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Sunday, November 06, 2005

THE WAY FORWARD!



Wow, I haven't seen this much discussion and passion about a particular subject since the rumour that a famous female singer was seeing a datuk K. Thank you guys so much for your input yang bernas dan tak bernas.

Personally, i don't know how far this discussion is going to turn into anything REAL but i know most of you will agree that

1. WE MUST HAVE OUR CENSORSHIP LAWS RELAXED.

2. WE MUST HAVE THE CENSORSHIP LAWS WRITTEN AND SET, SO THAT THERE IS NO AMBIGUITY OF WHAT CAN OR CANNOT
BE DONE. THIS WILL ALSO SHOW HOW FAIR OR UNFAIR OUR SETS OF CENSORSHIP LAWS ARE. ONCE THE LAW IS SET, NO
MORE ADDITIONAL RULES CAN BE ENACTED UNFAIRLY AND IMPOSED ON AN AD-HOC BASIS TO A SAID PRODUCTION.

3. WE PREFER A CLASSIFICATION OR RATING SYSTEM, WHERE THE JOB OF THE CENSORSHIP BOARD IS TO GIVE RATINGS TO
ANY FILM THAT PASSES THROUGH OUR SHORES SO THAT ONLY THE SUITABLE AGE GROUPS WITH THE PROPER MENTAL
ACUMEN CAN WATCH THE FILMS WITH THE VARIOUS LEVELS OF V,H,S IN IT.

4. GIVE US THE FREEDOM TO CREATE. TO TELL STORIES LIKE WE WERE TOLD ONCE AS CHILDREN. TO TELL STORIES LIKE IN
THE GREAT ERA OF P RAMLEE, WHERE THEY WERE TELLING STORIES OF SOCIETY, SOCIAL DIVERSITY, URBAN LEGENDS,
MYTHOLOGY, ROMANCE, BETRAYAL, INFIDELITY. ETC.. ETC.

5. WE MUST HAVE MORE RESPONSIBLE AND EDUCATED FILM MAKERS.

6. WE MUST EDUCATE THE MASS INTO WANTING MORE INTELLECTUAL CONTENT.

7. WE MUST MAKE MORE FILMS WHICH WILL BE BRANDED AS MALAYSIAN FILMS.

8. NO DOUBLE STANDARDS between LOCAL and INTERNATIONAL FILMS.

9. WE NEED YOUNGER AND LEARNED PEOPLE IN THE CENSORSHIP BOARD. PEOPLE WHO CAN DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN GOOD
CINEMA AND BAD CINEMA. VIOLENCE FOR VIOLENCE SAKE OR VIOLENCE FOR THE SAKE OF TELLING A BIGGER MORE
IMPORTANT MESSAGE.

People always say why are our films not as good as P Ramlee's time, the answer to me is simple, besides the genus of a man being an undisputed visionary, he was allowed to explore and do much more interesting stories than we are allowed to. Some of his great films, are also now banned by our current censorship board.

Can we make stories as good as P RAMLEE?
I believe the man made movies for his time and was a man beyond his time, he saw things in a broarder context and not just in the point of view of the malays only. Probably this is one reason why he was so close with Tunku Abdul Rahman, who also carried the common vision of a country bigger than the Malays. A country where all it's people were equally as important. OUR FILMS SHOULD POTRAY US, not just one race.

Why is it important for us to bring Malaysian cinema to the world?
For many people, unless they have frequent flyer miles that would even make the harlem globe-trotters envious, a country's film is a reflection of how that country is, the mentality of the people, a reflection of their culture and beliefs, but most importantly, i think, how we as a people react to our experiences of life or times we are faced with dire conflicts. Our mettle if you may. A CINEMA WHICH DEFINES US.

As is said by one THE VISITOR if i am not mistaken, right now the world knows we have the KLCC but all around it, they think we are still living in a swamp and on trees. We complain about it as when they showed that scene of the KLCC in ENTRAPMENT, but what else can we do? The people who control the media help shape the way people perceive others. This is evident on how the world perceive MUSLIMS through CNN, ABC and NBC. If we don't hit back, by enlightening the world thru WORLD CLASS films which can give an accurate potrayal of us as a country and as a people, then we cannot complain because we CHOOSE not to give the world anything but our SENARIOS and MAMI JARUMS.

How do we get to do WORLD CLASS FILMs?
Like JAPAN, KOREA, INDIA, HONGKONG and now even THAILAND, we have to have MORE RELAXED CENSORSHIP. Even Indonesia, which has even more fanatical Muslims there, have more relaxed and clearly set out rules of censorship.

When this is done, i believe, then we will have more interesting content. We have to apply world standards of filmmaking but familiarised with local budgets. Give us five years and i believe within that time we will be noticed by the world. We can do it! LET US GROW TO OUR FULLEST POTENTIAL... These are all things that the government wants of its people, so let us help you, help the country.

I am aware of the many naysayers who say, "alah... even if the censorship was relaxed pun our movies will still be crap." Well all i have to say to that kind of comment is that, "That is why we are still a 3rd world country you stupid frakk... because your mindset is still 3rd world!!"... HOW THE FRAKK WOULD YOU KNOW IF OUR MOVIES WILL STILL BE CRAP?... YOU SHOOT THE IDEA DOWN EVEN BEFORE WE ARE GIVEN A CHANCE TO TRY ANYTHING!! IF YOU ARE COMFORTABLE LIVING THE LIFE OF MEDIOCRITY AND NOT WANT TO DO SOMETHING TO MAKE YOUR COUNTRY PROUD, keep your thoughts to yourself and don't involve the ones who want to EXCEL and have an AMAZING life in your agenda. WE have the gloss of the tallest this, the biggest that , the best whatever...now let's create some substance to our lives. IT IS OUR DUTY TO GOD (no matter which god you subscribe to or even if you believe there is one at that) to live our lives to the fullest and to face all it's challenges.

YES I AM A FRAKKING POSITIVE THINKER!... BUT I AM A PERSON WHO BELIEVES DREAMS, WITH A LOT OF EFFORT, WILL BECOME REAL. THIS IS MY VISION. A VISION i know many people share.

IF we can get enough people to believe in this VISION, to believe in themselves. WE WILL BECOME WORLD LEADERS. WE CAN SHOW THE WORLD WHAT A 'METROPOLITAN ISLAM HADHARI COUNTRY' IS ABOUT. (Errr... ok , i made that one up, but it sounds good- kan? heehee)

Keep the ruling on SEX if we have too because, i believe that is all asian cultures have the same modesty regarding the matter, but free up the rest. Anyway i personally believe, in films especially, sex is sexier when inferred about, rather than shown.

I REALLY want this to happen so that MALAYSIANS will be recognised in the world stage as great artisans and we can promote BRAND MALAYSIA, the body of work that all the brave new MALAYSIAN filmmakers have created through celluloid to potray the COUNTRY, in a more accurate light to the world. Make the world know who and what Malaysia is about and is REALLY capable of achieving.

I AM PROUD TO BE MALAYSIAN AND I WANT THE WORLD TO TAKE NOTICE OF US.

Watching Chris Rock's stand-up comedy dvd titled 'NEVER SCARED' really was quite an eye opener for me about how intelligent his material is. In one of his stand-up routines he said, "What makes and American an American?"......."If you fought in the world war and are serving the country by putting yourselves on the line to protect the safety of our nation, than you're AMERICAN!"..... "If you ran away from another country and had to swim across rivers and barb wire, risking your life and limb, in pursuit of the AMERICAN dream, you're AMERICAN!"... but, if all you are is someone who came out of your mother's vagina on AMERICAN soil, You're not AMERICAN!... You're just Lucky!"

So i ask you this, ARE YOU MALAYSIAN?....OR ...ARE YOU JUST LUCKY?

EMPOWER THE PEOPLE

AFDLIN SHAUKI
WANNABE MALAYSIAN.

67 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like to read your view on this matter and I respect your good opinion. I guess you should do whatever you can with cooperation with all your colleagues and the people with power to make this to happen. It's not easy but after all, we're Malaysian right. We need to prove it instead of taking it for granted.
I don't know much about movie except I really enjoy watching movie especially good ones. I support you, Afdlin.

Give me my jojo.

Pai said...

talking about asian's movies go world wide..u may wouldnt believe dis, but shah rukh khan is spreading his wings in europe rite now, i dont know about other country but in germany, u could see their( hindustan esp SRK)movies in local store, not in asian's store, but the germans..and in DVD..i am very impressed. Each DVD cost 15 to 20 Euro which means about rm100!! See how they make money. I am not trying to 'memperlekehkan' malaysian's movie coz, let us accept the truth: our movies or may b marketing, belum sampai ke tahap tue lagi..so let we see dis as an encouragement. Keep producing 'good' movies..nothing is impossible..may b our movies can go world wide too...

Anonymous said...

"5. WE MUST HAVE MORE RESPONSIBLE AND EDUCATED FILM MAKERS."

I agree. Although not all educated people could come up with brilliant ideas for a movie (PROFESSOR A.Razak Mohaideen for example?)

But yeah, I agree with that.

Anonymous said...

hmmm... susahnyee

suryani said...

Can we make stories as good as P RAMLEE?

a good question bro.....so far i don't see any movies setanding filem yang dihasilkan oleh allahyarham p ramlee

Anonymous said...

KLCC tu aku yang komen dalam last thread, abt KLCC being the first opening scene in the TV show 24 and also if theres an ID4 part 2, id love to see Hollywood blows it to sweet oblivion.
Anyway i do agree CB needs to have an openmind. Sex yes we must censor but like Darth Kodok said (kau la tu afdlin)if brutality shows its beauty later then we must show it. Tapi tu lah mentaliti orang luar sana tu. Ikut suka. Orang ramai nak memohon tapi kaunter bukak satu je. Tak peka. Tak belajar. Lari topik lak tapi memang sekaum gak tu. (layer)
AKu rasa aku suka style filem Mamat Khalid. Damn it cracks me when hes making Zombi Kampung Pisang! Id love to do a zombie flick. Yea i would love to do a zombie flick as my 1st film coz then u can experiment a lot on that subject! Kalau love story, satu point je, if zombie flick we can touch on the humanitarian side, the gore part, the action part, macam macam la leh diexposekan.
We need to break our goddamn muther trucking shell People!

Anonymous said...

Minahs_sg...

Well said *distant applause*.

It's a chicken and egg cycle, change public perception on local products or change the mentality of the people handling the censors.
Society perceives, not all some of them.... anything made in (insert western country) as better or "cooler". Some of them, which I'm afraid is the majority of the common people, view local made product as something that will be available on tv so they took them for granted. Pada pendapat mereka, lagi cool kan kalau kita tengok wayang cerita orng putih baru up sikit...
Question is: change public perception by first going through moulding process for the next generation... or calling on the censorship board to view the broader picture.. mana satu ah?

Allan Koay 郭少樺 said...

i'd say censorship first.

thats what we've been discussing in the previous post.

Allan Koay 郭少樺 said...

look, singapore's been having a more and more relaxed censorship coupled with a ratings system, and they've had local hit movies, from Jack Neo and others, and the latest being The Maid.

now they even had an opening film at the Directors Fortnight in Cannes - Eric Khoo's Be With Me.

now i'm not claiming that this all were directly caused by the relaxed censorship. no. but hey, we can still thrive and survive if the rules were less strict, kan?

encikmasen said...

A CINEMA WHICH DEFINES US

IMHO, that's the reason ppl love to see pramlee movie..a movie that define the society back then..and the moral values in the stories can be applied in daily life..

tp sekarang, peciter..

bagi ako, cara yg paling mudah nk promote negara kita ni adalah melalui filem, gomen x yah kluar duit bebanyak..support our film making industries je..

Anonymous said...

nakem bullz.......me

with brutality our creativity been demolish by the cencorship law, jadi org kita M'sia payah nak wat film yg betul2 menunjukkan siapa kita @ pihak LPF takot nak tunjukkan siapa kita sebenarnya.
rasanya org yg handle LPF ni malas nak layan isu ni pasai filem yg dah ada la ni slalu box office.Tapi wat pa kalu x leh cari makan kat oversea,camtu muak laa aku nengok melambak filem kita yg less edacute.
And one thing is NO DOUBLE STANDARDS between LOCAL and INTERNATIONAL FILMS n why they can pass the local strict cencorship but our film been steep son "anak tiri" n in one level we must beg n lick LPF ass not to cut their film...FAIR???....sandri mau ingat.......

SarahKambali said...

"HOW THE FRAKK WOULD YOU KNOW IF OUR MOVIES WILL STILL BE CRAP?... YOU SHOOT THE IDEA DOWN EVEN BEFORE WE ARE GIVEN A CHANCE TO TRY ANYTHING!! IF YOU ARE COMFORTABLE LIVING THE LIFE OF MEDIOCRITY AND NOT WANT TO DO SOMETHING TO MAKE YOUR COUNTRY PROUD"

~ yes.. i agree to this. why is it that we are surrounded by people who shoots the idea down even before giving the idea to blossom into something big in the filem or music industri...

I always say... how would a person know if that music/movie produced from Malaysia is good without even trying to have a listen/watch it first? It's not fair to continue to critic Malaysian production in film and music if you don't even try to listen to the songs or watch any malay movie production..

I know a person who flinches when i mentioned that i wanted to go to watch a Malay movie... *except if it stars/directed by Afdlin Shauki... movies by you, this person tak flinch..*

My constant question to this person, *who always critic Malaysian production tak bagus* how would you know if something is good without watching it or even having a pre-judgement before watching it.

This person never watched Sepet @the cinema because thinking it was just another Malay movie. When i made this person watch it at home later on, this person was actually impressed.

so again... i agree with what you have been discussin' here all wise Sir Afdlin.

Let's pray that era of P. Ramlee would come one day into our live.. with many people like yourself, we'll make it.. i truly hope..

Anonymous said...

bro afdlin: yeah! i watched "never scared". chris rock was 'effing' hilarious...have u watched robin williams live in broadway? try that.

ANyway, IMHO, nobody, i repeat, nobody can make a movie as good as P ramlee because our current comedic entertainment is already based on P ramlee's work. we've been recycling every jokes & every story lines that P.ramlee had created.

another question, why do we need CB if there's a Classification system (CS)? IMHO, if have a CB, we dont need a CS, and vice versa. What's the point of classifying a movie as 18SX if all the SX scenes has been toned down? same goes to SG or PL. that's my opinion lar because, in order to educate, we need to let the audience decide with accordance to the rules (i.e CS or CB).

talking abt marketing (shahrukh khan and DVD in europe), hindustani movies has the one thing that no other type of movies have; the uniqueness such as the songs, the dances and sometimes, the storyline. we need to really identify what makes a film a Malaysian film. DId PGL achieve that? did SEPET achieve that? IMHO, we need to find something unique to market our movies, and it starts with the storymakers themselves.

apart from directors, filmmakers, storytellers, or our CB, i do think we need educated actors as well. no point in creating a Malaysian movie if the actors still have the same mentality of just getting pay in big numbers.

other than that, i support what ever resolution that has been achieved here and can't wait to see it in action :P

freak
hafizismail.com

Allan Koay 郭少樺 said...

a true ratings system means that you don't make any cuts.

our current ratings system is a joke.

thinker bell said...

okay..i agree to the 'relaxed censorship thingy'..censorship should be a defining guidelines on rating..not cutting stuffs..n plus if they actually r worried its gonna suffocate our young typical malay minds, then dun show it on major cinemas..try on the small ones..or create one then..
i'd rather not be potrait as a 'mami jarum' malaysian..:) hope those kinda movies dun go far in the universe (blimey, does dat sound like a curse to them? no offence)
anyway, talking about stringent censorship, so how in the world iranian movies for instant are still better off?
i, myself m pretty selective on watching malay movies in the cinema..takut tak berbaloi orang kate..hehe
i was sure of sepet, pgl, buli that actually made my money worth..but one mistake i did, was to watch the loosely done 'g***st*r'..ops, i actually rather not naming it,takut offensive..tp ,well this is a blog anyway..
well, i'll still try to promote the good malay movies among frens :)
cheers to melayu baru :)

mistaman said...

I've been reading up on this whole thing about Malaysian Films and Censorship - it's been an amazing read. From this blog alone we can see the 2 ends and many middles of the Malaysian minds.

One thing I would like to add into this fray - is that the digital revolution is empowering the people. I think in the near future - there will be a time when censorship will become for naught as the content will be housed somewhere in the internet and accessible everywhere. Just like this blog - it gives us the power to say what we want - what's on our mind.

Therefore - education is key!

so to add - to your own tagline.
EMPOWER THE PEOPLE - THROUGH EDUCATION.

One more thing that bugs me is this - we need to create more avenues for content development to flourish. We need to create funding opportunities to hungry filmmakers/content developers that will allow us to make more domestic content. Why is this key? IF we as Malaysians, don't buy our own content - no one else will! Therefore - here's to hoping for the powers-that-be with the help and voice of the artists - to create substantial funding centers to help cultivate and grow the development of locally-developed content with world-class standards. Why? Cause we will never learn if we never do!

my 2 cents (2 sen je.. raya dah abiskan duit ku)

Anonymous said...

Yesterday I watched Salon at GSC One Utama and there was this Malay idiot (who sat in front of me with his bunch of idiot friends) who was just like the cartoon guy in the Nokia ad who yelled "Look behind you!!!" .. and he got the nerve to discuss the movie with his friends. He stopped when I kicked his chair.

P/S: I like the notice/warning ;) and that's way to go, Afdlin! It's high time to educate or show all these people with 3rd world/class mentality on how to live in a first world/class country that Malaysia is going to be..

Anonymous said...

filem p ramlee bukan laa mencapai standard atau buleh dikatakan terbagus jika dibandingkan dgn filem skang...
ape yg membuatkan filem p ramlee seronok ditonton, sebab originaliti... zaman dulu, filem tak terlalu banyak.. jadi idea masih lagi buleh dikatakan freshh... skang nih filem banyak ciplak idea atau sekurang2nye meniru konsep filem dulu2.. ataupun filem luar negara....
artis kite pun bukan hebat sgt... amik contoh apek senario yg banyak berlakon... die bukan pelakon yg berkaliber.. takat jual muka jerr... cuba kalau die diberi watak yg memerlukan die potong rambut sampai pendek atau botak, gerenti die tolak watak tu... sayang rambut dari seni... dlm filem, semuanye pakai rambut palsu.. pastu lawaknye tak pernah berubah utk tiap2 filem.... sama jerr... ape yg hebat tentang industri filem kat malaysia... setakat nih, ckp jer besar.. tapi habuk pun takde...

Anonymous said...

Hi Adflin, I reckon that that what we have here is a good start but if we are really serious to really get things changed for the better and make real progress in respect of censorship in Malaysia, then it will take lots of hard work, sacrifice of time, energy, money and an unyielding persistence of the common and ordinary person eg. artists, the film makers and the viewers, to initiate a process of change and bring it to proper fruition.

The issue of censorship affects not just films and it is an issue that affects the Arts. It may be a complicated issue but it is one which is important enough to debated and pondered upon as in essence it reflects the soul of a nation. As a nation progresses, it will always look back into its history and the artistic creativity of its people in the past and present is the one single product/creation that will withstand the test of time. World-class buildings and monuments will crumble and collapse and even disappear over the ages but the artistic works of the people will remain alive and well. One example here will suffice: The great Roman Coliseum built in 80AD lies today in ruins but the great literary works of Socrates (469-399 BC) and Plato (428-348 BC) is very much alive today and remains well read and studied worldwide.

I think that most people, artists included, accept that the issue is not one of censorship per se, but the extent and manner in which it is done. I admit that censorship decisions are not always easy to make. Most governments set policies and principles to guide these difficult but important decisions. I do not know how our censorship rules came about but ideally, these policies and principles should be set and implemented in consultation with the public and should reflect broadly the values and spirit of our current society. And in any implementation of these rules, we must be mindful that they will also shape and colour the character of our future nation.

Malaysia is a unique nation and we must first need to take stock of the key factors that shape our censorship rules. I think there are three crucial main factors that we must always bear in mind.

1) We are a Multiracial Society

We must always consider and ponder upon the dynamics of community relationships within our multiracial society, set in the context of our history and geography. We have long celebrated our cultural diversity and heritage and are proud of it. A multi-racial, multi-religious, multi-lingual society weaves a rich tapestry of culture and traditions that brings life and vitality into the community. But such a society is also inherently vulnerable to conflicts. Contention and unrest can arise if any group decides that asserting their rights takes precedence over social harmony.

We cannot be insensitive to the feelings, aspirations and needs of each ethnic or religious group, because social peace is important for our society to grow. But at the same time, we must not be overly sensitive to perceived slights or criticisms, or else we will paralyze our society with rules and regulations.

We can get the balance right if we base our efforts on mutual respect, and recognize that some give and take is necessary for our society to remain at peace and in harmony. We must therefore continue to dialogue and interact, practicing the deft art of how and when to speak our mind, and learning to listen out for ideas that can bridge differences, unafraid of diversities as we remain confident that we are one nation.


2) We are affected by Globalisation

We know that today it is a borderless world and so embracing globalisation is important. As was stated by our DPM, we need to be GLOCAL. But the more we are connected globally, the more we must accept a flow of ideas and influences from other countries and cultures. Not all ideas will necessarily work for us. Again here, we have to find our own balance.

Global influences affect each of us differently. So over time, our society will become more diverse, not just in the cultural and traditional sense, but also in our lifestyles, values and aspirations. One consequence of this is that society will demand more choice, and concomitantly will need to accept a wider variety of views. Inevitably, this will give rise to disagreements but we should not at once assume immediately that such disagreements arise because of narrow-minded or self-centred interests. Such voices may reflect well-informed viewpoints, driven by altruistic concerns, and guided by time-tested wisdom.

We will have to judge each case on its own merits. What we will need are processes that allow us to resolve such issues in ways that minimizes divisions in our community, and maximizes the common space we have to both pursue our individual convictions, and to come together in joint efforts as a whole.

3) We are affected by Technological advancements

Technological advancements will complicate our efforts. In particular, digital and communications technology have spawned a whole array of media formats and communications channels that make the task of censors more difficult, and undermine controls and safeguards that society may wish to put in place.

This means that we will have to rely more on socialization and education to uphold values and shape social attitudes and behaviour. But who should take the lead, and who should play this role? Inculcating broad values is part of our formal educational system. In our schools, we instill values like meritocracy, integrity and care and concern for others. But in reality, there is a limit to the role of the government in these matters.

Not all questions of morality or conscience can be decided preemptively. It depends on context, precedents and peer opinions. The government cannot decide for each child which movie to watch, or what cyber games to play, beyond putting in place some general system of classification to guide or restrict access. As technology advances and creates new pathways of access, this burden of guidance or control may have to shift more towards parents, teachers and adults.


So as we embark on discussing further on censorship, these are the challenges I perceive:

How do we broaden our outlook and open our minds to new ideas and stimulate creativity and still protect our core values?

How do we offer more choices and create a livelier and more vibrant society, and still preserve social unity and harmony?

Should the government exert more or less control?

Should parents and adults assume more or less responsibility?

So where do we begin?

a)We need a collective effort to answer these questions and more.

b)We need collect and collate ALL the existing censorship rules, memos, guidelines etc. from ALL ministries, departments, city and district councils, religious advisory bodies and put them all in one book or web site with free access to everybody.

c)We need to identify ALL persons currently involved in the censorship process so that invitations can be sent to them to join the Group below.

d)We need to set up a STUDY GROUP ( preferably one that comprises of as many of the members of the Censorship Board, related government officials and artists, film makers, media people and any persons interested in order to make it as broadly representative as possible ) to discuss, review and evaluate our existing censorship guidelines and practices in view of changes that have taken place over the years as well as to undertake comparative studies on censorship laws and practices of other several countries.

e)This STUDY GROUP can meet privately first to establish the formalities etc and then it should commence a public consultative process with all interested members of the public over a reasonably so that its findings and recommendations would be consistent with our efforts to engage more ordinary people and to give them a say in the policies, principles and values that will guide our social development. We cannot remain a closed and static society in this regard.

f)The STUDY GROUP can then prepare a SITUATION PAPER or MEMORANDUM comprising of all findings, responses and recommendations on the matter to the government for consideration and acceptance.

So there, I've given this another kick start......

Anonymous said...

Sorry, missed out some words in e) above, should be thus:
"...... consultative process with all interested members of the public over a reasonable period of time so that its findings....."

One more thing, this STUDY GROUP should be entirely a voluntary effort in national service and as a labour of love as all its members will NOT be paid any financial consideration to attend meetings etc. etc.Some people may suggest that it can apply for some sort of funding from the govt.If it can be done expeditiously without conditions then it should be ok but I wouldn't want to expect too much.If it is to be successful,then it should be empowered by the people as the people are empowered!!

Anonymous said...

Hi people...

lari topic perbincangan sikit.. BRO Afdlin, should add on another JANGAN:- JANGAN BUKA KASUT....as I hate to smell people's bad feet smell whilst watching a good movie.

Anonymous said...

Sorry,Afdlin dude,for having wrongly spelled ur name.AFDLIN, AFDLIN.

Izham Miyake said...

damn it jason.. hahaha. u should write on a a newspaper rather than in here. It's already longer than a normal post of a blog entry. Well, i do think ur ideas are good though.

well, after reading all these post, who's gonna work on all those resolutions? afdlin alone would not be able to do so.

Anonymous said...

apsal warning utk melayu jer?

yang lain pon sama jer...so guna la otak dan akal fikiran masing masing dan praktikkan adab adab tengok wayang...adab adab memandu dan sebagainya

I_mshe said...

love the Chris Rock comment.

Allan Koay 郭少樺 said...

JLo,

u need a blog too.

Anonymous said...

gang...pendapat aku senang jer..dalam kes ni..entiti-entiti yg tertera kat bawah ni mesti upgrade mindset memasing..tak bleh dok kat takok lama..entiti2x tersebut adalah :
1. penonton-penonton flem (bak kata david teo)
2. pembikin2x flem (lort of kodox is one of em..and he's way upgraded his mindset!)tapi bab pembikin flem ni..penerbit dgn pengarah kenelaa sekepala!ni asyik dok hentam pengarah tu pengarah ni on bende remeh temeh..adelah sorang penerbit tempatan tu..alaa lord of kodox tau lerr..
3. penapis2x flem (maybe kene kasi tukar those oldies..or mix up dgn oldies dgn younger ppl laa)
4. pengedar2x flem..yg ni maksud aku..panggung wayang etc..service kenelah bagus..jgnlaah sampai terbakar lagi sekali..tak gitu?
5. pengkitrik2x flem..kenalah kitrik dgn membina ..bukan membunuh!
6. apa lagi ekk? ntahlaah...ade mata pandang..ade telinga dengar..ade mulut cakap...jangan tak cakap!

selamat maju jaya wahai lord of kodox!

-zaza:o:binxz- said...

shara soo :: ahhaha thanks for saying out loud. i guess having prof. madya in front of your name doesnt really make u brilliant.

oh i hope i wont be sued for this.
but anyway, he's not too bad in film making, its only dat his ideas sux. technical wise, he's ok.

bout dat poster, i wanna share my experience. remember the 50th APFF screenings in TGV KLCC n midvalley? when i was watching this one iranian film (i wont mention wat title) in KLCC, i can list wat makes me sakit hati
1. at least 2 couples were making out
2. these couples gets good seats, while us, who are really seriously watching, to get some ideas or maybe comparison for our films, gets frontmost seats.
3. 3 phones were ringing damn loudly
4. one group of men, one of em is our very own Malaysian actor, were bz discussing the already confusing movie (it was iranian, and its so hard to understand d film unless we read the subtitles)

maybe those couples think, this is a good opportunity, not to waste money on cheap hotels. its a free, full-house cinema, waddaheck, right?

and to dat actor, wat if we do dat to d movie you're acting?

Anonymous said...

zaza...
after reading your comment... i nak tambah one more entiti yg perlu diupgradekan mindsetnya..entiti tersebut adalah pelakon itu sendiri..
ada mata pandang..ada telinga dengar..ada mulut cakap..jangan tak cakap!

Min Chan said...

I'm sick of watching Malaysian-made movies with stereotypes of the races. That's why I enjoy your movies, Afdlin, as the characters are real. Lagi-lagi want to say P Ramlee movies are fantastic. Yes, his movies are entertaining but time to move on. I think the censorship board need to realise that moviemakers are not children. They know what they're doing lah. Enough of "boy meet girl, fall in love, parents object 'coz boy is 'nakal', boy repents 'coz some eldery person gave him a good lecture, live happily ever after". Enough of elderly woman looking like "Opah" and the men always in baju melaju, sarung and skull cap. Enough!

Anonymous said...

hey chip..how bout adding another one hehe:
10. Ban/eliminate movies ( or better still the directors..until they stop corrupting the audience minds and come up with something sensible) which reference to Sembilu , Mistik, Cinta Kolestrol etc etc and the likes, entirely from the film industry..

oh wait..but we need more educated film makers..more professors..hmm...

cekodok pisang

Allan Koay 郭少樺 said...

-zaza:o:binxz- said...
"i guess having prof. madya in front of your name doesnt really make u brilliant.
... anyway, he's not too bad in film making, its only dat his ideas sux. technical wise, he's ok."


you...have...got...to...be...
kidding...me!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

I really loved Buli too, but what the heck happened at the end?? I was somewhat bafffled. I really didn't get the whole gangster, Afdlin and Hans going mano-a-mano with the pc security thing. I would really like an explanantion about that, because maybe it's just me, maybe I didn't understand it.

Anonymous said...

hi guys. im new but i think this is d place where u can express ur opinion in whatever u want. so lets hv all d ideas come running in

Anonymous said...

Kelab Seni Filem Malaysia
presents
MALAYSIAN SHORTS: Edisi November 2005

Monday, 14 November, 8pm.
HELP University College auditorium, Pusat Bandar
Damansara KL.

9 shorts (out of 21 entries):

AL-BAQARAH (Saiful Razman, 7 min, in Malay)
SIKKAL (Kannan Thiagarajan, 21 min, in Tamil)
WICKED (Aaron Chung, 3 min, no dialogue)
LIFE THROUGH LINES (Joseph Liu, 18 min, in Chinese)
JIDAH (Sheikh Moonasar, 4 min, in Malay)
GOING HOME (Chong Yew Fei, 14 min, in Chinese)
HUNGRY? (Hardesh Singh, 3 min, in English)
CAPTIVATION (Tan Meng Yoe, 9 min, in Chinese)
HARI MENUNGGU (Arif Rafhan Othman, 21 min, in Malay)

TOTAL: 1 hour 40 min.

Anonymous said...

hey.. that prof thing sebenarnye die dpt for marketing filem je.. bukan utk bakat seni yg die ade.. that's y die buat filem sebegitu sbb malaysians mmg suke filem mcm tu.. filem macam sepet.. depa akan ckp.. bosan laa.. xde ape2 yg special laa.. berkemban laa.. bile tgk senario xx.. best gile.. what the frak is that!? yeah.. malaysians are the worst critical thinkers (pandai jek aku buat ayat..).. from my observations laa.. kite selalu "tidak apa".. it's not easy to change that mentality.. tp it's not impossible laa..

encikmasen said...

cekodok pisang

cannot do like taht lah..most ppl love to watch taht type of movie..i think we shud make more movies that make the audience think..and let the audience decide which one is worth watching..

and yes..our rating system is a joke..IMHO, all film that have been gon through LPF is considered for tayangan umum..

just my 2cent..

btw..try to watch russel peters..its good too

-zaza:o:binxz- said...

Visitor :: OK does not means GOOD.

Allan Koay 郭少樺 said...

-zaza:o:binxz- said...
"Visitor :: OK does not means GOOD."


it is not even at the level of OK, IMO.

*cosmic freak* said...

there's a law saying that anyone who is born in Malaysia, mother tongue is Malay and religion is Islam is a Malay .

another law states that if you're born in Malaysia with your birth certificate registered in Malaysia and you lived here till you're 12 to make your Malaysian ID card, then you're Malaysian.

But why live by the rules when you act like you're a non malay or western wannabe. Then I say these people are just lucky.

I guess what young entertainers or whoever want to be involved in the entertainment industry MUST have a basic desire in his/her heart to dare to DREAM BIG.

It must be compulsory. Dare to dream big and willing to take the risk and explore.

The fact is, our youngsters refuse to work in the government and try to change the perception and then when they work in a private company, they blame the government for setting up those rules.

I say, use your potential and privileges as a Malay especially, and set it up straight in the government first. Its the only way to make those old folks see what we have got to offer.

But all these words I just wrote might meant nothing for I have not the slightest experience nor idea how tough the reality is so forgive me. (",)

Btw, your KODOK blog rules man!

Anonymous said...

I am not sure where to start this .. but Webber totally puts the Engineering proffesion to shame.. No way can you likened a certain field of study to another . And Engineering is dealt with logic whilst Film-making is made with more of passion-related art .. ( I hope I got that right).
And for what Mr. Afdlin said about our local films .. I agree with him and believe there is a glut in our cinemas. Too much movie of a specific genre. Too shallow story-line. The good and award-winning Malaysian made movies are the ones that you have never heard of but only at the papers. Id be dumbfounded and be totally ridiculed if I was an Information Minister.

Izham Miyake said...

Here comes my dearest sister abby!

Hi abby!

Anyway, with regards to your comment(s), to change something, we do not need to be the insider. When there's a will, there's always ways to work it out.

Are we going to wait for Afdlin to be an MP or a minister (who knows, all of a sudden, afdlin become a super politician) then only we can see the changes take places?

With proper and correct actions, with the support from all the film makers of Malaysia, it's not only a dream. I'm not gonna give any examples (as I'm worried that it'll become sensitive issues), but other such things of policy changes happened, so i believe thing will happen as well.

It's time for Malaysian movies to 'keluar dari tempurung'.

Indeed, I felt bad letting myself wasting my time to watch a few 'cinta-cinta' movies, as mentioned by one of the bloggers above. -Sigh-

I wish Afdlin can do a movie, something like a dirty life of a single mom, or maybe about a boy who turned up to be a gangster due to his wrecked families, or maybe a life of an old man who got HIV because of his bad deeds like free sex and drug trafficking. There are also people who keep running from Along.

All these 'kisah-benar' can be combined into one movie, as these based-on-true-stories will surely involve every single race. It might be a challenging movie to do but with Afdlin's talents, i think he knows it best of what to do about it.

I'm telling u guys, i knew these people, as they're really exist. So we let the society of their existence, for the sake of educating them. This is what we should tell people of what's really happening around us. So that people will learn.

As u can see, is there any movies about the achievements of any of our sportsmen/women in the country? Westerners has been doing this a lot!

I don't know, maybe people will say to me "senang cakap, susah bikin" but how i wish to actually feed our people's mind with all this kind of movies so that we Malaysian will appreciate more of what we have!

-Izham-
http://izham-miyake.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

hello all!

most important question is WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO PRODUCE ART THAT'S APPEAL TO MASSES? (or in this case malay mainstream market)..

takkan selama2nya kita nak tgk bdk2 AF tu berlakon Gerak Khas 4-9 atau cerita2 lawak (tak lawak sebenarnye) slapstik..

i watched Salon and it's OK lah.. although it's not deep n doesn't teach me "yet another thing about love", i love the concept and cinematography etc..yang penting sekali, it's fresh..sgt suka deco bilik ezra!! =D

psl cencorship, i don't really know what to comment.. really dissapointed when the banned films aired in Astro a year or 2 later.. then what's the function of banning in the 1st place really?

btw, abg afdlin.. u rock my socks!

mucho <3.

Allan Koay 郭少樺 said...

i take a different view of what you said, Izham.

i feel filmmakers should never make films with the intention of spreading a message or teaching people anything. once you choose to try and "educate" people, then you're inevitably putting yourself on a moral high ground. then you become like a politician pushing an agenda or a propagandist trying to influence people's thoughts.

filmmakers should make films becos they have something to say. that's all. for example, David O. Russell wanted to show the American govt's selfishness and injustice in the first Gulf War and how the only real cost of war is human lives. so he made Three Kings. or Spike Lee wanted to show the incongruity and the myopic exaggerations of racism, so he made Do The Right Thing.

the best films in the world do not impose their views on anyone. rather, they leave it to the audience to decide. all films are just the opinions of its makers. subjective. you cannot learn anything truly substantial from films. after all, fiction films are just that - fiction.

i agree with Alfred Hitchcock when he said "it's only a film", although he may have said that to be sarcastic. but there's truth in that phrase.

it's only a film.

Anonymous said...

kodok groupie,
like i said ... it's all up to what your experience is telling you. Some of the engineers on this board feel that engineering and art are two totally different thing. I see engineering and art as one of the same.

you feel that engineering is all about logic and filmmaking is about passion and art. I dont see it the way you do. Filmmaking is to engineering is as much as what engineering is to filmmaking. We have structures, we have assumptions, we have reasons and we have ideas ... to name a few. So in actuality, i was implying that engineering is as par as film"eering" hence, uplifting the engineering profession.

I have friends, who are engineers in profession, that feels that we hardly use any of what we learn in school. I got one engineer who said to me that he only used 10% of what he learn on his job. So he has a different view on what it needs to be an engineer.

I on the other hand, feels that im using at least 2/3 of what i learn in school. I spent most of my college years on extra-curicular activities rather than hitting the books. So you're most definitely going to have 2 different views on being an engineer or what engineering is, if you have one kid with his books, and one kid with his engineering project.

if you think engineering is all logic and art ... you ... most likely never had the opportunity to do any risk assessment for a project. If you're an engineer, trying making one for any type of project, and let me know if it's not 99% art and 1% engineering.

Go figure ...

Anonymous said...

i forgot to put my signature again ...

the above post is from ...

Webber

Anonymous said...

its great how u feel the need to change the mindset of our people thru our movies and cinema, i really support u in your vision. But blaming the CB, SENARIOs and MAMIJARUMs to me is truly unhealthy Malaysian mentality itself. Blaming others is so uncool, bro... sorry but atleast u can blame A-HA too in tht sense. This i notice, we keep saying bad things to other local filmakers which are not so arty or in the same level we think we are.

In the CB matter, i do agree we need more young fresh mind in the board, (maybe u shld try to apply) but again blaming wont do us any good. There's few other countries where the CB are more strict and they produce lotsa of world recognition film such as the Iranians, Children of Heaven. It shows that if we have the creativity, we will produce a good storytelling film no matter what's the boundaries. and if not no matter wht, it will still be crap. Rite?

Again, sorry.
I'm only a Lucky Malaysian.

Oreos said...

afdlin,

i agree with most of what you say about censorship. what's happening now smacks of animal farm and 1984.

power to the people bro.

Anonymous said...

Being a was-engineer, now-business person and always an artist, I find that there are some truth in what Webber says, and that, like what the kodok master has also implied, that if it does not happen in your own territory, it does not conclude in any manner, it also does not happen in others. That said, engineering may be art to some and pure logic and kick ass analysis to make sure the bridge you're driving on doesn't collapse on you, or the car you're driving in doesn't disintegrate in the rain etc.

You see, before reading the thoughts of the very few Malaysian on this blog, I was one of them who feels that our beloved tgvs and gscs are saturated with one genre films, and I always get so upset that the films my friends and family and I, appreciate does not make it big at the box office. Then again, we rarely go out to the movies anyway. But can you blame us when before the likes of our beloved chief, yasmin and the sorts, we felt as if we were cheated out of our pockets whenever we left the cinemas. But, there were more of them, who left with us who wanted to watch those movies repeatedly, while anxious to catch the next sequels. Some film makers will make film to cash in at the box office. Some film makers make films to tell stories close to their hearts, and in what the firmly beleive in, they hope the can make it big, but the can only hope. The understand the cinema goers' trends, but the still hope. Some gets frustrated and find reasons to blame - censorship board, education level, Associate Professors, Mawi - whatever else they can think of. The fact that, those who appreciates, appreciates. (I suddenly realize that after much typing, I've not touched anything on the CB topic directly, hmmm...)

Agree with the few who mentioned either direct or indirectly, that even the Iranians can come out with some really good films that really leave impact all within their CB restrictions. Behold their creativity, their passion, the story.

I agree with the kodok chip that the CB should be more consistent, but to be more relaxed, i think seriously think that those people should be given some credits for trying to protect some Malaysians, yes some Malaysians, be them "lucky" or "patrioticly" Malaysians, maybe not Malaysians like you and me, but like some of those who are much influenced by movies and tvs. I don't know about you people, but I blame Hollywood too, if not banyak, sikit, for the decline in our once sopan santun, budi bahasa moral values, divorce rates, crimes - they're getting more hi-tech, and more intelligently planned. Now with the likes of CSIs (I'm a big fan by the way, who watches in worry)these crimes shall be more organized, planned and conducted. Even if you have ratings, when the parents are out, the kids still watch. There must be some form of control.

I understand your vision, I assure you, I respect that, and I admire that in you, and I applaude your cause. I too feel it's time to bring the Malaysian movie standard to a higher level, to tell the stories of what really is Malaysia.

But in some parts, Malaysian loves slapstics jokes, Scenarios and the sorts, because in some parts, they are like that. Mami Jarums still exists, and cerita cinta like those of Sembilus, Kuliah Cinta, Cinta Colestrol - although banyak yang dah ditambah2 bagi hollywood+bollywood sikit, exists. And don't we, watch those we can relate to and are close to our heart.

Wow, that's a lot of two cents.

Anonymous said...

Mr afdlin, u, sir, have my full support. i agree on the whole, double standards issue. Apsal la diorg concern sgt dgn imej guru "tercemar" tu? Entah2, guru2 sendiri kalo tengok, diorg akan ketawa, sbb diorg pun pernah buat..after losing their cool with irritating students. And u can even point out, masa cerita P. Ramlee dulu, cikgu dia siap tido dalam kelas lagi.. takde pulak nak menjatuhkan imej guru or whatsoever..nak buat perbandingan pun boleh, u know macam..kalau kuiz raya kat tv3 tu (or whatever quiz in d radio, etc)..dia bagi soalan2, tp in the end, dia mmg nak bagi org yg menjawap tu menang. ni lpf, bg guideline itu ini, mcm in the end, tak nak bagi org buat filem. at least not the provocative, thinking, type of films. nak citer slapstik bodooo jiwang2 karat jugaaakkk... sigh. so.. anyway, thanks for ur time, n if u read this, kalau rajin tu.. masuk la my website eh.. hehe. bangga la kalau afdlin syauki masuk my website! chow! tarakucha.com

-zaza:o:binxz- said...

visitor :: ok ok he SUX, u're right.

bro izham :: those storylines can be found in some indie movies. and SePet did portray gansterism, tho it's jest a small portion of the whole film. SePet ROCKS!

visitor and abg izham :: i agree with u guys on both points. make film if u haf sumthing to say - yup. make film to educate - to certain extend yeah why not? it wouldnt be 'propagandism' when the films are depicted with naturalism (and naturalism is what we dun always get in Malaysian films). and it also depends on what kinda issue u wanna 'educate' the viewers, because to me, films does have an impact to our everyday life, it could even set a trend or even culture, so it is somehow educative, in a way. issues like we should berbahasa sopan 24 hours is so lame tho, and that is somewhat a propaganda.

this is totally off topic but...
(no offense gomen staffs)
mesyuarat mesyuarat mesyuarat 9 to 5, mesyuarat ada makan makan... maybe dat's how the gomen people retain their mindset :op

Bukan Sepet said...

So i ask you this, ARE YOU MALAYSIAN?....OR ...ARE YOU JUST LUCKY?

Both.

I had been "educated" by Lembaga Penapis Filem Negara therefore I'm a Malaysian.

heh heh!

Allan Koay 郭少樺 said...

look at it this way.

back then, we could show almost naked women, teacher sleeping in class, berkemban, hantu and jembalang, black magic, mythical creatures, kissing.

now, we cannot show kissing, no nudity, no heavy breathing, no killing, no hantu except in dreams, no teacher throwing duster, etc etc.

are we better off now? is the crime rate lower? are kids more sopan nowadays? are there no more abandoned babies in the tong sampah? less murders? less robberies? less lumba haram? etc?

Anonymous said...

What a rousing and stirring posts! I feel my heart beat and bleed with the blood of Malaysia

Besides censorship, we need an audience - the people of Malaysia to take off their racial and ideological blinkers to watch, laugh, cry and think over Malaysian films. Sepet is groundbreaking in appealing across all walks of life (not since P.Ramlee), and Gol dan Gincu builds upon that, and may there be many more films to come.

Although personally I feel that the majority of Malaysian films so far have not attain international standing yet, I believe we are non the right track, and whatever shortcomings there are right now marks a new dawn for Malaysian films, even as other Asian national cinemas also had similar humble and fumblng beginnings, and from there the sky is no limit to what we can achieve...

Semoga filem Malaysia menjayakan visi satu Malaysia untuk semua orand Malaysia!

Zed said...

holy jumping hippo's batman! that is one of the best entry so far froggy...

i admire your talent and your vision. be yourself that's funny, and stop this mainstream bull that you sometimes potray - that is not funny and just ain't afdlin.

i think between you and yasmin a great movie can be made and a story be told.

that is what we tend to lack in our movies - a story.

lame slapsticks will only get us so far, the rest needs a good story. as for p. ramlee i am one of his biggest fan but we have the luxury of watching his lifetime work from beginning to end. his early movies wasn't that great but he improvised and evolved much as you will too i am sure. i look forward to what afdlin has in store for us down the road - experiment, take risk and never grow up bro.

p/s

selamat hari rayeeeeeeeee......

Izham Miyake said...

Uh-oh. Hehe.

Not to directing my post to anyone, my main intention was, 'Message Delivered' and 'Message Acknowledged'. Either to educate, or propagandism, there are messages to be delivered. There's always something to be told. Viewers will just acknowledge the message and consume it.

Some people may not like questions because u'll start to think. For those who are so lazy to squeeze their brain then skip this post. I have a lot of questions for me actually to ponder.

What's the point of a movie if it's pointless? No message? It'll be like watching a movie, which is in the end, u asked urself, what was that? Why don't I get the message, even though the filmmaker maybe intended to deliver messages?

I love comedy movies too but why can't we have something like The Hitch? (betul ke tajuk dia?)

I've a friend who's dying to watch one of the slapstick movies. He said, he liked the movie because he wants to relax and laugh so he prefer a movie which doesn't need him to think a lot.

Do malaysians love slapsticks? Was it the people who love slapsticks or the moviemakers who lokked down on the malaysian movie viewers to such a very low standard, in terms of thinking and consuming the movies?

What are actually the key factors of the viewers coming over to the cinema? Is it the promotion? Or the movie itself? Or the actors/actresses? Or the pengarah? Or how controversial?

How about the exposures? Do the slapstick movies lover has ever been exposed to a non-slapstick comedy?

Hmm..

Why i hardly see chinese people watch malay movies in the cinema, but malays do watch chinese movies (don't tell me u don't watch kungfu hustle) and hindustan movies also?

So...

Is it the viewers or the moviemakers?

Cipkodok said...

Syahrulfikri,

I completely agree with you that it's not cool to blame others but i didn't blame them for doing the film. i blame myself for taking this long to stand up and say something about what's wrong with the film industry. The very reason i entered this film industry was because i thought that someone should make better films. So if i didn't do something when i know i am capable then it would be my fault. BUT my advise to you is that just so that you don't get lost in this discussion...

YOU HAVE TO READ and say assalammualaikum first, before you make comments about what we are talking about. When i talked about the mami jarums it was in the context of the strain of thought that we were discussing. SO PLEASE DON'T JUST MENYAMPUK in the middle because it is very annoying.

I am glad if u thought A-ha was crap. Then maybe you you could tell me what was wrong with it, so, me and harith could know what to fix. To me, it was what it was and it achieved what it had to do and i'm sure, the prof and datuk yusoff would then say the same about their product. Those films were not made for international consumption but pretty much to hone in to the local malay mass audience's demands.

BUT We are here to talk about how to take the MALAYSIAN film industry into the next level, ie win back the market share from the Hollywood machine and brand our films so that it is a reflection of the time that we live in int this country. PLUS make Malaysia a bigger player in the world film industry.

Please don't assume that i am just being vindictive and spiteful for no reason, for that i resent very much. I discuss with passion because this is my passion. I am still learning to be a better film maker but i believe i do know good cinema when i see it.

We have discussed the Iranian situation, their CB is worse but the rules are clear and CONSISTENT, ours is not. We never say we cannot make good films with censorship, it's just that the stories that we want to tell will be limited by the censorship. Wanna know HOW consistency affects us filmmakers.....

READ PREVIOUS POSTS AND COMMENTS!

Do i think Mami Jarum and SEMBILU was CRAP ....YES I DO! as some people would say BULI was crap. AND it is ok to me. BULI IS IMPERFECT! AND I HAVE OPENLY ADMITTED IT TO MANY OF MY FRIENDS AND FELLOW FILMMAKERS. (i will reveal my buli experience on the blog soon)

And ZAZA if you watch "i know what you did last raya" then you will see how technically inept the prof is, or maybe he is capable, but just doen't care since he feels that the people doesn't know any better. But again this is just my opinion.

The problem with malaysians are we don't want to say it out in the open because nak jaga hati orang, so the ORANG will never know what mistakes, if any, that he had made - so off course, he cannot rectify those mistakes.
I have an opinion and i will use it. But i use it in the proper context and only if it will get results.

EMPOWER THE MINDFUL

AFDLIN

Allan Koay 郭少樺 said...

thats the one thing that has always frustrated me, that Malaysians never want to open their mouths and say whats really on their minds all becos they are afraid of offending other people.

the spirit of debate and discussion has been killed many times by this.

but i believe you don't have to worry about offending anyone as long as you say it in a civil manner. of course, there is a fine line between being opinionated and speaking your mind, and being just plain rude and obnoxious. but as long as we realise where those boundaries lie (such as being respectful to others' religion, beliefs, culture, etc, and allowing them the right to THEIR opinion), i don't think we have to worry about offending anyone.

my honest opinion.

Anonymous said...

Assalamualaikum,
Deep apology for menyampuk, was only commenting on this post and i'll try not to get lost next time on the discussion.

Vlad said...

What you have said were all true.

As long as the censorship standard is not set, we are all doomed to support the pirates.

Kill me if you have to but I will choose death over watching a censored movie.

Or we will remain recycling all the movie ideas because we cannot breakthrough.

Or by the way, I am just lucky.

admin said...

Patutnya ada No. 5

5. JANGAN KENCING.. [Berak, impossible la]

ahaks²...ahak²

-zaza:o:binxz- said...

bro afdlin

yeah prolly i hafta recorrect what i said. technically, he's not even good.

it's jest dat in the level of our film makers, his work are not the worst, dat's wat i really thought. yeah but coming to think of it, not so many of our bigtime film makers are SO good anyway, so he does sux.

am currently learning to bikin filem and i know hands-on that its not easy. prolly my current tasks are not even 20% as big as the tasks of film makers, but this hardship thought me so many things; including putting up with the sequences of being critique, and my work wont get approved, or even while creating my storyline/storyboard, plainly i jest got stuck and dunno where to go. so when there are people who 'perlekehkan' kerja kerja pembikinan filem ini, i feel so sickly. i think u know what i mean, chip kodok.

perlekehkan here, does include wat the CB is doing. and as for Prof M Razak, i really didnt know he didnt master in film making, only in film marketing. no wonder sooo streotypical. bikin filem boleh jual.

btw i read the current entry (the one after this) - for dat entry - prolly some CB members already read our comments. heh. jest hope. or do they even know how to surf the net?

Anonymous said...

I wonder where did the stigma of bad malaysian movies started? who actually started the ball rolling? If malaysian's movies are so bad, why was it even released in the first place? Do we not have a test group for this purposes? If the reason/excuse is no budget, well u dont need a lot of budget to make a good movie. Think about movies that are box offices but was done wit a very low budget. I guess there will never be pleasing anybody esp in this issue. Just be glad that we are malaysians however we should think outside the box more and see the view in a bigger picture.

Allan Koay 郭少樺 said...

Jaja/Zaza,

just becos it is hard to make a film doesn't mean we cannot criticise a bad film or bad director. we should, but we should do it constructively. then everyone can learn a thing or two. but u know, ppl must also be able to accept criticism.

what you have just said, that we should not "perlekehkan" any filmmaker, is akin to that cop-out argument that some ppl use when they're cornered: "it's easy for you to criticise. why don't you try and make a film and see how difficult it is?"

for me, that kind of argument is just ridiculous. it means that we cannot criticise, say, George Bush, becos we have never been president of a country ourselves.

you know, the most influential directors of the French New Wave were themselves film critics for Cahiers du Cinema before they became world-renowned filmmakers themselves. look at Jean-Luc Godard, he's changed the rules of filmmaking forever. and what was he before? a film critic.

Anonymous said...

AFDLIN

IN CHINESE SAID "ADD OIL". One more vote for u babe ! ..
dont give up as we( young generation of Malaysia) are now very very thirsty n hungry for malaysian movie! Hoping n wishing to watch our own movie too..!

KEEP IT UP ~

Lepat said...

afdlin dude,
whenever i watched mainstream malay movies, i always feel there's lack of sincererity...from the direction to the acting to the dialog..err..basically the whole production..and for most part, they do not even represent actual society (think cheesy dialog with wierd accents). these movies are weak at telling a story...how many of us could fully comprehend what "Embun" or "Paloh" are trying to tell??..
thank god for indies...otherwise there's very little to look forward to as far as the movie industry is concern..

Najwa Aiman said...

i wish i could stand up and shout now...!!!!

i totally but agree with everything u said about lembaga penapis filem... i mean... what the hell are they censoring anyway? and from whom? and for what blardy reason???

the worst mistake those people ion censorship board ever make - they assume that other people have the same mentality as they do.

if i chose to beleive that hantu and puntianak exist after watching PHSM, so what?

saje je lepas geram..... jgn marah.... mari kita ramai2 makan kobis ni...