GUBRA by Yasmin Ahmad is daring, poetic and contemporary. It made me laugh and it made me blush because some of the "embarassing" scenes reminded me of what I would say or do only in private or within the family circle or with close friends. There are certain things about ourselves, our habits and our quirks, that we don't normally make very open. It is that real and it is that down to earth.
I thought also that it was like Yasmin's "pantun nasihat" to society, especially when Orked and Alan were talking about living in a multi-racial society, and when Orked realized how lowly her husband regarded women.
Orked's family reminded me of how "pelik" my own can be, and her chemistry with Alan, especially the scene when Orked did the kickboxing bit and when they were singing in Alan's pickup, those reminded me of how I would just "let go" and be my true self when I meet kindled spirits, no matter how brief the introduction.
The pain and the hardships were also real. "Kiah" caught my attention the most. She's a prostitute, but her youthfulness and air of girly innocence touched me. I was particularly moved with the scene at the park, when she was giggling away when the ice-cream man was flirting with her. It felt strange at first, but it hit me... she has not given up on life. Life was beautiful to her.
There were a few scenes which I couldn't quite understand:
(1) What did the religious mean when he said "Not until Thursday!" to the dog he met in the middle of the road?
(2) What was it that the religious slipped into the thief's pocket? Did it mean anything?
(3) What happened to Kiah in the end when the man sneaked into her room?
I usually despise movies that don't have good endings, or at least that give me some closure... but the magic of that in this movie it leaves us room for a little reflection, or a moment of appreciation, of life and what little, but precious that we have.
My highest recommendation!
7 comments:
Thanks for the review. I must try to get it.
Btw, I'm sure you had watched Sepet. Which did you like more?
ooo...nicely written review,sharon. :) now u make feel lk i really must watch the movie.wil get bitch to get me a copy n send over.hehehehe...and yeah,which did u like better?sepet o gubra?i thot sepet was lovely but a bit slow in parts.but i love watching movies dat i can relate to.we can see so much of ourselves in yasmin ahmad's films (and commercials).
and her older film rabun is also quite gud.abt an old,retired couple.very cute n sweet.watch dat too if u can find it.i caught it on tv but probably very hard to find in d shops.
guys, i can't answer that question really because i like both! but can tell you the evolution though.
immediately after GUBRA, gut feeling was that SEPET was more entertaining, but then after writing the review and recalling what i liked about GUBRA, i thought GUBRA had the depth that SEPET did not achieve.
btw, which are yasmin's commercials???
ok, rabun... will look out for that...
and if you guys are interested, this is yasmin's blog, the storyteller
you know, she's such a simple, but wonderful writer!
like yasmin ahmad :) her commercials? the petronas ones (previously) no more tv, so i dunno now :p hehe
yasmin did all d petronas one's i think.her commercials r quite distinctv..once u watch,u know it's hers.mark of a gud artist (whether dey b a writer,singer,director etc).
sharon,u got a copy of gubra o r u going to get one?can get one copy for me too?
petronas commercials? i remember one an indian man and his son... that one is it?
i have a copy bren. i can actually pass mine to you after my parents watch it, no problem.... unless you want your own copy, i get one for you. let me know. :)
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