Happy New Year 2012, people!
Hope you guys had a good 2011 and new hopes for this year. My goal for this year is to inch closer to obtaining a PhD. I vow to give it my best and to have as little distractions as I can. What did you guys do for the new year? We just stayed at home. It's very cold now in Ohio, sub zero temperature! This morning, it finally snowed after a few close calls. This is already very good considering it's January. Last year it snowed from November to March! A friend asked us to join her to watch football (I still don't understand the fascination with American football in Obama Land) but we had already made plans to join another friend for new year, but that friend canceled instead. I was a bit bummed out but as it were the weather was horrid so it was nice and warm to just stay in. We did though do a winter break movie marathon via Netflix and here are some of the movies that we saw and those that I thought are worth watching.
Ombak Rindu
I really wanted to watch this since I had read the original story in the novel. Emee of course wanted to watch it for Aaron Aziz. :-P Anyway, she excitedly texted me to let me know it was already uploaded. I got on quickly before it was pulled out. Verdict: It was OK-ish. The acting was definitely good. I had in my mind what Hariz was and is, so I thought Aaron did a great job portraying Hariz as described in the book (and this is not a biased opinion since I am not a fan. I don't really like muscly guys he he he). I remember thinking of the scene in the toilet when he pushed Izzah hard to the floor. That looked so real! I didn't see however the point of putting in so many sexual scenes. In the book it was not necessary. You can depict love through conversations and other mannerisms right? For a love story that is quite typical, and for a movie based on a novel that had almost cult-ish following for Malaysians, I thought the director did a good job. I didn't like Lisa or Maya in their roles; not that they did a bad job but they were just not right for the characters in my humble opinion. Maya is too old; Izzah is supposed to be young, around 18 and of course in the book she does not have Pan Asian looks. Like many people, I thought Fazura/Tiz Zaqyah would have suited the role better. As for Lisa, sorry am not a fan! Sebelum korang bambu aku, dia memang cantik tak dapat dinafikan. But to me, her getting married and leaving the acting world is not such a big loss to our film industry. Ha ha ha.There were quite a lot of details missing from the film that was in the book but I supposed that was to be expected. And what's up with Datuk Sufiah and her pseudo Western (I couldn't identify what it was!) slang? Sungguh tak natural! :-P All in all, it was worth two hours of my time. OK lah. And no, tak nangis. Langsung tak. Ha ha ha ha.
The Stoning of Soraya M
Cite ni dah lama... tak ingat tahun berapa and cannot be bothered to Google. But it's a true story of an Iranian lady who was stoned because she was suspected of adultery. Soraya is an unfortunate woman indeed. She is a devoted mother to four young children but she is married to one of the most evil man on earth. He wants to marry a young 14 year old girl (who is from a rich family) but does not want to divorce her because then he has to pay alimony and split his meager possessions. He is lazy, rude, inconsiderate, pompous, arrogant and condescending. One particular scene stood out to me early on; she and the kids were having dinner and he saunters in late and demands to be fed. He is angry because she only has rice without any meat and he says spitefully: that girl can give me meat that you cannot give me! And she replies bravely: well, you don't provide enough for me to have meat on the table. The nerve of that stupid man!!! Anyway, he plots with the village mullah to persuade Soraya to divorce him. The mullah has his own plans; he offers to set up Soraya as his mistress if she divorces her husband but she refuses. Angry and spurned, both of them plot to bring her down by creating gossip in the village about her committing adultery with a man who recently lost his wife. Without revealing too much, the weak and naive man agrees to lie to the governor and based on that, the village committee decides that Soraya is guilty and must be stoned to death.
What angers me greatly of course is the casual disregard for women in the movie; women are chattels and like the horrible husband says emphatically to his sons, 'this is a man's world'. And more grievously worrying is that this is NOT what Islam teaches but this has become the perception of Westerners who have little knowledge about Islam. Another thing that I noted was the themes concerning the danger of 'gossip/fitnah' and the misuse of power by the religious officers. Not only did they not properly verify the accusation, they also did not punish the man who was the supposed adultery partner with Soraya. In Islam, aren't both individuals punishable for adultery, why is the woman the only one who is stoned? For those of you planning to watch the movie, please do not bring kids into it. The stoning scene at the end is horrible, compelling, graphic and emotionally draining. I must say the Iranian actresses playing the two lead roles (e.g. Soraya and her aunt) did a fantastic job with every gesture, movement and facial expression. I definitely recommend this, and yes, I did feel teary at the end as they showed the only known picture of Soraya. Truly a movie worth watching and owning a DVD copy. I felt so disturbed with the movie that I couldn't sleep the next day (even though I had my eyes closed during the stoning scene).
The Kite Runner
Many of you are probably familiar with the book and the movie. I liked the movie very much even though I have not read the story. It was set during the Taliban reign in war torn Afghanistan and tells the story of two little kids, Amir and Hassan. Amir is rich and Hassan is a Hazra boy who works for Amir's family. As the Taliban take over Afghanistan, Amir is forced to leave Afghanistan for the US with his father. He earns a college degree, marries a beautiful lady and becomes an accomplished author. After his father dies, he learns that he might be forced to return to his home country to rescue Hassan's son. Hassan and his wife was killed while guarding Amir's house. Movie ni pun banyak sangat tender moments; I definitely felt like shedding a tear or two. It's a story about friendship, love, cultural conflicts and of loyalty. There's also another stoning scene but it wasn't as graphic or gripping as The Stoning of Soraya M. Again, the unknown actors were superb in their roles. The little kids were wonderful; they were actual Afghanis but the adults actors playing the main characters were not and they had to learn the Dari language, which must have been quite difficult. The scenes were set in the US, Afghanistan and parts of China. I felt that it was such a quietly understated but beautifully crafted movie about about human courage and compassion and it was easily the best flick that I saw during my winter break. Also highly recommended.
Well, the winter break is over and now it's time so start working again! Sigh.
Jotted by,
