Kenapa hero kena mati?

I went to watch Sepet with Alin last week. Have to say, it's one of the best movies I've ever watched. I could really connect to the their love story and their surroundings, the romantic yet 'simple' characters of Orked's parents, the use of manglish and rojak language, the malay fascination of Chinese butt-kicking movies (I'm a big fan of Bruce, Jackie, Sammo, sometimes Jet Li) etc. Why? Because these elements truly reflect Malaysia and Malaysian identity. Some might say, where the hell are the Indians, if they've truly succeeded in portraying the Malaysian identity and culture and people. That, you have to ask Yasmin Ahmad because she's the one who wrote the script, not me ^__^. Perhaps, they accidentally 'forgot' (negative word - don't like to use it) to include Indians in the picture, but at least there's a mamak in the film.

What I like about Sepet, is the script/storyline. The dialogues are simple (in terms of language), easy to comprehend (good subtitles too), some of the dialogues (content) require you to go deeper and understand the Malaysian context to grasp the issues presented in the story. For example, why Malaysians like everything with "Western label" , mat saleh celup, Leonardo Di Caprio etc. - distorted mentality.

I have to say, I was kinda surprised to see Harith with his kain terlondeh. Alin and I was quite stunned ^__^ , probably because we didn't expect such scene to be 'visualized' in Malaysian movies.

I was discussing with a friend on this movie, and she asked for my opinion on the ending. Actually, I didn't really understand the ending, it's more like an open ending. I'm not sure whether Ah Loong dies or survives the accident. But let's assume he dies (so that I can proceed with my topic) at the end of the story. Kenapa hero mati?

The most obvious reason that I could think of is because Yasmin wants to 'impose' a great long lasting impact on the audience. She wants the audience to go back and think again and again about Ah Loong/Jason and Orked's love story. Their contradicting characters, their very Malaysian love lines etc. Look at Shakespeare's dramas, tragic endings give powerful closing to his dramas. King Lear, for instance, after watching the performance, we will go back and think of the moral behind the story - land, power, greed etc. People would then learn to appreciate these characters and characteristics and allow them to become parts of their lives. That is what I meant by powerful tragic ending (to create a powerful ending, you need not to slaughter all the heroes, you could have a happy ending, but portrayed in a very meaningful way).

If Sepet ends in the very typical way, cinta bersatu theme, people will go back remembering nothing, no Jason, no Orked, no love story, no Malaysian values, but perhaps, Harith's brief ^__^.

Thus, I believe, hero kena mati in Sepet to give a hard slap to the audience on the harsh reality of life, to waken them up and face the real world. So, keluar panggung dengan mindset dan perspektif yanf berbeza.

COngratulations to kak Yasmin and team.

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I hate it when people start questioning Yasmin's sex/gender. A good movie has nothing to do with one's sex or the gender role played by that particular person. Sepet was created to knock people on the head and ask them to ponder and appreciate the small and simple things in life. Therefore, don't make stupid allegations when you have no concrete basis.