sepet (2004). directed by yasmin ahmad.

yesterday nite, after much deliberations with my sisters, we settled to watch sepet for our saturday late nite movie this week. the other sister was huge on johnny depp and hugh laurie and john cusack, while the other warned me about how sepet is ultra pretentious that i would have the same exact hatred as her for the movie when the credits rolled at the end. here am i, with two choices in hand, an overdose of mr depp flamboyance or a movie ive been ignoring for the sake of the hype rule. i for one, havent watch sepet until now because i have a rule against currently hyped movies (or anything else for that matter, so you know im slow on the uptake of anything new because i feel safe viewing the world with skepticism), not that ive bought the stupid allegations thrown towards yasmin ahmad abt this and that, mostly irrelavant anyway.

i thot the movie is sweet, contemporary and honest that i find it surprising now, as i recalled, various quarters condemning the movie for being un-malay, un-malaysian etc. i relate to the on goings in the movie, malaysians being so close, but always at arm's length for god knows what reasons (sorry, we know the reasons, right?) the dialogues are incredibly simple yet true, that i thot every malaysians should have thot abt the issues potrayed one way or the other. i especially liked the scene in the hospital, with keong and jason, when keong said he never not like the malays, just that he hasnt thot abt them. by right, there's nothing new to be learn, other than to accept the realities of life in this country. if there's anything to be learned, it has to be for us to start doing something about it, rather than leave it to the so called able hands of our trusted leaders (and no, i dont trust them, they are scum for one thing, they play the race card and most recently, the religion card, all the time).

those local directors that have taken their time and effort to bash yasmin are jerks, and most embarassingly, i have a strange feeling that these people have never watched a single quality flick in their whole directing lives that even something as simple as sepet make them fall off their seats. the preoccupations with titbids and petty details like orked's dressing (my sister was annoyed at the baju kurung switchings) etc are silly, who doesnt wear anything else at some point in time anyway? but you go girl, for someone who cares more for bird flu killing ducks in her backyard, i hope for you to take the world.