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Thursday, November 19, 2015

Thursday Movie Picks #71: Non-English Language Movies - Asian Language Movies Set in South East Asia (Non-Horror)



Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share three movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple simple: Each week there is a topic for you to create a list of three movies. Your picks can either be favourites/best, worst, hidden gems, or if you're up to it one of each.For further details visit the series main page here.
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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Non-English Language Movies - Asian Language Movies Set in South East Asia (Non-Horror)

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Today is another Non-English Language edition; this time its South East Asia. Once again the caveat is that it must not be horror because we've already had an Asian Horror as a theme for the TMP Halloween edition. If you are not too sure what countries are part of South East Asia, please Google it :). 

I've actually picked this movie before for TMP #8 but since I'm sure few people have seen or heard of it, I'm just going to go ahead and pick it again because I really like it. Truthfully, if I can recall correctly, possibly half of the film is in English, but most people in Singapore are bilingual so not featuring any English would probably be an untrue picture of local life. Anyway...shopping is one of the nation's favourite pastime and Gone Shopping follows a few characters whose lives revolve around actual shopping or hanging around the mall.

I haven't seen this for more than a decade so I'm really recalling from memory here. I hardly ever watch Asian Teen flicks, just not something that gets my attention, but this Indonesian movie was hugely popular way back when it was released so I saw it. I guess the story is typical teen movie stuff: a teen girl has to choose between friendship (her tight knit group of friends) or love (the brooding boy outside her social circle), but I was really impressed. It's all about execution isn't it and  I thought it was comparable to the better teen movies Hollywood makes. I'd love to see this one again someday. 


P. Ramlee is possibly Malaysia's most versatile entertainer. He was an actor, screenwriter, director, singer, musician and composer and usually wore several of those hats in a movie he was in so I would be remiss if I hadn't mentioned him or his movies. He died young, still I think he starred and directed more than two dozen films.  I'm going for one of his dramas today, well it's more of a melodrama and it's just one of those movies that sticks out (something to do with forks). In Ibu Mertuaku P. Ramlee plays a poor musician who marries the daughter of wealthy matriarch without her blessing. When the young couple's financial situation becomes dire, the mother-in-law agrees to help and uses their vulnerability to get what she wants. The songs are often a highlight of P. Ramlee's movies; likewise here he sings and plays the saxophone and I leave you today with a Youtube clip of one of the songs (The Screams of my Soul) from the movie. 
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 So that's it...my three picks. What three movies made your list today?

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9 comments:

  1. Katie HoganNovember 19, 2015 at 7:03 AM

    Excellent! My lack of seeing South East Asian films can end here - these films sound good!

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    1. WandererNovember 26, 2015 at 4:37 AM

      I hope you get to see them, though perhaps finding them may be challenging.

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  2. DellNovember 19, 2015 at 9:53 AM

    Aside from you picking it before, I actually have heard of Gone Shopping, but knew nothing about it. Haven't seen the others, but all three sound interesting. I'm afraid you found my breaking point with films from South East Asia. I'm going to have to bow out this week.

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    1. DellNovember 19, 2015 at 10:00 AM

      Forgot to mention, I'll still give a shout and link to you in what I do post.

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    2. WandererNovember 26, 2015 at 4:38 AM

      Oh cool. Curious, how did you hear of it? International film festival?

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  3. BirgitNovember 19, 2015 at 10:09 AM

    I have not heard of any of these but they do sound like fun. I no nadda, nyet, nuttin about these films so I can't participate this week...bummer.

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  4. AnonymousNovember 19, 2015 at 1:44 PM

    Wow! Great to know an Indonesian flick there! Ada Apa Dengan Cinta marks Indonesian pop culture for sure. And, you know, they're making a sequel of it next year... continuing the unfinished love after literally 14 years. I guess it wouldn't be a teen movie anymore, but hopefully it's gonna be worth the wait.

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    1. WandererNovember 26, 2015 at 4:40 AM

      I heard about the ad that the cast did recently but I didn't know they were also doing a sequel. I'm definitely going to watch out for it and try to see the first one again.

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  5. Brittani BurnhamNovember 19, 2015 at 9:02 PM

    Yeah, I'm stumped this week as well so I don't have a post. But I'm glad I get to know some films from Southeast Asia I can look for!

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