Introduction

It may have been noticeable that there was only minimal discussion of specific Malaysian films in the previous chapter, except for the peculiar case of LAILA MAJNUN. This chapter remedies that situation by presenting detailed analyses of a number of films made in Malaysia, not in order to fill a void seemingly made invisible by the presence of imported films, nor to now focus upon the ‘center’ – the Malaysian national cinema. It is precisely the notion of a center that is being rejected, since it presumes a nationally circumscribed cinematic identity, defined through unique thematic and formal characteristics. On the contrary, a specified cinema, like Malaysian cinema, is constructed from the interaction of cultural forces in that particular location and expressed in the films through issues such as ethnicity, religion, gender, tradition/modernity, intraand international migration and esthetic options such as narrative voice, stylistic exposition and generic characteristics – cultural and film analysis perspectives that will be applied to the group of films that follow these introductory comments.

This chapter emphasizes the cultural specificity of films in their interplay with local and other cultural forces. In other words, the intention is to consider how the films ‘speak of, around and beside the nation’ rather than how the nation ‘speaks the films’ or even how the films ‘speak the nation.’ The films are discussed chronologically – this approach has the danger of constructing a teleological argument about national cinema's triumph in the face of adversity and the inevitable progression towards cinematic excellence. However, a diachronic perspective does allow the tracking of influences and their persistence or abandonment – this will be graphically illustrated in the intertextual relationship that exists between the first film discussed in this chapter, HUJAN PANAS (1953) and the last, SEMBILU (1994). ‘Lines of connectedness’ run through the films and link them to the cultural and filmic traditions that were discussed in previous chapters.