#2 Abang (1981) by Rahim Razali

After watching the Malay movie titled ‘Abang’ (1981), I am of the view it is a straightforward drama and slice-of-life genre movie.  The story tells how one family is ecstatic over the return of the eldest son, Fuad who had been in London for 10 years. While the parents were happy, two brothers, Faizal and Farid disagreed with the arrival of their eldest brother as he had committed many wrong doings to the family. While the brothers do not get along well, Fuad has been making amends trying to make things right by doing charity and helping other people. The whole family suspects his unusual behaviour until a doctor came to tell them he had leukaemia and his health was fast deteriorating. On hearing this, the family went to see him but he was pronounced dead upon their arrival.

What I like about the film is, the development of the characters is from medium-pace to fast and I get to make out the real working life of these characters. The development of the characters were easily recognised, well-informed and there were more emotions in the film. It also shows the eldest sibling bears huge responsibility to the family which has an impact and a big influence on them.

What I don’t like about the film is the story development is too slow for the film. The work of the film is ordinary and there is no impact on the storyline which makes the story drag. There are several conversations that were not related to the story and scenes that took much of the time to be shown till the next one.

As regards Cultural Hybridity, in the film, the whole family were Western-oriented in terms of clothing, house design and their behaviour. But they never neglected their roots of who they are. Although Fuad has been living in London for 10 years, he never set aside his belief and own religion. Instead, he maintains a traditional life learning to be humble and teach his brothers to follow the correct path. Fuad was more to traditional lifestyle while the family follows the Western lifestyle. When Faizal visits Fuad’s house and having barbeque for dinner, Fuad served an orange juice which portrays a Western drink instead of a normal drink which is more characteristic of their religion. Dila, Fuad’s sister, was more into Western lifestyle as she is an idol in a disco club and loves to race cars.

There are some characters that used different languages other than their mother tongue. They often use English during their conversation as a short call. This is the form of Language Hybridity used in the film. Example, when Faizal was waiting for Fuad’s arrival with his wife Mona, they reminiscence the past, ‘a ghost from the past’ was what Faizal portrays of Fuad. The family too often use the word ‘I’ instead of ‘Aku’ as a shorter way to pronounce it.

There is Race Hybridity depicted in the film. At the beginning of the film, the family’s company is shown as a multiracial group consisting of different races including Chinese and Indian.

Even though Fuad has taught everyone in his family to be true to their selves, they never listen to him as he was a menace to the family before and did not trust him. In the end, after realising he had an illness and was going to die, everyone in the family starts to regret the way they treated him and was too late to see him for the last time.

As I continued watching the movie, I noticed a few things about the ‘mise-en-scene’. As for lighting, some background scenes were too dark and the characters were only partially visible. Some scenes were quite dim and the features of the characters were not easily noticeable. For the sound effect, all the character’s voices are clearly heard and there were no blunder in the dialogue. But I do find that certain background songs were not compatible with the scenes been shown. When Fuad and his partner were about to meet the company associate, the background song does not suit that particular scene.

The editing of the film was not done systematically. At the scene where Fuad came to Faizal’s house to visit Mona, his ex-fiancee and when both were having a conversation, the background song of a piano playing was often played and stopped, then continued again for few minutes. This disruption created a dull atmosphere to the scene. There were mistakes in the editing when the conversations between them were different from the video. Their voices were heard but the video shows a different scene which is irrelevant. Example, when Fuad and Mona were talking, the video changed to the part where they met for the first time, but the conversations were still going on. When Dila was singing with Fuad playing the piano, I noticed she was lip syncing because the song did not match with her lip’s movements.

Coming to the actor’s behaviour and movement, the character’s behaviour changes when the story progresses and they have different emotions being applied in the film. There is one scene where Faizal went to Fuad’s house for a visit. After a heated argument, Fuad asked Faizal to follow him to a certain place in the garden and in the next scene, they were on good terms and having dinner together. This is confusing as there is no way to determine how they make up.

Props used were appropriate. There were many that fit the scenes’ environment.  I find the props were suitably used. Locations portrayed in the film were varied and there were many different locations been shot in Malaysia and they even got a view of a village lifestyle which truly shows the Malay roots in the film. The costumes worn by the characters suits the era of the film. It managed to show the popular costumes of that period. As regards make-up, there were not that much make-up used for the main character as they want to portray him as a natural looking person. On the contrary, Mona’s face was too bright and her hair was dry and fluffy. Overall, it was an average look for the characters as they were not too detailed in the make-up.

In conclusion, ‘Abang’ was a clear-cut film that portrays the sacrifice of a person to perform good deeds and to make an impact on others. It also teaches us to appreciate the things we have and always listen to elder’s advice.

References

Menoleh Filem Dekad 80-an. (2008). Retrieved November 24, 2011,from http://www.sinemamalaysia.com.my/main/clippingnews/Menoleh_filem_dekad_80-an_1485

Abang – Sinopsis. (2004). Retrieved November 24, 2011 from http://www.filemkita.com/filem/a/abang_01.html

12 Malay Movies – Abang/ Big Brother (1981, Rahim Razali). (2010). Retrieved November 24, 2011 from http://thoughtsonfilms.wordpress.com/2010/12/16/12-malay-movies/