My current confidence level towards our local film production is at an all time high. Most of the Malaysian movies today aim to showcase our unique culture and I would say, most of them have succeeded. To me, Yasmin Ahmad kick-started this trend with her Sepet, Gubra and Mualaf; not to mention, her string of unforgetable Petronas advertisements. And then, there's Tiger Woo Hoo.
Lately,local favourite Ah Niu took the movie industry by storm despite this being new in the field of directing (Some casts also made very commendable debut appearances namely Gary Chaw Ge).
His movie, Ice Kacang Puppy Love stood out from other local productions not just due to its lineup of famous casts but the fact that it is much more successful in consolidating scenes we can all relate to.
As Malaysians, we should feel very lucky for 2 reasons:-
1. We have the right person to do it.
2. He is willing to do it.
Ah Niu has the network. After decorating our entertaining industry for more than a decade, he is successful in his own right and has many strings to pull. He knows very well our old traditions and old school culture based on his very own childhood experience. He sees the need to capture all these in a movie. Of course, knowing our culture is one thing. Portraying it in a humourous and contemporary way is another. But when done right,the result would be amazing. And I'm proud to say, this movie did just that.
He just did all of us and perhaps even our future generations a favour as these traditions may very well become very less-known if not extinct in the future as urbanisation continues to pick up pace.
Old buildings, old notes, playing marbles, telekom phone booth, old police uniform, rotiman on wheels - they may be foreign to our grandchildren. As it is, we are already less 'adventurous' compared to our parents. How many of us can climb trees?
As a first-time director, it took Ah Niu 6-7 years of hardwork and lots of money to make this film possible. He poured in millions of his very own Ringgit and even had to made a demo of the film to convince others into joining his production (Yes, he still needed to go the distance to sell his idea despite his reputation in the industry).
Assembling such an interesting line of casts requires vigorous coordination effort but he pulled it off. It is heartwarming to see many Malaysian artists who made it big overseas, willing to spare some time to make this noble project possible.
The filming took place mainly in Tronoh (near Ipoh) while some scenes were shot in Penang. Oustanding cinematography differentiates this movie from the rest, especially the part which the camera shot from inside the river.
Some picturesque scenes were made possible by quality filming. And of course, the brilliant music added to the film's success in stirring various emotions out of the audience.
The ending wasn't exactly a fairytale one but hey, not every pupply love ends up down the aisle.
We should all be very proud of this production. Our local film industry has just been lifted up a notch and hopefully, Malaysians will continue to be entertained by more quality movies.
