The Journey

The Journey happens to be the first Malaysian film i ever watched in the cinema. The beauty of my experience is that there were 4 generations of my family enjoying it - my 76 year old mother, my old 50 year old self, my 35 year old cousin and her 9 year old daughter. We all connected to the characters and their issues immediately.

The first reviewer has probably mentioned almost everything there is to be said about the movie but i want to add that since i am an educator by profession, i would love to use excerpts of the film's conversations as teaching - learning points for our current generation. The part when Benji did a telling off to his father in law for his reluctance to send off his dead friend highlights the important point of my learning and teaching resource. The little boy who stood in between them as interpreter did a wonderful job. He epitomizes the very essence of human communication... keeping the message simple, precise, easily understood and preserving the original purpose and intent.

And that, is mastery of excellence in communication :)

Syok ah...song ah...

The Journey is truly a heartfelt Malaysian film that is unprecedented in its overall film making. It has scenes captured around Penang and Cameron Highlands that are totally an eye opening experience even for a local like me. They are so gorgeously filmed that I was immediately being pulled into the story right from the very first scene. It's truly amazing. I'm very proud of our local talents who have demonstrated excellent cinematography to make each and every scene come to life.

This is a story about Uncle Chuan's daughter, Bee who has just come back from overseas with her fiancé, Benji and planned to have their simple marriage carried out locally. Things aren't that simple and when Uncle Chuan disagrees with almost everything Bee and Benji do, the journey begins. Believe it or not, everything plays out like our everyday's lives and I think that's what made it so real and related to us. Each character acted so naturally that I couldn't even tell that this is indeed a film. We can feel their emotion as they are very lifelike.

One thing that I should point out is that this film contains three spoken languages as well as three spoken dialects. It adds to the cultural diversity of how we actually speak in Malaysia. Sometimes, it plays around with the various languages and dialects, making fun with jokes known only to Malaysian and Singaporean. Then there are times where it tells the tale of every Malaysian's life and those are the gem of it all.

Filial piety is a virtue we Asian regard as of highest importance and this incredibly virtuous value is showcased perfectly in the story. Parents have dilemma and they ultimately have to make the difficult decision for their children. Whatever the decision may be, we have to know that they love us more than anything. Besides that, it also makes us realise that life is too short to bear regrets to the things we dare not do. Therefore, I believe that as long as you are an Asian, you will feel moved by the story.

Honestly, I've never thought that I could enjoy watching a drama at the cinema this much. The Journey seems to prove me wrong and I'm very glad to have made the trip to GSC today to watch this fantastic masterpiece. Oh, the laughs, the tears and the joy, it's definitely worth my time. I'm giving it a two-thumbs up with a score of 12/10 for my highest praise and 'more than' absolute satisfaction. Abuden?

Nonetheless, if you have a dream, go live it because time is never on our side! You can be like Uncle Chuan, pergilah!

P.S. : Let's welcome more locally produced motion picture. Malaysian Got Talents!

(v1.2)

It has been awhile since I last watched a movie that moved me so much. I managed to catch the movie whilst back in Malaysia for a short holiday.

I must say that Malaysian movie production has certainly come a long long way. The movie brings back many sweet nostalgic memories of Malaysia's rich blend of culture. I came away from the movie with shedding more than a tear. Ben, Joanne and Frankie all gave remarkable performances. Top credits go to Joanne and Frankie making their debut as big-screen actors. One can sense that the main characters flow naturally in their respective roles without too much acting needed. The mix of various Chinese dialects and comical phrases are simply a touch of brilliance. Last but not least, the soundtracks by Geraldine and Ben respectively are so captivating and beautifully presented. Looks like the music scene in Malaysia has also come a long way.

Such gem should not be Malaysia's best kept secret. I am sure if made available worldwide, many Malaysians living abroad would enjoy this movie. I was disappointed that I could not get hold of a DVD/Bluray to bring with me to Australia so that I can spread the love around.

Looking forward to enjoy many more Malaysian movies.

Malaysia Boleh!

After a long wait, finally there is a local production that utilizes life as the main theme for a film. While at first it looks like a familiar plot which begins on family relationship problems, the detailed screenplay gradually expands into the issue of cultures conflicts, hope between parents and children, love and friendship appreciation as well as unity which is one of the most precious thing in life. Good direction and cinematography are not only successful in presenting great scenery across 6 states in Malaysia (without any effects) and the unique Chinese cultures and local multi-races tradition; but the good performance from unfamiliar cast, hilarious mixes heartfelt moments and amazing scores has successfully delivered audiences a clear message: it's sometimes just a coincidence that it makes those involved to be unhappy and misunderstood at the same time in life, but actually deep in heart everyone is cherishing each others. It deserves local people to be proud for being one of the best local production and to aim as the highest grossing local Chinese production.

For me, what's make the movie called 'great' is if the movie's genre is romance, we can feel the soul of love. If horror, we can feel the fear. If comedy, we can laughing out loud all the way. Drama? We can cry.But, for this family drama movie, honestly is just an average movie that we always see and I'm not really feel anything, you know I was crying with "Titanic". For the cinematography, yeah its really great and beautiful! I never see any malaysian production did something like this, the air balloon, the background color. Congratulation for the art camera team! The story, its just okay. Maybe its release on the good timing or the right time, Chinese New Year celebration and all Chinese want to watch at least something local in the cinema so they got this one.So, "The Journey" are the lucky one, because of all their hardwork, I think they deserve this box-office. The highest grossing Malaysian movie of all time until now.