Sepet

After reading so many rave reviews about this movie, I promised myself I would catch this locally-made movie at the cinema no matter what. The only predicament was who I should watch the movie with, as its undoubtedly a romantic flick. Anyhow the search for my Sepet-watching companion took a surprise twist in the end, and I'm just glad that I was finally able to watch the movie with someone whom I feel comfortable with.

Of course, I would be lying if I say that I was only attracted to the movie due to the good reviews, the Chinese male lead actor was really the main reason I was drawn to it in the first place. First look at the movie poster already had me fell head-over-heels over his cool and cute look. To me, he's easily one of the best looking local actor. And yes, luckily the Malay female lead was just as beautiful and sweet looking, else I would have scorned the filmmaker :-P

Did I say I was pleasently surprised to find that there was a rather beefy scene of the male lead actor dancing half-naked? My movie-watching companion commented during that scene to me that the male lead actor has a very nice body. I couldn't agree more :-)

Eye candies aside, it was a rather simple movie really, with some subtle social messages spread across the dialogs and story from time to time. The scenes may sometime move too much on its own leisurely pace, but they are all very nice cinematography generally.

Ok, what I'm going write next definitely contain *SPOILERS*, so please stop reading now if you have not watched the movie and intend to do so in the future.

There's no way I'm going to write about this movie without mentioning about the 'ending'. I'll be honest and say that I was rather moved by the scene towards the end, namely the letter reading scene. The contents of the letter was so incredibly touching I feel that I have to salute the screenwriter responsible for that scene, absolutely brilliant romantic stuff.

I was totally taken aback by the abrupt end though, especially when coupled with the impeccable timing of the switching on of the cinema lights (which I still wasn't sure whether was intentional or just pure concidence). My Sepet-watching companion kept on asking, "What happened, what happened? Why the guy replied through the phone wan? Wasn't he supposed to be dead? Why must they make the guy die? Why can't we have happy endings? ..." I'm sure these are generally what the viewers have in their mind when they left the cinema.

He also said that he felt the movie was spoiled by the bad ending. For me, though I may not always like open-ended endings, I felt the ending for 'Sepet' was just right, and personally, the more I think of the last conversation of the couple over the phone, the stronger I felt for the movie.

If you were to ask me about my interpretation of the ending, I would say:

1. Optimistic scenario: The guy wasn't dead afterall, or at least was able to answer the last call amidst the pool of blood, somehow..

2. Pessimistic scenario: The guy was dead, and the last conversation was just something the girl imagined, maybe as a way to comfort herself by putting an end to the relationship before she left for her study. Remember there was one mamak scene in the middle of the movie where the girl moved her mouth to match what the guy said? Maybe she just acted out having the last conversation with the guy because that's how she thinks the guy would answer her.

3. Creepy but somewhat silly scenario: The guy was dead, the girl was talking to the other-worldly existence of the guy.

Personally, I favour scenario number 2. It's sad yes, but what's happiness when there's no sadness right?