So said Shakespeare. He didn’t mean the film MAT MOTO, but
what he said could very well apply to it. What MAT MOTO desperately needs is a
Script Editor. What’s that, a Script Editor? What kinda animal is that?
Malaysian cinema is famous – or infamous – for filmmakers
who think they are screenwriters. Of course, some like U-Wei Hajisaari, Ho
Yuhang & R Prakas, to name just a few, have proven that they have what it
takes to be screenwriters as well as visual storytellers. Most of the others
certainly require the services of script editors to restructure & rewrite
their stories so that – read my lips! – they are CINEMATIC. But at least Pekin
got one thing right. As the writer, he only has ‘story’ & ‘screenplay’
credits as is the norm internationally (including in early Singapore cinema).
Thankfully, he is not given both ‘Script by’ & ‘Screenplay by’ credits.
This idiocy of crediting both script & screenplay in ONE film has been
rampant in the industry, no less advocated by some even more idiotic academics
at the Grand Summit who have thoroughly lost their marbles!
I digress. But that felt nice – getting it off my chest!
Arrgghhh, the horror, the horror! Back to the chase & I’m only going to
talk about one aspect of the screenplay structure in MAT MOTO. And then maybe
about a couple of other things, too. Hmmm, let’s see where my fingers take me
on the keyboard…..
I don’t really like quoting the Mat Salleh but some of them
do talk sense. Take Oscar Wilde, for instance. He once remarked that “(E)very
portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the
sitter.” This very well applies to Pekin himself. As a person, he is an affable
guy, doesn’t say much, but you can feel that he is an observer & one who
feels strongly about the things that are affecting his community. And in the
telling of the story of MAT MOTO, we see this concern. The film is his
reflection of the state of present Malay society in general & specifically
of young Malays who have a penchant for motorbikes. The subtitle on the poster
of the film says it all: “We are Mat Moto, not Mat Rempit”. Mat Rempits, who
are the anti-theses of Mat Motos, are as a group, mindless, given to illegal
racing on main roads & violent when provoked. And it didn’t help when the
film REMP-IT (by Ahmad Idham for Metrowealth Pictures) came out. Police
confirmed that incidences of rempiting
increased. And Brunei, which never had a rempit
problem became faced with one! And no wonder. The film glamourized the world of
the Mat Rempit instead of demonizing it. Talk about blurry-brained film
directors - & producers!
With MAT MOTO, Pekin had a vision – to change the image of
Malay youths on motorbikes & show that they were, in fact, very human, were
ordinary guys, were helpful & really friendly. Two filmmakers earlier
already had the same vision – Mamat Khalid with ROCK & ROCK OO! & Wan
Haslinda with LOVE, SUPERMOON. Both of them showed young Malays to be full of
innocence, courteous, close-knit & also humourous. Their films were a stark
contrast to the kind of films coming out from the Metrowealth stables & in
Skop films like KL GANGSTER & JALAN KEMBALI: BOHSIA 2 (both by Syamsul
Yusof) which showed uncouth Malays with coarse language. Mamat & Wan
Haslinda succeeded in their mission but what about Pekin? I’ll take a slight
rain check on that & go to the major problem with MAT MOTO.
The screenplay is the thing. And Pekin fails in correctly
structuring the screenplay with the one important element that was supposed to
drive the story, which, unfortunately, only appears towards the end of the film
instead of being the point of attack! So, like many first-time directors, Pekin
was more into storymaking rather than storytelling. That’s a no-no, bro! In a
mainstream film, the opening scene (point of attack) will visually give the
audience an idea as to what the theme of the film is. Without giving away too
much of the plot (because the film is still playing at the cinemas), I’ll just
say that the motorbike accident that starts the road trip of Al (Pekin) to
different states in Malaysia to find four special helmets should have been
introduced right at the beginning. We know of Spark (Zulhuzaimy) who was
involved in the accident (& later dies) & of his wish to Al acquire the
four helmets only in a line of dialogue (from Al). That’s another big no-no!
Show, don’t tell & especially when it’s an important aspect of the plot.
The road trip is what we see on the screen & it becomes
the foreground story of the film. The background story would have been Al’s
personal mission to eradicate the image of the Mat Moto being identified with
the Mat Rempit. This is due to Spark dying after being mistaken for a Mat
Rempit & getting beaten up. Unfortunately, Pekin emphasized this too much
all over the film, rather than having it as a subtext. And so, his efforts
turned the film into one that became a ‘filem dakwah’! (I wonder if he was
given a pep talk by Jakim…) And I am confused as to the depictions of the Mat
Motos in Penang. They crowd around the woman videographer & become a
nuisance to her. This does not fit in well with the image of Mat Moto that
Pekin is advocating. And - did I miss something? At the end, Rosyam Nor appears
on a motorbike & in some muffled dialogue (why, oh why don’t our actors
learn vocals!), he throws a challenge to Al. Both then speed down the road
amongst traffic – becoming Mat Rempit! I only managed to catch the words “…KL
menjerit…” (a reference to an earlier film about bikers in which Rosyam was
acting in). So what is Pekin saying in this scene?! Aaarrghh! More storymaking
over storytelling!
The bright & colourful visual look does not work for MAT
MOTO. Since the story is founded on the tragedy of Spark, it needs the kind of
look as seen in SONGLAP. This would sit well with the intent of the story. And
when there is a recognition resulting in a reversal for Al where he is finally
able to accept the fact as to who actually caused the accident that led to
Spark’s death, the visuals could indicate it by now becoming more realistic.
And too bad, Pekin. Your character of Al is two-dimensional & is without a
proper character arc. Ahhh, MAT MOTO could have become better with more story
& visual development!
The year 2015 saw some subtle changes taking places in
Malaysian cinema with 2016 being positive with JAGAT & now MAT MOTO.
Perhaps we still have some hope. Maybe even get the coveted Oscar. (Hmmm, why
the Oscar? The Academy Awards are not even a proper film festival recognized on
the festival circuits.) Oscar Wilde’s observation becomes true for Pekin.
Because MAT MOTO was made with full of feeling, Pekin’s naivete & sincerity
shines forth & in the process, has some good gesalt (form). He may yet be
one of the filmmakers who can bring some changes to the industry now as
compared to the film idiocy of the last 15 years.
MAT MOTO is not a bad film. It is like a motorbike with a
slightly bent tire. It can still move but cannot speed. I look forward to Pekin
Ibrahim’s second film but this time, he has to have a professional
screenwriter. Or a script editor…
Cayalah lu, Pekin!
written by: Hassan Abd. Muthalib.
p/s: Mat Moto (2016) by Pekin, dedicated to my friend, Arwah Azwan Annuar. Al Fatihah.
