to hire someone from an association that these people don’t believe in? I know so many who pay subscription fees just to work in the industry and they really don’t care what the association does or doesn’t do. It’s like a toll to work. Sounds familiar tak? You want to work in the industry? Sure, pay your membership fee. Annually. Then you can work to your hearts content.

What kind of mentality or industry that accept this kind of situation?

Are we going to be bullied into doing this? What do we (the producers) get out of hiring bonafide members? Are members truly qualified to work as a gaffer? A bestboy? A clapper loader? A key grip? A production manager or assistant director? Is there a guarantee of their performance and quality of work? None right? They are just Malaysians who decide one day to “Hey I think I can earn some decent money working on a technical crew of a TV or film production”, and all I need to do is join Profima. That’s it. Nothing to it. So why do you want to blame me for using some crew member whom I know have worked for years in the industry and is more professional and proficient in his work as a tech crew but did not join Profima?

What is it that these associations including Profima or FDAM done for the industry lately? From newspaper reports Profima just organised an awards ceremony that not many people knew about or was invited to participate or attend. What’s more mind boggling was that one newspaper even mentioned that the event cost more than RM3 million to stage!

Wow! How the association exco members or its normal members ever approved such a budget is beyond me. If you read the articles of the Societies Act Section carefully, I’m really not sure how many of the associations can survive scrutiny. Isn’t there any member out there who doesn’t want to find out how Profima spent money for the event? Don’t they care what happens to the society’s funds?

Don’t the members know that they as members have the legal right to check the books of their association at any point of time (reasonable hours or working hours)?

Anyway, if these associations that Finas holds high esteem for are maybe entities that are not managed properly, how can they be pillars of professionalism in the industry? So why bother?

I think it is about time Finas steps it foot down and demand a complete and detailed review of all the associations in the industry. Check their accounts, see if it is audited. If they do not want to show it to Finas, get a members to compel them through the Registrar to allow them to check their administrative procedures and their accounts. Hire a lawyer to review all the associations constitutions – trust me – the constitutions of these association are at best a sheet of rules and regulations that cannot stand the test of law.

If the associations want to be considered a powerful and the pillars of the industry, be above board, be clean, be exemplary and above all be incorruptible.

Do all this and I will guarantee that you will see the members become more proactive in the management and administration of the societies. And as a producer, we will be more than glad to support and cooperate with these entities.