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2003
2 Disember
2003
Ada orang tanya "apsal spinning gasing tak leh compete dlm
ffm?": Saya pun dah terlupa tentang kes Spinning Gasing tak dapat
masuk FFM ke-16 (Ogos 2001). Kena check balik berita2 lama nampaknya. Kalau tak silap, sebabnya ialah penerbit dan pembikin filem Spinning Gasing tu semua tak
berdaftar dengan pertubuhan2 filem di Malaysia. Yang saya ingat, laporan akhbar menyebut Teck Tan (pengarah) mendaftar dirinya di
saat-saat akhir dan tak sempat diluluskan. Tahun berikutnya (tahun ini - 2003), Spinning
Gasing dah tak layak lagi bertanding kerana tahun tayangannya dah terlebih dari syarat pertandingan (sebab ini juga
Kaki Bakar tak dapat masuk FFM dan juga FF Asia Pasifik). Takde rezeki.
2002
Gasing berhenti berputar...
tentang SPINNING GASING
oleh Saharil Sanin
The Island of Dr Moreau, the movie, even though Marlon Brando is in it, plus the perfectionist Val
Kilmer, was not as great as HG Wells original book. Not as horrific - all the gothic ran down by Hollywood
commercialism. So, in the end, we ignored the plot and we commented on the amazing credit sequence, title-designed by Kyle Cooper.
What is the job of a title-designer? Its the guy who did the designs on the credits at the beginning of the movies. Saul Bass did many of
Hitchcock, and Scorsese. Daniel Kleinman did the 3 Bond movies titles since
GoldenEye, all explosions and guns and computer generated porn.
Sekarang, kau sudah nampak apa kelemahan Spinning Gasing? Dia tak cukup
kredibiliti, jadi kita mula cakap pasal filem lain dan topik lain, sebab filem ini dari negara
kita, jadi kita protective dan tak nak jatuhkan dia. Worse still: Island of Dr Moreau, and the Bond
francaise: they are not good films, even.
Spinning Gasing, aku pasti, adalah filem Malaysia yang mula-mula ada "The Making Of" website, dekat Against The Grain (archived in "Back
Issues"). Aku sudah tahu pasal filem ini sejak dulu lagi, (peggambaran start October 99, website was then continuously updated), mereka
interview editor and cinematographer and the guy who made the music and sound and published it, plus pictures, in the website. At that time, i
thought, wah, nice design.
And nice design indeed! Lokasi untuk filem ini dipilih dengan hati-hati untuk nampak cinematic. The sound is clear and clean. I have never seen
a Malaysian movie with sound as great as in Spinning Gasing. Bunyi kegemaran aku adalah : masa ayah Craig Fong berjalan kaki ayam kat
tikar getah dekat rumah dia sebelum Craig Fong belah. Aku tak pernah dengar bunyi derap langkah kaki ayam dalam filem Malaysia sebelum ini
(sebelum ini, cuma dengar bunyi sepatu). Orang yang dipertanggungjawapkan untuk buat foley (they are Australians) sudah
mengambil masa dan tenaga dengan terperinci membunyikan every little details. They should be awarded. But of course, kita tak ada best sound
editing kat malaysia (aku tak tahu, sebenarnya).
Technically, this is a great film. If we have a technical awards for Festival Filem Malaysia (like they do for Oscar) filem ini akan menang
banyak. They film digitally, and all the film grading, mixing, etc are done in Australia. This film's budget is expensive (2plus million - only second
after Syukur 21). But, obviously, technology is not enough. The acting is bad. Craig Fong, dengan accent yang
berubah-ubah. Sekejap-sekejap lebih British dari British, sekejap-sekejap lebih Australian dari Kylie. Aku
rasa nak goncang bahu dia suruh dia sedar. Mula-mula, aku pun rasa hairan macam mana Elly Suriati Omar boleh menang best actress awards
(kat India), because her acting is amateurish. An then, later, after 30 minutes, barulah dia dapat character, dan dia hidup
sedikit.
Ceritanya, basically adalah pasal persahabatan Craig Fong dengan Elly Suryati. Cina dan
Melayu. Inter-racial. Banyak yang nak disampaikan tetapi, sebab terlalu banyak, maka satu pun tak
tersampai. The director only managed to scratch the surface of the issues, not exploring it.
Mungkin filem ini akan menjadi lebih baik, dan padat, jika beberapa benda irrelevant dibuang (the over stylish gangsters (import dari Gerak
Khas), or the gay subplot (ada dalam semua filem malaysia lately)). And,  Obviously, ada sex scene, sebab ini filem orang
muda, darah pun muda. But the scene was done so patheticly, so cliched, it look like an episode
of some soap from Adult TV. Sex scenes are difficult to make tasteful.
Silap-silap, macam filem ini, ia jadi bodoh. Ia membuatkan filem ini 'menyegankan', segan
melihatkannya.
This is an amazingly beautiful movie, a great addition to our industri filem, but it is hollow, we will forget about it in a few years. Bila kita keluar
panggung, kita rasa kosong, nothing gain, tak ada idea baru, semuanya cebis-cebis
sahaja, tak ada yang kita boleh ingat. Except, perhaps, the tikar getah sound.
NOTA filemkita: ulasan di atas
dicilok daripada website saharil.tripod.com pada 21 Januari 2002, dan disiarkan
semula tanpa
kebenaran.
2001
22 Disember 2001
Spinning Gasing mula ditayangkan pada
18 Oktober lepas. Dulu saya begitu ternanti-nantikan filem ni. Setelah ia tersangkut di Lembaga Penapisan Filem beberapa lama, semangat saya pun semakin
berkurangan. Bila ia mula ditayangkan, seolah-olah ia sebuah filem yg 'tiada apa-apa', walaupun sebenarnya mendapat pengiktirafan antarabangsa (di mana silapnya?). Mungkin
kerana ia filem berbahasa Inggeris buatan Malaysia yg pertama, ada sesetengah pawagam tidak yakin dgn kemampuannya. Saya salahkan pawagam kerana tidak dapat
menontonnya. Moga Spinning Gasing mendapat sambutan di luar negara kelak. Saluran TV Astro akan/telah menayangkan filem
ni.
26
Oktober 2001
Izwah MJ, salah seorang
ahli group filemelayu telah menghantar ulasan filem ini yang ditulis oleh Norman
Yusoff dalam bahasa Inggeris. Kata Izwah: "It was written by Norman Yusoff,
whom was a friend turn tutor in the Faculty of Performing Arts, UiTM, Shah Alam.
Personally, as a friend, I would like to share his review with all of the filem
melayu subscribers. Hope you'll like it..."
SPINNING GASING - A TRULY MALAYSIAN FILM
by Norman Yusoff
At last, the much-hyped local English-language film Spinning Gasing is here. It
was banned in the first place for offending religious and racial sensitivities,
amongst others. With the subsequent lifting of the ban, we're left with a
heavily censored film. Still, it easily outstrips any other local films of the
year, ranging from the highly-expensive, tedious Syukur 21 to the excruciatingly
banal Sara. Moreover, it has been doing quite well at the international film
festivals (Gasing won the NETPAC JURY SPECIAL MENTION Award at Hawaii
International Film Festival and BEST ACTRESS Award at Cinemaya Festival of Asian
Films in New Delhi, India).
First time writer-director Teck Tan has audaciously tackled disparate issues
within the volatile mix of races and religions whilst painting a sincere,
stirring portrait of human relationships against a backdrop of Malaysia's
rapidly modernising culture. Teck Tan has made a fascinating, slice-of-life
story as seen throughout the characters' journey to the East Coast. He's
adroitly brought together a combustible smorgasbord of young Malaysians who
represent a microcosm of Malaysian society.
There is an effervescent, adamant Chinese bloke, after coming home from studies
abroad, has failed to live up to his father's expectations, resulting in the
disruption and dissolution of the familial bonds. A sophisticated Malay girl
(preferring Dance Music and Syair rather than Dangdut) who lives the GenerationX
lives yet still conforms to traditional values and religion. A
sexually-promiscuous, self-centred so-called Eurasian girl whose Chinese roots
have been diluted. An easy-going, contented, incorrigible homosexual. An Indian
chap (still fancying Bollywood music and Chicken Tandoori) who's yet to come to
terms with his own sexual orientation.
The result? Spinning Gasing - unlike any other local efforts - is truly
Malaysian. Teck Tan is determined to show the world through his feature film
debut that there is more to Malaysia than its economically-fertile achievement
and world's tallest building. Set in contemporary Malaysia where the tradition
and modern life are often at odds with each other, Gasing sometimes veers into
dangerously earnest territory, but it manages always to right itself with its
disarming sincerity and its winning performances.
This eye-opening story centres on a group of five hip young Malaysians who plan
to pursue their dreams in music. After forming a band, they strenuously struggle
to make ends meet and end up fleeing their hedonistic urban lives when a
kick-ass loan shark comes looking for the money they spent on the equipment.
They cross the mountains, beautiful Malaysian landscape while absconding to the
East Coast where traditional Malay cultures still dominate (I'm curious as to
why the faux-haven-of-morality i.e. East Coast has often been our filmmakers'
favourite "bastion" when it comes to portraying our cultural
aestheticism. Remember Aziz M.Osman's Fenomena
and Erma Fatima's Perempuan
Melayu Terakhir?) En route, their dreams and personalities clash. They learn
and discover more about themselves and how they - coming from diverse races and
backgrounds - perceive and accept one another.
Here, Gasing tends to be a road movie or more aptly, a buddy movie -- a genre
invented by American cinema (e.g. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Easy
Rider, Midnight Cowboy, Thelma & Louise). To this extent, Gasing isn't much
a road movie if comparisons are to be made to the previous local road movie -
Hishamuddin Rais' Dari
Jemapoh Ke Manchester as Gasing is more about survival than allegory. And
that's its gritty strength. Gasing follows more vieux jeu narrative patterns
where it uses traditional elements of the road movie such as romance, humour,
and camaraderie. The motivation of the five characters hitting the road is
typical of the road movie genre -- they need to flee after committing some sorts
of peccadillos.
What fascinates me most is the subject matters addressed in the film that are
startling, sensitive, and daring in the context of Malaysian cinema, albeit a
far cry from any acclaimed foreign works, say, Spike Lee's incendiary tales (The
Jungle Fever, Do the Right Thing) or Hanif Kureishi's messily brilliant script
My Beautiful Laundrette. Teck Tan hasn't shied away from controversial subjects
here and some people think that such issues need to be nipped in the bud. At
least, his film has provoked some moralists. For instance, one of the
holier-than-thou commentators in Mingguan Malaysia (Sunday, Oct.14) simply
expressed her parochial views by tagging Gasing as a "sleazy, immoral
Malaysian film" due to its depiction of taboo elements such as
homosexuality where one of the scenes showing a guy sleeping with his own
gender. The stick-in-the-mud commentator also questioned over how liberal
Malaysia has been with regard to this matter? Hallo, were she definitely sure
that 100 percent of Malaysian population consists of merely heterosexuals??? In
retrospect, elements of homosexuality were already embedded in few local movies
such as Nasir Jani's Rozana Cinta
'87, Abdul Razak Aziz's Awas and the
recent Hishamuddin Rais' cynical road movie Dari
Jemapoh Ke Manchester which contains homoerotic subtexts.
The commentator commented further on some sensitive issues addressed in the film
which, to her understanding, are egregious insult to Islam by giving example
where one of the characters say: "Luckily I'm not a Muslim, otherwise I'd
be punished for committing khalwat." I strongly feel that that's a very
honest depiction of non-Muslims' thoughts regarding Islam. I am of the opinion
that the commentator must have lacked a sense of cognizance. She, after all,
should realise that film is supposed to represent reality. More to do than
featuring an infantile romance between a rich girl and a poor boy or having the
characters pompously sipping the fresh Oren in some posh restaurants. I wish the
commentator could extricate herself out of her narrow tempurung. At least, there
is a kernel of truth for the characters portrayed in Gasing. The director
expertly exposes the unspoken and unacknowledged racial-religious prejudice that
permeates the multi-racial Malaysian community. As the character Chantal puts
it: "It's a lot easier to stick with your own kind." And also the
interracial and interreligious relationship which lies at the heart of the story
between Harry and Yati. Complications arise when Harry is unwilling to convert.
The only setback is that the script needs a little more polishing as after 30
minutes it seems to be lacking focus, with so many things need to be addressed.
Teck Tan also has given much emphasis on the loan shark keeps looking for Harry.
You feel that a surface reenactment isn't enough, and that more needs to be said
for and about the characters, especially the torrid triangle love affair between
Harry, Yati, and Chantal. The film also loses control at its finale with an
abrupt, simplistic ending which belies the seriousness which came before it.
The subtexts are quite rich. The film opens with a bang -- the viewer being
drawn into the close-ups of the spinning beautiful tops (as the title literally
means) where the tops remain a popular traditional game in the East Coast as it
inevitably symbolises the lives and the fragile, tumultuous relationships
amongst the characters. In this respect, life has normally been associated with
the spinning tops as it has its ups and downs where it keeps whirling and
whirling until it falters. While their journey to the East Coast symbolically
means the process they undergo upon pursuing their dreams. The beautifully
haunting traditional song Ulik Mayang (very reminiscent of Aziz M.Osman's Fenomena)
is incorporated as artistic metaphor to bolster the story, representing the
forbidden love between Harry and Yati. However, the way it's interspersed in the
story seems forced, unconvincing, and too coincidence-prone. The lyrical image -
shot in high angle - with Yati and Harry floating on the water whilst holding
hands together and later on drifting apart has an aesthetic impact but it
appears too soon and a tad drastic, leaving the audience discombobulated. Hence,
you may not be able to relate to the story.
The director's sardonic view of Malaysian urban life as well as the glitteringly
nocturnal Kuala Lumpur is something fascinating to look at (This is enhanced by
impressive cinematography, though I wish it'd go as giddily a wild as in Wong
Kar Wai's Chungking Express). Kuala Lumpur's ostentatious flashiness may serve
as a nice counterpoint to the clunky modernism as well as the sleazy, filthy
parts of the city. Strikingly photographed by award-winning cinematographer Teoh
Gay Hian (whose work in Perempuan Melayu Terakhir is exceptional), Gasing is
nevertheless bogged down by Teck Tan's stiff, television-like approach to scenes
(especially the scene involving Harry and his Dad at home which pretty much
works like TV3's Kisah Benar), ultimately robbing the movie of much power. The
scenes featuring the gangsters seem very redolent of any action-packed movies
from Hong Kong.
The sound effect works effectively in this film (perhaps the best work in local
productions) and it's also used as precise sources of meaning, contributing to
the story. The action sequences involving the gangsters, the high-pitched sounds
are employed to generate suspense by producing a sense of tension in the
listener. Not only is the sound effective, the score also is well-composed.
Music which is merged with lyrics (like the Ulik Mayang) acquires a more
concrete content because words have specific references (in this case Ulik
Mayang represents Harry-Yati's forbidden love). The director also knows how to
juxtapose clashing score and visual (while Chantal is on the phone, the camera
also follows Yati - in her tudung and baju kurung - heading to her religious
brother's house. The beautiful score, replete with Middle-Eastern touch starts
to soar).
Ellie Suriaty Omar (who won the award in New Delhi) is an exquisitely
understated actress who manages to convey a depth of feeling in even the
smallest gestures. And while the initial spark between Yati and Harry isn't
entirely convincing, once their romance begins to blossom it is endearingly
believable. Best of all, the love story isn't the hackneyed ones as we've seen
in a bunch of local movies before. The romantic plot is quite surreptitiously
developed in which towards the end, you don't feel quite immersed in their
romantic gyration. But such an attempt - successfully devoid any mawkishness -
doesn't nullify the impact of its romantic, emotional texture unless you could
sense a strained credulity prior to its denouement.
The drop-dead delightful Craig Fong (Harry Lee) is articulate, decent, and
you'll love his English accent. Corrinne Adri plays Chantal in an exaggerated
manner, turning on the prima donna-ish charm one minute than shifting into
terseness or rampaging bitchiness. The startlingly sheer delight is acclaimed
stage actor, Edwin R.Sumun who steals the show, giving a polished refinement to
the garrulous, flamboyant queer role (replete with stereotypical gay mannerisms
and androgynous dressing). Sanjeet Jarnail who plays JJ is able to make audience
laugh with his spontaneous banter, and he could have been better if the script
delves more into his character. Supporting actors are less impressive here. Hani
Mohsin's hoary character (as Tan Sri's son) who is a philanderer or to use an
affectionate phrase here - "bourgeois scum" is the most cliched the
movie has to offer. Of course, we're tired to see the ubiquitous Jalaluddin
Hassan (as Tan Sri) with his similar acting pattern. Rosyam Nor makes a
self-effacing cameo playing Yati's self-righteous, conservative brother, not
contributing much to the story.
I wish I could see the original, uncensored version of this film since the plot
is rather choppy due to arbitrary, over-zealous cuts by our ridiculous
Censorship Board. Despite its blemish, Spinning Gasing is still delectable to
watch since it is truly Malaysian -- in the truest sense. And one feels churlish
to complain of the fact when many other local movies - since the 1970s - have
been so Malay-centric which basically dwell on soporific run-of-the-mill love
stories. Thus, it's a nice change indeed. Once you accept that, it's not only
"Malaysian", but an auspicious feature debut from a bold, promising
young director.
*Petikan daripada
filemkita
YahooGroups!
5 September 2001
Ellie Suriaty dipilih sebagai Pelakon
Wanita Terbaik di Festival Filem Asia Cinemaya (CINEFAN) yang berlangsung di New Delhi, India mulai 26 Ogos hingga 2 September
lalu. Kejayaan Ellie adalah melalui filem pertama lakonannya iaitu filem berbahasa
Inggeris, Spinning Gasing yang akan
ditayangkan pada 18 Oktober depan.
28 Mac 2001
SPINNING GASING - arahan Teck Tan. Filem bahasa Inggeris tempatan yang menang award di Hawaii tahun lepas. Asalnya untuk tayangan Mac ini berentap dengan GKTM
tapi nampaknya belum diluluskan oleh Badan Penapis (susah sikitlah nak lepas, sebab ini filem Malaysia.. kalau filem luar tu, cerita macam ni dah tayang awal-awal lagi). Kisahnya
tentang remaja, muzik, cinta dll. Pelakon semuanya baru dan ada watak pembantu lakonan Rosyam Nor dan Hani Mohsein. Tunggu tayangannya September depan, kalau lulus
laa, sebab sudah ada khabar angin yg filem ini mungkin diharamkan, opps..
2000
20 November 2000
Local english language film Spinning Gasing won the NETPAC Award at
the recent Hawaii International Film Festival held from 3 - 19 November.
NETPAC (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema) Award is given at major international film festivals to an
outstanding Asian film.
6
November 2000
Filem bahasa Inggeris buatan Malaysia, Spinning Gasing
sedang bertanding dan ditayangkan di Hawaii Film Festival. Semoga mereka berjaya dan semoga
kita dapat menontonnya kelak:
Spinning Gasing merupakan sebuah filem Malaysia berbahasa Inggeris yang terpilih mewakili negara dalam Festival Filem
Antarabangsa Hawaii yang bermula awal bulan ini dan juga sedang berlangsung
sekarang. Spinning Gasing diarahkan oleh Teck Tan memulakan tayangan pertamanya (world premiere) di festival
tersebut. Semoga mereka yang terlibat berjaya
mengharumkan nama negara dan yang paling penting semoga rakyat Malaysia berpeluang menonton filem tersebut - khys
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