La Luna

Be advised that this review is NOT for :

• hypocrites
• the "holier than thou" cluster
• those who cannot accept reality and choose to remain in their own ideal bubble world of lies and deceit
• those who are practically known as "penunggang agama"
• those who live in fear thinking that a simple movie could change the course of their respective religions
• those are against liberalism without knowing what "liberalism" is about
• those who include religion in any form of debates, arguments or an explanation in a civil society

Overview :

La Luna is a simple tale which hits out at religious hypocrisy, male-dominion machoism and the suppression of the fairer sex. It is also a story where the sidelined female community goes into a transition where most of them now feel liberated and empowered while passionless marriages are suddenly reinvigorated in joyful hijinks.

Set in the present day, "La Luna" takes place in the fictional rural village of Bras Basah, a quintessential Malaysian kampung named after a district in Singapore where the undisputed leader is Tok Hassan, an elderly scholar whose intense strictness regarding Muslim laws has resulted in fashion magazines being manually censored, sermons being purged of humour and teenage art being deemed a matter of police concern.

His authority however is challenged when Hanie, a modern entrepreneur from Kuala Lumpur inherits an ancestral home and moves to the village to open an upscale lingerie store, which quietly also becomes a refuge for a number of women in the village.

The clash between them is inevitable, with Tok Hassan using every trick in his book to get the shop to close down. Police officer Salihin Arshad a progressive-minded soul finds himself in the middle, as his professional capacity comes into conflict with his love for his daughter, Azura, who is constantly pressuring him to change his way of thinking and overall practices, and his relationship with the newcomer, which soon blooms into something more than friendship. Although Hanie scores some 'victories' in the beginning, her adversary is not eager to let go. Challenges go blazing at her from all angles but somehow this city rebel managed to find solace in the conservative communal.

Well, I am not going to spoil it here by narrating the entire story hence I am jumping next into the comprehensive analysis of the movie.

1) Script, Screenplay & Dialogues :

La Luna is in fact a breath of fresh to the norms of Malay cinema, perhaps owing to the heavy influx of the progressive minds of Malay Singaporean filmmakers contributing to this flick. Despite it being relatively shot with only a budget of RM3.5 million, La Luna is exceptionally good, compelling and in relevance to the current situation of where interpretation or rather a misinterpretation of religion blankets the society today.

The script by the director M Raihan Halim is well written and the screenplay equally executed well. Dialogues are predominantly in Malay but with a tinge of English being added to the linguistic fabric of the film. The dialogues are packed with a mix of seriousness and humour. The movie has a good sense of comedic timing and can be quite, shall we say, "daring" with its humour. A good chunk of laughs are derived from the sexual repression of the villagers, thanks to Tok Hassan's oppressive rules.

Taking into account is how writer-director Halim's skill in making this a story about censorship rather than a dig about faith. He cleverly paints the secular village leader as the baddie instead of his aide, the religious teacher, who resists his fanatical self-preservation. I believe some of the audiences have misinterpreted this movie as an assault at the assumed religious leader, the village head but NO, the religious head here is Ustaz Fauzi!

8.5/10

2)Direction :

Kudos to M Raihan and his team for this bold effort. M. Raihan's writing and directing are particularly intelligent with him managing to combine comedy, romance and drama with intense sociopolitical commentary, without allowing the movie to become polemic despite its context, which could easily lead towards that path.

In that manner, it is quite interesting to see how he achieves that particularly the last aspect. Apart from the overall lightness that permeates the movie, Halim takes care of having a number of opposite characters, who essentially state that the problem is not religion or the system, but the way people perceive and implement it largely through interpretations to one's whims and fancies.

8.5/10

3) Cinematography

Sofyan Daud Mohamed's cinematography captures the rural area with realism, with the right intensity of colour, the adequate amount of lights and the softness in choices of lenses. No fancy stuff shown but rather complementing angles and movements were used swiftly.

8/10

4) Production Design

The conservative theme was well executed in terms of production design. The rural setting was nicely laid with good monotonous look and feel where else colours within the lingerie shop played a pivotal role, perhaps in a way adding colour to the mundane lifestyle of the female folks there. It was done well in line to the script and the realism of the film.

The wardrobe stylist did a good job in getting the right fitting for the casts. No over-the-top clothings were shown. Hard to see any flaw in the wardrobe section though. A big ups to the wardrobe stylist here.

8.5/10

5) Casts

One of the most impressive part of this movie are the casts, top notch I must say.

The chemistry and overall presence of Shaheizy Sam as Salihin Arshad and Sharifah Amani as Hanie Abdullah is as rewarding as possible, with both actors embodying their roles rather convincingly, and with a sense of measure that is not that common in comedies from the area.

The ones who were largely impressive throughout are definitely the 'secondary' characters.

Wan Hanafi Su plays the role of Tok Hassan the 'noble villain' type to perfection, a terrific yet calmly terrifying role as the unyielding change opponent lurking in venomous daylight, hellbent on eradicating the work of "Satan" at his village.

The comical parts comes from Nam Ron's Ayob and Farah Ahmad's Enah and is seen as one of the most entertaining aspects of the movie. Both carried their roles exceptionally well and I must say, really well!

One of the characters I was captivated was in fact the feisty, all gusto cheeky teen Azura played by Syumaila Salihin. Apart from doing well in her Malay dialogues, her command of the English language was impeccable. She spoke it so well that there was not a single tinge of any local or Asian accents being heard. She spoke confidently without a flaw! She added depth into the "Azura" character and made her scenes so much livelier. I must say that Syumaila is a great actress in the making as she is certainly the face of Malaysian cinema of the future!

Dzuhrie Alaudin as Ustaz Fauzi highlights both his initial inner struggle and his eventual transformation in the most convincing way. Right expressions while maintaining the "holy man" persona while subtly being seen a progressive religion man.

An impressive portrayal of the domestically-abused Yam was carried well by Nadiya Nissa. She cultivated her role from a timid person to someone who was given immerse moral support to Hanie. The shift of characteristics is something notable and it add to the subject of women empowerment.

The lesser roles of the "ever-enraged" husband of Yam, Pa'at was carried adequately by Hisyam Hamid and the timid role of Yazid by Wafiy Ilha was executed well.

Generally, I was impressed with the individual performances of casts and I must say that they executed their roles with much flair, grace and with lesser intensity.

9/10

6) Post Production

Pacy edits were used with the right colours to fit the look and feel of the film. In general it was consistent throughout. Music and background sound were subtle but enough not to overlap the attention which was more on the dialogues and characters.

8/10

And finally my closing note.

From women's autonomy to political misuse of religion, La Luna tackles quite a number of themes in a tactful manner. This is a likeable film, pivoting from a "God is watching" stance to a "God is loving" embrace, is truly something wonderful to behold. A bold and expertly executed mixture of both mainstream and indie sensibilities, La Luna is the Malaysian-Singaporean film you never knew you needed.