7.2.14

the journey


having spent nine years away from malaysia, and spending only an approximate two months every year for the holidays, i don't get many opportunities to feel very malaysian. oftentimes, when i return home, events are happening that i'm not aware of, people are speaking in dialects i am slowly starting to forget, and that in itself makes me really sad, because malaysia is supposed to be my home, yet it is growing into something so different from what it previously was before i left. it's growing into something i am unfamiliar with.

which is why watching the film 'the journey', directed by a local Chiu Keng Guan, made me so extremely and irrevocably happy. every single thing, from the malaysian lingo (pancit tyres, yes) to the little details (how we buy clothes at street markets), had me feeling so much at home.

every time, after a line is uttered by someone onscreen that perfectly portrays the Malaysian society and lifestyle, there would be roaring laughter from the audience, with people repeating that particular line to a friend, a lover, a relative, or even a stranger sitting beside them, as if by repeating it, they could embed it into their brains to remember for a future conversation. it felt amazing, sitting there in this big and dark cinema, bonding unconsciously with people i've never met and might never meet again after we leave that place, and in those two fleeting hours, i felt more at home than i have felt in a long, long time.

this film is a local film, and it's only showing in local cinemas. a part of me wishes that everybody else outside of malaysia could watch it, but they would never understand it, due to the multiplicity of languages and dialects spoken (dialogues are often said with one speaking cantonese and the other speaking chinese). places where us locals laugh would probably be greeted by silence if viewed by somebody who wasn't malaysian. i just wish they could see how amazingly diverse my country is. even so, i guess the fact that this film might never be watched (or understood) by non-malaysians can be a good thing, because this is something that only we will ever appreciate. a sort of inside joke, if you will.

i've spent half of this post praising this film, but that's not to say that there weren't flaws. there certainly was, from the occasional cheesy lines delivered by the lead caucasian male to the fairly predictable plot line, but it was all in the tiny details, as well as the fact that it resonated so well with the people in that cinema and beyond that makes it, in my opinion, one of the best films i've seen in years.

till next time,
alexius.

5.2.14

first post

first blog post ever. i actually have no idea what to write. perhaps i should introduce myself? that would probably be best.

i am not very extraordinary. at aged sixteen, i am an avid film watcher, music listener, water drinker, and book collector. i sometimes (okay, maybe more than sometimes) talk to myself, and i fangirl over many a thing.

i am (currently) obsessed with...

- television: game of thrones, sherlock, the mentalist, teen wolf, and so much more.
- films: catching fire, love actually, warm bodies, never let me go, and so much more.
- music: one direction, daughter, the 1975, beach house, one night only, the neighbourhood, and so, so much more.

oh, and i also swear too much. i probably shouldn't, but i do.


xx alexius.