JANUARY 3 — Even though it was generally a sad year in terms of box-office, 2014 has turned out to be a year of quite a few notable milestones.
The ever prolific MIG Pictures or Metrowealth group still keeps up its regular schedule of releases, and even though they lack their usual one or two RM4 or RM5 million blockbusters this year, they should still be good for business thanks to their spread of horror films which did respectable RM1 million plus business like Pengantin Malam (RM1.6 million) and Nasi Tangas (RM1.3 million).
With the latest sequel Adnan Sempit Sawadikap only pulling in a decent RM1.27 million compared to the RM5 million to RM7 million range of some of its predecessors, it’s obvious that the MIG brand of local comedy needs a reboot in order to pull in the crowd again.
The year’s box office champion is of course The Journey, its box-office takings of RM17.17 million comfortably making it Malaysia’s all-time box-office champ.
That is definitely one milestone there, especially considering the fact that the film doesn’t even fall into the normal categories of films that are usually box-office hits here in Malaysia.
Its rather modest story about family values is more TV movie material than cinema, as has been noted by a lot of people but it’s exactly that, and the movie’s slick production values, which made so many people flock to the cinemas to watch it.
It’s just a nice Malaysian story, nicely told. And it’s nice to see something as nice connecting with Malaysians of all races and all walks of life, mainly through simple word of mouth as it played in Malaysian cinemas for almost two months.
Another milestone came in the shock big win for indie darling KIL at the 26th edition of Festival Filem Malaysia in the final quarter of 2014.
For a small, low-budget indie film from a first time film-maker sans your usual “film stars” in the lead roles, to win Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay is a really big deal. It’s almost like a symbolic acceptance by the Establishment that a new generation of Malaysian film-makers have arrived, and they have taken notice.
Speaking of that new generation, the biggest milestone of the year, for me at least, is in the number of good mainstream films by this new generation released in 2014, in all sorts of shapes and sizes, which means that we’re finally seeing some sort of refreshing variety in Malaysian mainstream films this year.
You’ve got the modern-ish, normal budget mainstream comedies like Razaisyam Rasyid’s excellent feature film debut CEO, a piece of slick and witty entertainment done so well that it’s a shame that so few people saw it when it played in cinemas. In a more just world, this film would’ve been a smash hit.
You’ve also got Liew Seng Tat’s second feature film and mainstream debut Lelaki Harapan Dunia, which was backed by so many of the world’s leading film funds that you’d think that it’s one of those artful and demanding festival films, but instead you get a hugely entertaining satire masquerading as a Mamat Khalid style local mainstream comedy.
If you need proof that this new generation is not syok sendiri, then this movie and CEO are shining examples of how this new generation can make perfectly entertaining films that are also smart and well made.
You’ve also got young Syafiq Yusof, son of Datuk Yusof Haslam and younger brother to Syamsul Yusof, both former kings of the Malaysian box-office with Sembilu II and KL Gangster respectively, who brightened up the Malay language film scene this year with his hit comedy Abang Long Fadil (which scored RM4.6 million), a wonderful piece of comic nonsense a la Stephen Chow that is again very, very well made.
The slightly older guard didn’t do too shabbily either, with Kabir Bhatia delivering the hilarious Dollah Superstar and Bernard Chauly again proving his mettle with chick flicks and rom-coms with Manisnya Cinta Di Cappadocia.
And let’s not forget the prolific and underrated Pierre Andre, who’s proving to be quite adept at making efficient and effective horror flicks, and does it again this year with Cerita Hantu Malaysia, a sort of omnibus film, with three truly Malaysian ghost stories loosely connected to each other that is quite fun to watch.
If there is one Malaysian director who I think deserves more respect, then it’s definitely Pierre, whose reputation is tarred by his acting roles and by the fact that because he makes so many movies, the amount of misses kind of overshadows the actually solid ones, like Seru, Highland Tower and 3 Temujanji.
I expect him to make a few more of these good ones in the future, and who knows maybe he’ll finally get the respect that he deserves in 2015?
And of course last but not least we’ve got what I humbly think is the best Malaysian film of 2014, Terbaik Dari Langit, Nik Amir Mustapha’s follow-up to KIL which just opened last week on December 25 and is currently the subject of a lot of discussion.
Bigger and bolder in every way, the film not only works as a touching and hilarious piece of movie entertainment, but it’s also a confirmation of the promise that the director has shown in his debut film KIL. Not exactly mainstream but definitely audience-friendly, Terbaik Dari Langit feels like another milestone in the making. What sort of milestone? I guess we’ll only find out come the end of 2015!
* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
