Akui Cinta

Hello, my name is Sojinred and I am writing a mini-review on the movie "Cinta".

Last Sunday, Sojinred followed the love of her life into the theatres: chics. For those of you who haven't met me, I am her one true love. chics is sweet, chics is lovely, chics is good to eat. Nyummy! I've been away for a while but now I'm back. For a while, anyway.

It was sojinred's first time in a cinema watching a Malaysian (or Malay?) movie, so naturally, I was prepared to be disappointed. There's nothing that spurs me on to criticise something more than all the hype and praise it gets. And nowhere have I found a bad comment about Cinta yet, so I just couldn't wait to pounce on the movie and tear it apart. Like the way I want to rip chic's clothing off. Rar.

Oh, but what a surprise! Sojinred loved the movie! How ghastly! How funny! How not so Sojinreddy!

Now I am not the typical viewer of malay movies. When I was younger, I thought Ali Setan was about some goat-humping cult (oopsie I said a naughty word), and after watching XX-ray 20 times at every house I visited for Aidilfitri, I veered clear of Malay movies (we're not talking pre -modern Malaysia because I love movies made then).

So okay, I saw Perempuan Melayu Terakhir by accident, and I even managed to sniff at Puteri Gunung Ledang, but I, until I met chics, had not bought into the Sepet/Gubra/Cinta revival. I was won over on Sunday.

OK, I had my reservations in the beginning. The movie used the "please the crowd so you can jerk its tears" tactic, right from the beginning, endearing all the characters. There's the poor guy who's got a job at a tabloid. The signboard's shat upon, the ceiling's crumbling, he lives by the trainways (an idea the Americans squeezed dry for all its worth). There's the nice old man who's apparently a teacher, within 2 minutes of his introduction he's winning everyone over when he says that a wife is an anugerah.

Very candy and sugar settings for sojinred normally, but the execution and probably more so the premise combine and forgive this "error". For some reason, I not only accepted but complimented the "perfect" coincidences and close-to-cliche acting of the movie: the director obviously has strong control over the cast - as they all seem to leave their personal style and habitual acting (a little) and mould into what seems to be a common theme.

The flow of the movie was almost flawless (although it seemed that each story was caught up in each other's tragedy). Think there was one part where the editing was a bit off - or the cinema reel was dirty - so the frames skipped for about a minute. That normally bothers me, but it didn't in this case.

The stories that stringed together do also wrap up with happy albeit bittersweet endings - perhaps disappointing to tragedy lappers. Even the abandoned husband gets his baby girl and gets cosy with a hot neighbour (sojinred thinks she's hawt). But I don't see this as a fault, I think the message is that no tragedy is perpetual, nor indomitable. Think the director (and she reminds in her dedication) does not simply want to see a silver lining in each cloud, but show it to her audience.

Of course sojinred also benefits from being a virgin malay movie viewer. Sojinred does not know who Ezlan Yusof is (sojinred sniffs some Dayak blood in his face), or how badly Rita Rudaini normally acts (doesn't she just look like Nasha Aziz?), how many awards the director won, whether Armani needs a character makeover etc. Because I have no preconception of the cast, my mind does not automatically compare their past performance with the one in this movie.

Great acting, forced or not. Yes, it did feel like they WERE acting (cept the senior citizen story), but that actually helped with the movie.

Loved it and will watch it again. Maybe there is a malay film revival going on.