Antara Malaikat dan Jin - a review

Note: Ini bukan review Siri Bercakap Dengan Jin.

If you loved the book so much, I beg you not to go and watch the movie. If you never read a page of the novel, you can always spend 2 precious hours sitting in the cold cinema for the much trimmed version of the story. Perhaps you should be able to enjoy it more because your expectation might be different.



However, I went to see the movie pretending that I haven't read the book. I realized the movie was made for the mass while the book was targeted to a specific group of readers (read: those who love things explained in great detail although the facts presented need not always be true....)

The supposedly pre-quel to Da Vinci Code turned out to be just as forgettable. The early scenes made me feel like watching a documentary at History Channel. When Ewan Mac Gregor appeared, I thought I was watching Star Wars because seeing him in a robe will always remind me of a Jedi Knight. If only the part was given to Antonio Banderas.... hmmmmmm....

Even though Tom Hanks' hairstyle looks so much better in this movie, the Professor aura is still missing. It's difficult to believe he's a Professor when the whole world has watched him as Forrest Gump. Hehehe. And his punch-lines and one-liners in this movie were missing the 'Ooooomph!'.

The heroine was far from what I imagined. I was hoping she had Jennifer Garner's body because if I'm not mistaken, she's been described as athletic, strong, hard headed and beautiful. The Ms. Vetra portrayed in this movie resembles one of the mafia wives in Godfather. In each scene I kept on imagining her in a kitchen, wearing a floral apron while preparing pasta.

Well having said all those, I know it's not easy to adapt such a novel into a 2-hour movie. Things happening at the CERN has been cut short although all the readers knew that those were the keys. In an effort to make it appear more action-packed, the movie focused mainly on the chase to find the kidnapped Preferitis.

My favorite scene in the movie (as well as in the book) has to be Prof Langdon's 2nd visit to the Vatican Archive, when the power supply was cut-off. I'm claustrophobic, so I hope I'll never be trapped in a small dark room with low oxygen supply - surrounded by ancient books.

If you can tolerate some scenes that are bland and dragging, you'll survive the movie. If you expect a lot more action, fast-paced story and humor, go watch Star Trek.

Demi Allah aku tidak bersalah - Mahsuri

This is my review on Mahsuri, as promised earlier last week. I haven't watched any Malay play for the past 15 years or so. I planned to watch PGL so many times but never managed to get the tickets. I watched Alang Rentak Seribu on TV, so that didn't count. The last play I remember was the one where I was one of the casts. Hehehehe. It was staged during Pekan Teater Selangor; we didn't win so I won't bother elaborating here.

The line-up of the ever so hardworking people. Who ever has had a taste getting involved in any kind of play or production understands that you have to be hardworking, down to earth and disciplined in order to produce a play.

The title, before we got to see the map of South East Asia, Malaysia, Kedah and Langkawi Island.

What I think of the play.

1. It was short and sweet.
There's no way anybody can lengthen the story without adding more fiction to it. Let's face the fact, our ancestors didn't really put a lot of time and effort to document so many things: history, influential people, tragedies, war, climate changes, economic situation during their time etc. We have to be thankful with the few sources we have. Some say Mahsuri is a legend and many still can't forget the movie of the same title made half a century ago. So, kudos to Fauziah Nawi for sticking to the storyline acceptable/understandable by the majority of Malaysians.

2. The main characters didn't shine
Don't blame me for sitting at the back, but seriously there was no chemistry between Mahsuri and Wan Darus. Emotions should reach everyone, regardless of where they're seated. Perhaps this was also caused by having so many strong supporting actors. The audience sometimes forgot about the 2 main characters.

3. Pronunciation.... pronunciation
Again, don't blame me for sitting at the back but a few actors need to improve their pronunciation - especially Wan Mahura. A strong voice won't guarantee a good delivery. Although her portrayal of a jealous woman was good and the audience started to hate her the moment she entered the stage, many of her words didn't reach me. I kept on wondering.... 'What is this woman complaining about?'
However, I found Mahsuri's mom, Vee, Azizah Mahzan and Farah Ahmad delivered the best - loud and clear.

4. The white blood remained as a symbol, not necessarily flowing out of Mahsuri's body.
The last scene didn't meet many viewers' expectation as there was no white blood flowing out of Mahsuri. I have always thought of it just as a symbol. The Legend of Mahsuri might have became a famous Malay folklore long ago and many of the story tellers have added details to make the story more interesting.
But then again, even if it's not just a symbol, the execution method will not produce a lot of blood because the keris went straight to the heart and Mahsuri died instantaneously. If you've watched a fight scene in the movie Troy, you'd understand. In the scene Brad Pitt was fighting another warrior who was a lot bigger and taller than he. With just one thrust of his sword the big warrior was dead. No blood splattering - nothing like what was portrayed in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

5. Interesting silat and dance scenes.
My kids loved these. For them there were a lot of actions. Nothing resembles the boring Drama Swasta they watched on Malaysian TV. Wazif's favorite scenes werethe Bangsal Sila t and the Langkawi Fiesta. Shawqi's favorite moment was when he was first seated (sebab dia tak pernah masuk Istana Budaya, maka sangat le jakun jadinya...)

6. What happened to Wan Darus and Wan Hakim?
There should have been a final scene. Everybody wanted to know what happened to the hubby and the baby. It was mentioned in one of the newspapers that the production team was researching on this but I wonder why the anticipated scenes didn't make it to the stage. Could it be caused by lack of reference?

7. Kalau nak berlakon teater purbawara, janganle color rambut kau blonde, dey!
I couldn't help but noticed some of the village girls were blondes. Wey, Malay girls with blond hair - during Mahsuri time some more. Adakah logik? Maybe they were not that blonde. Maybe it was the lightings. Tapi dari seat aku tu, tetap nampak blonde nya cik kak oi!

All in all, it was a good play. Entertaining and mempamerkan nilai-nilai dan budaya Melayu. Can be improved further. Yang penting, Wazif and Shawqi loved it.

Mari tengok teater Mahsuri

Wazif is responsible for this. Or was it Wazif's teacher who was responsible for planting the idea about getting to know Mahsuri into this 8 years old's mind? I didn't realize they have started learning history at school. So, when he asked about Mahsuri, it took me quite awhile to put the stories together. He got the bits and pieces of the legend from his teacher. So, when I told him the story he was quite disappointed because he was expecting there was more mythical and mysterious stuffs to it.

I hope ibu Fauziah does well with the script re-writing and presenting this theater to Malaysian audience especially to my 7 and 8 year old children. Although I have no idea what is written in these kids' history text books, I think the storyline won't deviate much.

Will post updates on this next Monday, we're going for the Saturday night show. Come and join us! Tickets are selling fast.

Penangan CINTA

Dudukku pegun merenung layar
Kurasa hangat di sekitar mata
dan sebak yang terbuku di dada
ratap terpendam mengandung hiba.

Sendu nan jelas kudengar di hadap sana
mereka mengalih duduk, cuba menyembunyi rupa
sambil hujung jemari lekat di bawah alis
cuba menyeka deraian mutiara.

Akupun melepaskan sebak yang membongkah
rasanya bagai menyengat di bawah rongga
sambil tangan kiri cuba menongkat dahi
cuba mengaburi mereka yang memerhati.

Akhirnya airmata gugur jua
mengalir laju membasahi pipiku
kubiarkan ia berjatuhan menyerap ke baju
sambil esak kecilku terdengar nyata.

Sungguh itu bukan kisahku
Ia karya yang diangkat dari sebuah naskah
Namun tersentap jua jiwa dan kalbu
Kuhanyutkan rasa menghargai seni nan indah.