It's been quite some time since I wrote a movie review! Well, I got lazy. Let's cut the bullshit here and go straight to the point. The first movie I'll review here is Bunohan (Return to Murder) directed by Dain Said (who also directed Dukun). The film made its first showing at the 36th Toronto International Film Festival which ends Sept 18, and from what I read, it got a few awards already, before hitting our own Malaysian cinemas.
Bunohan (Return to Murder)
The wild flower - Bunga Lalang
Adil (By the way, his stage name is 'Bunga Lalang'. Yeah, I know ryte... what kinda stage name is that? ;-P), a young Muay Thai boxer who owed the Siamese boss some sum promised to fight in a fight-to-the-death-brawl. However, he was saved by his associates and smuggled him out from Thai when he lost the fight. The death match organizer wouldn't let him go unharmed, send a assassin to finished him off.
Ilham, the assassin.
Ilham the assassin is hired by the organizer of the death match. Following Adil's track, Ilham tracked him back to Bunohan, the very village he originate from. He has never been back to Bunohan for ages. Upon returning, memories of loneliness and abandonment flood his mind, and he experiences waves of resentment and regret. He will then learn that Adil is his step-brother from a different mother. Ilham visited his mother's grave only to learn that the grave was removed and relocated elsewhere. The bodies and graves were treated with disrespect.
Bakar, intending to bring development to Bunohan.
Bakar, intending to bring development to Bunohan.
Bakar, also step-brother of Ilham, has also come home from the city. He is a greedy and ruthless person, and is trying to convince his father to sell the burial ground to a construction company, thus without his father's knowledge, relocated the graves including the one that belongs to Ilham's mother.
Now the review. Bunohan is a sad and mystical tragic at heart. The story dwells with family histories and sometimes in mystical way. I would like to say that Bunohan is a well balance film, but some of the scenes are way too out of place.
There are a few scenes which the viewers can never explain, such as a mysterious boy whom only Bakar and the protagonists' father can see and interact with. Even at the end of the film, I can't determine if the boy was real or a spiritual being since he disappear at will, but was able to act as a medium when someone dead possessed him. At other times, you can see him leisurely coloring his book like all ordinary boys his age.
Or the scene where Ilham starts talking to a bird, and doesn't seem one bit surprise when the bird spoke back to him. They interacted with each other like they were friends until Ilham announces to the bird he is a murderer (That announcement scares the bird flying, literally in slow motion. Well, so much for a talking bird.)
There was quite a bit of violence as well, but that all revolves around Ilham's swiftness in executing his victims. The fight scene are a little disappointing, with the fights looked a little bit too 'pre-choreographed'.
Overall acting was top notch, but I guess that was no surprise with actors such as Zahiril Adzim, Faizal Hussein, Pekin Ibrahim, Namron, Wan Hanafisu, Soffi Jikan, Bront Palarae, Amerul Affendi on the roll.
And by the way, the whole movie was shot with all the characters speaking in Kelantanese. I thought that was amazing. Bunohan was pronounce as 'Bunoh-hair'. Bunga Lalang become something that sounds like 'Bunge Leleh' in my ears. Maybe I hear them wrong, but I really loved watching art house film in which the language I'm not familiar with. Choosing the Kelantanese dialect was a good move by the director, since it portrays the nativeness of characters to Bunohan, and still not diverge itself from a Malaysian setting.
3.5 / 5 stars
jin
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