After watching the Malay movie titled ‘Selubung’ (1993), I am of the view it is a straightforward drama and romance genre movie. The story is about Mastura and her friends who went to study abroad. Over there, her good friend E.J. was greatly influenced by a religious group led by Brother Musa whom she later married. Feeling the deep loss of her friend, upon graduation, Mastura decided to contribute to society by becoming a volunteer at Rescue Aid International (RESCAID). She was supported by her friend Halim who had experiences in voluntary work while serving in the Middle East. Mastura also received support in her voluntary work from Kamal, the Director of the Organisation. They eventually fall in love and she found out later he was a divorcee. Mastura’s work was acknowledged worldwide and this success was further enhanced when RESCAID held a charity concert to collect funds for the Palestine children. However, tragedy soon strikes at Mastura unexpectedly.
As I watched the film, I observed there was character development from one point to another. This is what I liked about the film. Most of the characters show their own personality which sends out a strong message to movie viewers that they are capable of doing what they set out to do. Eg. Initially Mastura was new in voluntary work but she worked hard and became popular and her contribution to the needy was recognised by the world. Another thing is the background song for some of the scenes suits the mood when the film is being played. When Mastura was in coma at the hospital after the bombing at the headquarters, the background song played represents hope for the character to awaken.
However, there are certain aspects of the film which I find not to my liking. Some of the dialogues are irrelevant to the story in the movie. Eg. “I love the earrings” when Kamal tried to persuade Mastura not to leave. In the flashbacks, there are too many for a few minor characters, eg. Brother Musa’s first wife, Hani which causes confusion to the flow of the story. In addition, there were masses of jump shots of different locations and even before the characters were able to finish their line, causing disruption to the flow of the movie.
As regards part of the film I like, the location in Perth, Australia made a safe and interesting element for the movie as it shows the college where Mastura and her friends study before graduating. What intrigued me was the choice of the University of Western Australia, Perth which represents a university that produces highly educated and mature students as portrayed by the characters.
The quality of Masculinity is portrayed by Kamal and Halim. Kamal, a divorcee tries to win back Mastura after she rejected him on learning he had been married before. Halim was helpful in protecting the children from the soldiers when the attack took place at the Lebanon headquarters. He tries his best to save the people’s lives but he was a victim and died when the bomb exploded at the top of the building.
The portrayal of Feminism can be seen in Mastura’s character. She represents a tough and independent female who changes from a normal working office lady to a modern goodwill ambassador for the RESCAID. Feminism is also seen in E.J. who at first was a traditional girl who follows the path of the religious group. After she suffered the trauma of her baby’s death, she became timid, unsecured and shy.
The parts that I dislike about the film are when some of the characters could not be seen clearly due to the poor shots. Also, one scene was too long and too detailed. This is the scene where Halim takes Mastura out on a date on a motorcycle. There were many shots of Halim adjusting his seat, puts on his helmet and starts the engine of the motorcycle before he moves off.
As I continued watching the movie, I noticed a few things about the ‘mise-en-scene’. One of them is lighting. Certain scenes were not brightly lighted to show the characters in full form. It made them look like shadows that I was unable to identify who is talking to whom. Eg. The scene when Mastura was in coma, Halim was seen at the hill looking depressed. The audience knows who he is but his face cannot be seen due to insufficient lighting thus causing the audience unable to see his facial expression. Another fault in lighting is when Mastura and her friends were watching a video at the classroom in Perth, the lights were from bright to dim and this happened twice. As for sound, some sounds were clear and some have echoes when the characters were talking especially towards the end of the movie. However, the sound produced during the bomb scene was realistic.
The editing was not done very well. Most of the story flow was jumpy and not really in sequence. There were many flashes of different locations shown from time to time and it is difficult for me to understand the director’s concept. At the scene where Mastura visits her father in Terengganu, the film was moving too slowly, this is when Mastura has a butterfly on her cheek. The actors displayed good acting skills and I feel they have done a good job as I can identify the various character’s moments of sorrow, joy, loss of hope and confusion. However, in Kamal’s character, most of his facial expressions were quite superficial.
The props used in the movie varies from location to location. I can see that there were many types of props used to accommodate the different scenes. The locations were varied and ranges from local to international. Eg. From Terengganu to Palestine and from Kuala Lumpur to Perth. The costumes worn by all the characters fit the criteria of the years the movie progresses through. It managed to show the fashion and created the era of the period from the year 1969 in Terengganu, the costumes of the children in Palestine and until the 90’s when the movie ends. I was impressed by how they make up Mastura’s injured face after the explosion at the RESCAID Malaysia headquarters.
Overall the film was quite touching as it portrays different aspects of human emotions and miracles can happen if you believe in it.
References
Selubung /1992. (2003). Retrieved November 13, 2011, from http://www.filemkita.com/filem/s/selubung_01.html
Selubung (1993). (2011). Retrieved November 13, 2011, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105350/
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