June 3rd, 2007 at 11:59 am
I Don’t Want To Sleep Alone
Intrigued by the number of censorships by the brainless Censorship Board, I decided to catch this movie at the Cathay Cineleisure today. I had been procrastinating since an article about it was published in the newspapers some weeks ago. Today is the last day.
I was there with Yuin. The rain was pouring on and off. Being a dumbass, I did not realize that there is an interconnecting bridge from the Curve to Cathay Cineleisure. Thank goodness the rain was not too heavy.
Yuin made a bet with me that there would be some people leaving the cinema by 6 pm, an hour after the 5 pm slot. He was wrong. Only two people left the cinema after 1.5 hours. There were about 20 of us in the small cinema. Yuin commented that Malaysians are generally tolerant lot. I said, it was sheer kiasu-ness that made people stayed in the cinema. Since they have paid for it, they might as well watch the whole movie or sleep in the cinema to kill time. Heh!
There were some scenes which we tried so hard to stifle our laughter. The part where the Bangladeshi worker is using a packed drink to reduce the fever of the homeless man, he was trying to tie the packet of water over his forehead. We found it quite hilarious. We wanted to laugh out loud but yet, since other audiences were too quiet and serious, we simply couldn’t. We stifled our laughter like some bad case asthmatic patients. And omigod! The sex scene in the abandoned building is a bit too comical – probably due to the undiscerning cut from the Censorship Board.
I didn’t even know the names of the characters as they were not mentioned in the movie. Throughout the movie, we had to keep guessing – Who is that woman? Who is the bed ridden guy? Is he the husband? It is good that we didn’t read the review before going as it would rob us from this curiosity.
I didn’t really try to decipher the movie while I was watching it. In fact, I find this movie insane. Then, I decided to hate it. But as I am writing this, I searched within me of what was the message that Tsai-Ming Liang is trying to get across. This movie is open to interpretation of the person who viewed it.
We came to watch this movie with an open mind. Perhaps we had been overly judgmental in our lives. We tend to forget that homeless people or migrant workers have feelings and needs too. We fail to see that despite not having the luxury of a proper bed or a house, it didn’t stop people from sleeping well, falling in love or lust and being compassionate and kind, even when they have nothing to give.
It somehow put Kuala Lumpur into a real light. No more nice angles of the KLCC. No more pretentious dance from multi cultural ethnics. No more breath taking night views on the revolving KL Tower. It showed things that happened deep into the night, when everyone is asleep in the comfort of their gated homes, events that happened in which newspapers wouldn’t bother to report – a homeless man being beaten up, sex happening in the dark and dirty lanes, how run down places where the Bangladeshi workers are staying, how the migrant workers and locals alike were duped into syndicate because all they wanted is to make some money to return to their homeland, the home sickness, etc.
There are some instances where there is a glimmer of hope. A recovered homeless man was fishing by the pond in an abandoned building. Common sense would tell you there would be no fish in the pond as fishes don’t just fall from the sky, unless it happens in Denmark! It somehow appealed to me as – no matter how dire a state seems to be, you shouldn’t stop trying, even if eventually you would not get what you wanted in the end.
Tsai-Ming Liang is known for his manic and perverse sense of humour. I was a little offended by the perversion of this movie. What I did appreciate is how the way the movie was shot. Certain angles were quite good especially the use of mirrors. Sometimes you could simply get ideas on how to shoot good shit pictures from a movie. The entire movie has very limited conversations, but it didn’t stop it from conveying a message, albeit being subtle. I told a friend, the movie is crap but it sets you thinking.
I was torn between liking and hating this movie. But it is indeed an eye opener for more “arty farty” movies to come.