FILMS STILL LAGGING BEHIND

OUR film industry does not seem to promise much for the new millennium. Although it has snapped out of its comatose state and is now easing into recovery, there are still no promising signs of a glowing future.

Strange how, in our quest to make everything for Malaysia bigger and better with all the boleh spirit, we still can't make it in the film industry. It easily qualifies entry into the Malaysia Book of Records as the ``most lagging industry''.

The snail pace in which we churn out good-quality movies is reason enough to make us feel alarmed. There is no sense of pride in talking about the performance rate of local movies.

With seven movies released this year - Pasrah, Mimpi Moon, Senario Lagi, Anaknya Sazali, Leftenan Adnan, Soal Hati and Syukur 21, the number alone is embarrassing, to say the least.

Producers have urged bankers to help them out in reviving the film industry. Bankers are sceptical about taking the plunge for fear there will be no gains in the end.

Our box-office movies have been the commercial ones. Pasrah (starring Erra Fazira and Norman Hakim), Senario Lagi (with the Senario guys) and Soal Hati (Erra Fazira and Afdlin Shauki) took the lead this year.

Anaknya Sazali and Mimpi Moon, respectively, gave producers Ida Rahayu of Eurofine and Shuhaimi Baba of Pesona Pictures, heartache with their disappointing ticket sales. Leftenan Adnan broke even, luckily, while Syukur 21 has yet to be tested in the market.

The dismal performance of local movies is nothing new

Every movie has its own strength and weaknesses. Aziz M. Osman's Senario Lagi is highly entertaining with overall good performance by the Senario gang. Its simple but interesting script and hilarious anecdotes coupled with good pacing helps.

Although Pasrah and Soal Hati are instant winners, these movies are almost like copies of some Bollywood stuff.

Producers Yusof Haslam and Habsah Hassan prove once again that the tried and tested formula of having beautiful faces, good songs and cliched storyline still works.

Another work by Aziz M. Osman, Leftenan Adnan - a historical epic on the life of a brave soldier set during the Japanese invasion - which won an award at the 45th Asia Film Festival in Hanoi recently, was a real eye-opener.

The impressive cinematography, superb direction, pacing and the excellent linkage of shots were what made this movie an instant winner.

Unfortunately, leading actor Hairie Othman was quite a letdown. Hairie played a weak Lt Adnan and was not convincing enough. For comparison's sake, P. Ramlee in Sarjan Hassan and Datuk Jins Shamsuddin in Bukit Kepong scored very high as heroes with commanding screen presence.

The mindset of the Malaysian audience is conditioned to accept mediocre efforts from local producers. As such, observers are seldom surprised if Malay movies fare badly in the cinema circuit.

The simple minds of some cinemagoers are conditioned to accept wholeheartedly any product resembling Bollywood films. But that doesn't mean they can stomach anything that is fed to them. Their rejection of Anaknya Sazali by Eurofine and Pesona Pictures' Mimpi Moon is a case in point.

The RM3.8mil Syukur 21 by Metrowealth Movies Production, directed by Alif Najmi, better known as Eddie Pak, and starring nasyid group Raihan, could well set a milestone in our local industry. The futuristic theme with convincing portrayals by new talents, an editor from the commercials circle and good photography make Syukur 21 an attractive bet.

To bring back the glory days of the local film industry equivalent to those of the late P. Ramlee would mean current movie producers having to work harder to get better storylines, challenging themes, talented actors and skilled directors.

A shortcut, suggested one veteran director, would probably be to import foreign directors to revive our flagging film industry. Taking them in on contract basis, like what the sports industry is doing, could be a good idea.

The whole bank of poor scripts, mediocre acting and lack of credible directors are slowing down the process of reviving the film industry.

Getting top directors to speak at workshops, something which the National Film Development Corporation (Finas) can organise, would not be a bad idea. Perhaps we could even hire foreign directors as consultants.

In short, to improve, we have to look further than the trophies we have collected through the wins of U-Wei Saari for Kaki Bakar at the Cannes Film Festival a few years ago and Erma Fatima who was named Best Director for Perempuan Melayu Terakhir at the Pyongyang Film Festival this year and more recently a special mention at the Hawaii International Film Festival for the English-language Spinning Gasing.

We need to start realising how laidback we are, as far as filmmaking is concerned, compared to other developing countries like Thailand, Iran, Korea, China, the Philippines and even Vietnam. Now that's progress at least in thinking.

A vibrant Malay theatre scene

Local theatre has put up truly entertaining productions this year. The National Theatre at Istana Budaya took the lead when it churned out, consistently, commendable efforts such as the classic Siti Zubaidah (which starred Tiara Jacquelina and Roda Impian compere cum ERA DJ Halim Othman), Nyiur Gading Puncak Mahligai (with singer Maya in the lead and Ahmad Idham as the side-kick) and Siti Di Alam Fantasi, in which singer Amy Mastura played the lead.

Veteran theatre activist Fauziah Nawi came up with Opera Ayu Cendana under her own production Sanggar Teater Fauziah Nawi (STFN) with Razak Ahmad, Jalil Hamid and Gibran Agi.

The Actors Studio ``workshopped'' the controversial film Bukak Api, a Pink Triangle production directed by Osman Ali which is about AIDS awareness and the lives of transsexual sex workers. A milestone in local filmmaking, it was critically well received.

Prior to that, under the able hands of Faridah Merican, the theatre company staged Hamlet in Bahasa Malaysia, which garnered mostly fair reviews, as did the recent Greek classic play in Malay, Medea, which was staged by the National Arts Academy.

BY ZIEMAN - PUBLISHED 29/12/2000