Gubra by Yasmin Ahmad (2000) - Discussion with Chloe and Ruiting
Personally, I like this film alot. A love story with some slight humour. Yet, I thought the film highlights some controversial issues in Malaysia.
"Gubra" means worry. "Gubra" is used by the Mamak (Tamil people) community in Penang and Kedah, Malaysia.
Yasmin Ahmad is a female Malaysian film-maker. She is married to a Chinese. Unfortunatele, she died in 2009 due to a stroke.
I found a few articles and pasted some extracts below. Might be useful for the discussion. :-)
I realised that this film has created a lot of controversy especially from the Muslim community.
"On Sunday night (April 23, 2006), two critics on RTM1's live programme 'Fenomena Seni' charged that the award-winning film director - also known for her Petronas advertisements - has defiled Malay Muslim culture through her two movies.
But others have countered these criticisms, saying Yasmin's movies show that Islam promotes tolerance and compassion.
'Fenomena Seni' panelist, film producer Raja Azmi Raja Sulaiman, said on the show that the 'bilal' character in 'Gubra', now playing in cinemas, should not have been shown cooking in the kitchen.
"A pious wife would not allow her husband to cook," she said.
The other panelists were 'Berita Harian' assistant entertainment editor and film critic Akmal Abdullah and veteran film director Hassan Mutalib.
Raja Azmi and Akmal also charged that the 'bilal' in 'Gubra', who together with his wife, were friendly with sex workers in their neighbourhood, was unfit to be a 'bilal'.
"He should have called the religious authorities to catch them. What kind of 'bilal' allows these activities to continue in his neighbourhood?" Akmal said.
He added that it was confusing for Malay Muslims when Orked, the protagonist in 'Sepet', who was shown to be a pious Malay Muslim girl could fall in love with a Chinese 'kafir' (infidel) who was a criminal.
Link: http://www.sistersinislam.org.my/index.php?Itemid=189&id=327&option=com_content&task=view
"Yasmin, who tends to explore sensitive subjects such as inter-racial relationships and religion, is no stranger to controversy. Her previous efforts were criticized at home but some went on to win awards at film festivals abroad, garnering her acclaim." - Reuters/Jalil Hamid, 29 June 2007
"It's rare to find a woman filmmaker in Muslim society, and even rarer when she is an outspoken talent unafraid of
controversy," wrote Roger Garcia, former director of the Hong Kong International Film Festival, of Yasmin.
Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/06/29/us-malaysia-filmmaker-idUSKLR21119520070629
"What grounds these characters is Yasmin's unerring instinct for heartfelt emotions.
Her technique has matured with some subtlety. The sequence in which Temah discovers her HIV-positive status is told entirely without dialogue, through acting and nimble editing.
But what is remarkable is also Yasmin's singularly non-judgmental eye. Her camera remains mostly still, observing her characters as they endure emotional upheavals in carefully framed tableaus.
There is genuine curiosity and engagement in her gaze. Thus she invites the audience to be engaged as well." - Ong Sor Fen, Singapore's The Straits Times
Link: http://yasminthestoryteller.blogspot.com/2006/03/singapore-straits-times-review-of.html
Ruiting says:
Gubra by Yasmin Ahmad (2006)
I enjoyed this Malaysian movie a lot as it talks a lot about the challenges faced in love. I was shocked to see that it was possible for a Chinese and a malay to get into a relationship. We can observe that the Malays are muslims given that they said sailam ( May Allah bless you) to their loved ones. Given that in Malaysia, the courts condemned public display of behaviour among the Muslims. Hence, it was quite surprising to see the Malays in the film being so open about their relationships. I remembered that conservative muslims do not agree with muslims holding hands in public. But in this film, we truly observe the otherwise. Perhaps, I should not say that it is a cultural shock, but perhaps a cultural surprise.
This film has been a light-hearted film with different love stories and I really enjoyed the heart warming stories of some , empathised with the sad stories of others.
I should count myself lucky to have read the review of the film before watching the film. Hence, I sat till the end of the film. I realised that I need to watch the first part of the film in order to understand the deep feelings Orked and Jason had for each other. It left me wondering how the relationship develop?
In this film, race and religion does not seem to take a primary role in the relationship. This film also reminds me of my friend who is a muslim but loves a Chinese. In reality, it can indeed be a challenging task to overcome these differences and love.
I’m really keen to watch sepet. Besides, I have to change one of the films as the film I wanted to watch did not have any subtitles.
So, looking forward to Sepet!!!!!
http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2006/02/gubra.html
http://yasminthestoryteller.blogspot.com/2006/03/singapore-straits-times-review-of.html
