REVIEW: CUAK - Malaysia

Here I am again reviewing another local Malaysian film. The title of the movie is called Cuak. The translation for Cuak in English means being nervous or frighten, usually in an intense situation. I was intrigued by the film after hearing how the movie is being helmed by five individual directors. In my opinion, this seems like an experimental film.

Cuak is presented by Garang Pictures and distributed by local cinema owners TGV Cinemas. Spearheading the project is Executive Producer Low Ngai Yuen and Ee Lai Cheng. The film is produced by Michael Chen and Creative Director Khairil M. Bahar. The directors of the film are Khairil M. Bahar, Lim Benji, Manesh Nesaratnam, Tony Pietra Arjuna, and Shamaine Othman. The film boast a star-studded casts which includes Ghafir Akbar, Dawn Cheong, Tony Eusoff, Iedil Putra, Ash Nair, Abdul Qahar Aqilah, Patrick Teoh, Bernie Chan, Craig Fong, Corrine Adrienne, and many more.

How will a movie with five directors and a star-studded cast fare? Do read on…

Ghafir Akbar as Adam and Dawn Cheong as Brenda in the lead roles

SYNOPSIS:

A young Malay man named Adam (Ghafir Akbar) is about to marry a young Chinese woman Brenda (Dawn Cheong) soon. Several hours before Adam is about to go through the solemnization ceremony, he has the jitters. During this time, he recalls how he fell in love with Brenda and the obstacles he had to face to get where he is now. This recollection is told from the perspective of five different directors.

SCRIPT:

Fresh and not too bad. The script tries to be something different than most mainstream story lines and plots. It is told in a non-linear format which means the film jumps multiple times from one story to the other. The dialogue was aimed at adults and does explore themes of culture and religion in Malaysia. However, some might find this hard to follow as there were too many characters in the film. I felt more characterization could be done.

ACTING:

From an ensemble cast, I felt only 3 actors stood out with exceptional well performances. They are Ghafir Akbar and Dawn Cheong in the two leads. Actor Tony Eusoff who plays Adam's (Ghafir Akbar) brother did exceptional well as a conflicted individual battling his demons. The rest of the supporting cast members did very well.

L-R: Iedil Putra, Gavin Yap, Ash Nair, and Ghafir Akbar

FILMING:

From the start, you can see that it was produced on a low budget. The film itself is distributed independently and only limited screens are showing it. The editing is a little bit disjointed so as an audience, you have to follow closely the story and dialogue. Nice usage for different colour themes for different perspectives. I feel with more budget, this film could be really good.

PACING:

It is a heavy drama. From start to the end, it is pretty slow. However, it does pick-up towards the end.

TONE (MOOD):

A tale of going through despair and hardship which slowly graduates to some positivity.

DOWNSIDE:

Very slow pacing. Deals with conflicting issues of religion and race that could be sensitive to some.

UPSIDE:

Fresh script and ideas for Malaysian cinemas.

OVERALL:

If you are a fan of independent and drama films in Malaysia, this could be your cup of tea.

RATING:

6 out of 10

Cuak screening dates are from 14th to 28th February 2014 at the following Tanjong Golden Village cinemas:-

TGV 1 Utama, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

TGV KLCC, Kuala Lumpur.

TGV Sunway, Bandar Sunway, Selangor.

TGV Wangsa Walk, Kuala Lumpur.

TGV Cheras, Shamelin Shopping Mall, Kuala Lumpur.

TGV AEON Bukit Tinggi, Klang.

TGV Seremban 2, Negeri Sembilan.

TGV Mesra Mall, Terengganu.

TGV Kinta City, Ipoh, Perak.

TGV Tebrau, AEON Tebrau City Shopping Centre, Tebrau, Johor Bharu