Sepet

I haven't watch this movie. But i've seen the trailer. It was beautiful. At first this movie was banned in Malaysia, but fortunately, with the support from the Malaysian government, this movie was finally shown after all. It has a look at how two young lovers from totally different background cope with family and social pressure between Ah Loong and Orked. Ah Loong is a Chinese VCD vendor, while Orked is an all Malay girl. I found this movie is interesting, and fun. If this movie is shown in the USA, critics like Roger Eberts, Richard Roeper, AO Scott, and James Bendralli will sure like it. Don't waste your time watching mindless crap such as those rubbish teen movies, start watching Sepet. 10/10

Hi, people of IMDb I must say, Malaysian movies like this should be known. I mean, Malaysians directors have been making all these stupid Malay movies, which is giving Malaysian's entertainment world a bad impression.

This movie really shows how Malaysians live like. Do you notice that Orked mixed both language uses of English and Malay. That's exactly how normal Malaysians talk Like. Like if I wanted to ask my friends how was her day: "Hey, Steph. How was your day ha?" She would answer: Ala,nothing la. Why do you even 'ambil berat' of my life?

That's how Yasmin had directed this movie. She had made the movie look like an ordinary life of a Malaysian. That's why I think this movie should be known as the Greatest Malaysian Movie, along with: Puteri Gunung Ledang, Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam, (at least it was better than any other horror Malaysian movies)Do Re Mi, Tiga Abdul and other old films written by P. Ramlee. Dude, he is AMAZING. Bye

PS: Ambil berat means: care about

In this movie there will be a moment where you will laugh and there will be a moment when there are tears at the corner of your eyes, your throat feel lumpy and you tried so hard to control your emotion coz you don't want your fellow audience noticed that you are crying when watching a movie.. a malay movie that's it.

It has been quite some time since I watched such a movie that can move me into tears. The plot is simple. It's just about how people can fall in love at the first sight. The way Yasmin Ahmad took it and delivers it to us is enriching and enlighten. In this movie you'll learn to laugh at yourself and at your own race. The dialogues are well crafted and delivered in such convincing manner. It's where Malay, English and hokkien language used swiftly without any oddity.

Orked is a Malay gal that is different with her peers. She likes Takeshi and watched Hongkie movie such as A Better Tomorrow and Wong Kar Wai movie. Ah Loong meanwhile is a pirated vcd seller who falls in love at the first sight of Orked. He was so fascinated with Orked and tried to court her. Orked friends especially the guys really despise of her because she choose to have a Chinese boyfriend instead of her own race.

The ending left me dumbfounded. Totally different with what I had expected. Experience watching Malay movie makes it easier me to anticipate the ending but then this is not the same...

Go and watch this movie guys... You won't regret it...

This is the kind of movie I always feel really lucky to see. It may play for only one week, or even one day, in a U.S. theater. But if you have the chance, you must see it. Open a window into another culture, and another place. I am living in Malaysia, and the censors were so harsh toward this movie, the director almost decided not to release it in her own country. But in the end, she said okay. Scenes were cut. If you can see it outside Malaysia, think how lucky you are to see it as the director intended, with the playfulness and the honesty left intact.

It's not some complex, artsy, literary story. It's just first love. Two kids. You know this story. We all know this story, no matter where we grew up. But what's so good about this film is that it's not dressed up in some Hollywood (or even Bollywood) fakeness and overdone. There's no stupid John Williams soundtrack telling you how you should feel. There are just the streets of Ipoh, a boy in a T-shirt, a girl in her baju kurung (and her dad in his sarong, hee hee!), and that human adventure of discovery that happens when you really, really like someone.

I'll be honest, I'm not a big fan of Malaysian movies. To be even more honest, I *dislike* Malaysian movies. But hey, with a movie scene plagued with ridiculously clichéd love story lines, even more ridiculously clichéd characters, stupid comic relief characters, can you really blame me? When I read about Sepet pretty much gobbling up all the awards in the 2005 Malaysian Film Festival, and with such hype and controversy surrounding the movie, you can imagine I was more than just a little curious... so I watched it.

And let me tell ye something, this movie isn't only as good as I expected it to be, it's better than I ever hoped it to be! It's a simple story, really - Orked, a Malay girl from a well-off family, living in a contemporary city environment, with a soft spot for pretty-much-everything-Chinese, falls in love with Jason, an average Chinese guy, a VCD vendor pushed about by gangsters. As the story unfolds, we are presented with the world that Orked and Jason live in - their friends, families, and day to day lives - along with some buried tales of the past.

Sure enough, the plot doesn't sound like something completely original - one girl, one boy, from completely different backgrounds, fall in love. What makes this movie so good is the execution in everything, and especially depth of the characters in Sepet. Each one of them - from Jason's mother, to the couple themselves, even right down to Orked's maid (!) - all have deep, interesting personalities. Each of them creates a beautiful atmosphere, and the viewers are immersed completely into the lives of Orked and Jason. And director Yasmin Ahmad actually makes you feel like you care for these characters, and will take you on a roller-coaster ride of emotions as we feel the world they live in. To top it off, the regular doses of humour (especially from Orked's parents, played by Ida Nerina and Harris Iskandar) fit in well with the pacing and overall atmosphere of Sepet, adds some flair and colour to the story but never goes overboard. I heard the actors were never given scripts and were to improvise the characters themselves - Don't know how true this is, but if that's a way of praising the superb performance by the actors and actresses in the movie, I wholeheartedly agree!

But what REALLY sets this movie aside from all the other Malaysian movies out there today, is that Sepet isn't just a deep love story with bright characters, it's a painfully realistic outlook into the world of city life in Malaysia. The conflicting cultures, imperfection and sincerity in people, the underlying truths beneath each untold story, insecurity, repentance, trust.. the list goes on. I'm particularly impressed with how Yasmin Ahmad is not afraid to display common stereotypes in Malaysia - races, age, social hierarchy, etc. It is shockingly realistic, and it's not surprising why this movie did stir up some controversy back home.

Overall, this is perhaps the best Malaysian movie I've seen in recent memory, and I'm hard pressed to deny that this is the best Malaysian movie ever, and perhaps one of the few which I dare say is good enough for international standards. Kudos and hats off to Yasmin Ahmad; Great stuff!