NOOB FILM REVIEW - SNOW IN MIDSUMMER directed by Keat Aun Chong

NOOB FILM REVIEW - SNOW IN MIDSUMMER directed by
Keat Aun Chong

SYNOPSIS: On May 13, 1969, Eng and her mother watched a Chinese opera in Kuala Lumpur. Her father and brother were at the Majestic Theatre. A riot erupted amidst election tensions, and they lost contact. The Prime Minister declared a state of emergency. On May 13, 2018, Eng met Ah Mui, the opera chief who confronted the government on that day 49 years ago. They shared a moment of powerless remembrance of a more peaceful time.

REVIEW:

"All world's a stage" - William Shakespeare.

The known rule of the Hungry Ghost Festival is that on the first day of play, no living person is allowed in as the audience. It is done only for the spirits. Yet, a character is sitting in full Malay traditional clothes complete with the 'tanjak' in front of the stage as an audience, with his back to the camera. And this is the first scene in the film.

The camera did not move. There's not a single word uttered. Yet the scene is a silent critique of how history has been used as a tool for political gain, in this case for the 13th of May. And also what happened that day has been turned into another tool for the same reason.

How Raja Bersiong has been used as a metaphor for those who might have conspired to start the whole 13th May mess. The irony is that in the next chapter done in the modern Kuala Lumpur, the 'status quo' does not change by much. And all happened with the old Majestic cinema building in the frame. Ahh the elegant subtlety.
Complete with that character in full Malay traditional dress coming into frame riding the elephant, amid the chaos expressed diegetically.

That Malay character on an elephant is a representation of Tun Sri Lanang. And his screen presence is an embodiment of the Malay history. Remember that this same character was in the first scene as an audience in the first show of the Hungry Ghost Festival play which was supposed to be just for the spirits?

In Braveheart, Robert The Bruce said history is written by those who hanged heroes.

And durians (like many other Malaysian films done i.e. River of Exploding Durians.) There is also some in the poster (bleeding ones). It is a mark of acceptance of its absurdism. Despite the foul smell, we all rejoice in its bittersweetness as a seasonal 'plat du jour'. Being in this land that we all shared together. But it is ever so tricky now due to being independent and adapting a system that feeds on division instead of unity.

And tigers. Ahh... it is eating the durians.

Recently, I wrote about the universality of art. And this film is a lamentation of the black day expressed in Mak Yong and Malay syair. And apt representation because the recent discovery of the mass grave in Pudu buried not only the Chinese but also Malays and Indians.

The title came from the tale of the injustice of the character Dou E Yuan who has put a curse on the land to snow in midsummer if she is wrongly executed. Mahsuri, anyone? This film is a lamentation of the miscarriage of justice, aptly shown near the real Hungry Ghost Festival.

Trailer: