T A L E N T I M E a review

i guess in my own words i can safely say there are two types of films in malaysia; there are those made with little personal views that makes you think and the other is the brainless mind numbing that a pea-brained chicken could understand; movies such as Cinta Kolesterol (don't get me started on this one..i could go on forever commenting the stupidity and kayuness of the actors).

this movie is almost like a template as you compare with Mukhsin and Sepet (of which i have seen, yet to see Gubra and Mualaf). its almost the same cast of actors which i think works wonderful since most of them has the sense of chemistry about that them which makes you think they are as if what they are in real life.

BUT..

i have trouble digesting the scenes of the english malay family conversations. the change from bahasa to english to manglish and to english yorkshire (or so they claimed) could need a bit of work. i find it a bit flaky as they try to speak Bahasa (poorly), i would have think it would be better if it were a little more natural. its as if it was trying too hard.

the tamil part was by it self marvellous, jaclyn and mahesh and the mum was great! you wouldnt even realise they were acting just to show the narutal way they interact with each other. the street lamp part was hillarious! just couldnt stop laughing on how funny it was.



as i said earlier, movies are somewhat portrayal of the creators understanding on life. in this you realize the things that Ms.Yasmin is trying to propagate on the muslim way of life as it deals with dogs, ignorance and convert. though i wish it wasn't so upfront, the excution was a bit brutal for my taste, the part where Datin Kalsom cringe as she asked Mei Ling's involvment in making the family's dinner. its a bit funny that Datin Kalsom is a long time family friend and yet she fails to know that Mei Ling is a convert, mind boggling or just typical Datin syndrom.

my take on the Mei Ling scene could have been like this:

the scene is shot the family and Datin having tea. Mei Ling comes and serves them finger food and tea of which Datin was offered by decline politely while a look of subtle distaste is written on her face.

as the conversation goes about their trip, mei ling comes in:

Mei ling: lu punya telekong jangan lupa bawa ok.

the m'am (i forgot her name): oh a'ah kan. tadi i basuh sekali dengan lu punya mei ling.

(surprised look on Datin's face)

Mei ling: lu jangan ambil gua punya ah, itu punya ada bunga-bunga colour pink. lu bagi itu hari.

the m'am: eh tak lah, sapa nak amik lu punya. (gelak-gelak).

Datin: (whispering) eh, Mei Ling masuk islam ke?

the m'am: ye lah, dah lama pon.

Datin: Oh. ill have some of those sandwiches after all. im famish. (she then decides to take some of the titbits).

halal is more than just slaughtered animals in the name of Allah, it encompasses those who prepared the food and the cleanliness of it in terms of spiritual conditions.

all in all, i thoroughly enjoyed the movie but every time the part of those mixed-family mixing bahasa and english i cringed cos it sounded absolutely unnatural, the words were over pronounced and emphasise.

i recommend those who loves watching Ms. Yasmin Ahmad movies and thoe who wants to experience real malaysian life in all sort of aspects without getting lost in the kayuness of the actors.

sekian.

Best Actress: Mahesh Mum
Best Supporting Actress: Jaclyn
Best Actor: Hafiz
Best Supporting Actor: Kahoe