Selubung-Suhaimi Baba (1992)

Selubung means fabric used to cover certain parts of the body for example head, body and etc.

Suhaimi Baba, a Malaysian Film Director, who directed Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam which was a major box office in Malaysia in year 2004. Selubung was her first masterpiece when she decides that she would write the screenplay and also direct the movie by herself. Selubung also known as Veil Of Life in english won 7 awards in the 10th Malaysian Film Festival 1992.

Synopsis:

According to Filem Malaysia the story goes like this Mastura, who returns from her studies abroad, feels the loss of her good pal, E.J. who has chosen to follow the path of the religious extremist group led by Brother Musa. She decides to pick up voluntary work as her mission to promote good will for society. Halim, who has had experiences working abroad serving the Middle East, supports Mastura’s good intention and encourages her to join ‘Rescaid’, a volunteer organization. In her line of duty in helping the children refugees from Palestine, Mastura falls in love with Kamal, a divorcee who shares the cause she is pursuing. The success of a nation-wide charity concert promoted by Mastura and the team from ‘Rescaid’ becomes the pride of the locals, until one day, tragedy strikes unexpectedly. However, it does not kill Mastura’s determination to protect the fate of the unfortunate.

Review:

To be brutally honest, I am not a huge fan of this movie even though it has won best film and best story. I particularly hated the editing of this movie. I know hate is a harsh word but for me, I beyond dislike the editing. It is called parallel editing, a film technique used by Suhaimi, the director to convey her messages.  For me, the technique used confused me. My brain was all over after I watched the movie. The scenes keep on jumping to different locations while portraying that they are happening in the same time zone. The movie looks like it doesnt have a sense of direction and it was all over the place. It was very obvious that this is her first movie and it shows clearly on screen.

What I like in this movie will be the gender representation of females. Mastura (Deanna Yusoff) portrays a strong, independent girl who is blends well with her surrounding. She is modernised but she still keeps her traditional value in her. She practices the adat which is known as customs in Malay. She still wears her baju kurung, a traditional Malay costume and tudung when she meets some one that is still traditional minded.As reference, she wore a traditional baju kurung and covers her head with tudung when she went down town to see an old man. Monogamy was represented when she insist that she did not want to have a relationship with Kamal (M.Nasir) when she founds out that he was a married man. Her sense of independence in making decisions and choosing her path of life makes me grew fonder with her character. Independence was depicted when she chooses to finish her studies abroad  and start working as a highly posted executive rather that getting married and have kids straight away.

EJ in the other hand was a total different representation of Mastura. EJ played by Ida Nerina, portrays a girl who is conservative in her dressing and is an extremist in her religion. She sticks to the tradition of the 60's, where females are supposed to get married and be a good wife even though one has to share her husband with another female. Brother Musa (Harith Iskandar) is EJ's husband. He is a religious teacher who is also a polygamist. Due to being an extremist,EJ eventually married him and they got a baby who was killed by Hani, a psychotic fellow wife of Brother Musa. At the end, EJ was seen as an extrovert lady when she starts working in  RESCAID (a rescue aid organization). She tends to talk more and dresses up with vivid colours such as purple to show that she is beginning to accept modernity into her life.

Dr. Sadar and her crew's perseverance in continuing their act of helping the refugees in Lebanon shows clearly when they receive a blackmail letter but they still continue doing their deeds. The building that they were in was bombed and that did not break their hope in helping the needy. They have tables and phones beside the road and move into a smaller building. Still they bond together and work much more harder to help the refugees. Even Mastura depicts her perseverance in this scene. She was being hospitalised and after she recovered from coma, she continues to help out in RESCAID and still be an active member in the organisation.

The scenery and settings of the whole show was nice and applicable.It was in 1969. The beach as an establishing shot shows that it starts off in a village that lies in the coastal borders. Terengganu known as a Malay state as it were made up of more than 90% of Malays, there fore adats are practice firmly there. People are usually bounded with customs in a village. The movie started off with Terengganu and in between Mastura went back to her village to meet her father and an old man. The settings were very traditional where kompangs (a malay instrument) and other significant instrument were played. The old man sang a traditional malay song and he speaks in a Terengganu slang. No matter how the world is changing in the 1960's, they still stick to their own beliefs and tradition which have been passed down for generations.

The costumes wore by the actors were both traditional and modernised. In the village, people there wore traditional baju kurungs, tudungs, sarongs and also songkoks. Where else, in the city, they wore dresses, shirts, accessories and etc with bright and vivid colours. The make up was appropriate depending on the situations. 

Lighting in the whole movie was not really good. It was very obvious at some scenes they used a direct spotlight on the actor. Yellow to represents happiness and joy while blue represents sadness. Even silhouette were used to show some scenes. Overall, I think it was good since it was in the 90's and I would not expect more and it was also her first show. The normal close-ups, mid shots and basic angles was used throughout the whole show.

In a nut shell,Suhaimi is trying to show the differences between the two ladies that was after the National Economy Policy(NEP) was planted. One that comes back and still stick to her own customs and traditions. And another, who comes back with a total different set of thinking. Being modernised and improving without forgetting her roots. Even in a patriarchy system, women still have their rights to voice out, make decisions and stand for themselves. As the world is moving forward, one's mind set need to move also. Not to say that, tradition pulls you back but it is time to think way beyond. Like a tree, it must have firm roots at the bottom for support, but still it must grow upwards to receive sunlight and other essentials for basic living. We as humans have to move forward to compete with this fast-growing world, in the same time, do not forget our roots as they are the core, the fundamental that we grew up with.

Watching the movie again? I will think about it. :)