The Journey

Before I first went to watch THE JOURNEY in the cinema, I have little knowledge about this movie at all. But to my surprise, this locally-made production has totally exceeds my expectation, at which THE JOURNEY truly deserves its recognition as one of the best Malaysian-Chinese movies ever made. And bear in mind, this is only Chiu's (his full name is actually Chiu Keng Guan) third directing effort following his back-to-back success of 2010's WOOHOO! and 2011's GREAT DAY.

WHAT IS IT ALL ABOUT?

After spending a decade living with her aunt to study art in England, Bee (Joanne Yew) has finally returns home to Cameron Highlands. She also brought back her British fiancé, Benji (Ben Andrew Pfeiffer) to introduce him to her conservative father Uncle Chuan (Frankie Lee) and hoping to seek his blessing for their upcoming marriage. At first, Uncle Chuan opposes to his daughter's marriage because he doesn't get along with Benji well. However, he ends up agreeing anyway except with one condition -- their wedding ceremony has to be done in the Chinese tradition. Soon, Benji is tasked to bring along Uncle Chuan on a long motorcycle journey across the country to deliver the wedding invitations to Uncle Chuan's 11 ex-primary schoolmates.

THE GOOD STUFF

Chiu's direction is sharp and meticulous to detail, especially the way he depicts the Chinese culture and tradition with such authenticity. His regular screenwriter, Ryon Lee, successfully combined the universal themes of culture, hope, love, friendship and unity within his screenplay that everyone can relate to. Eric Yeong's cinematography, which is shot on locations across six states in Malaysia (Cameron Highlands, Ipoh, Penang, Kedah, Melaka and Johor) are wonderfully captured with such sheer beauty it's like watching a travel channel. The panoramic and idyllic view of the Cameron Highlands setting is especially worth a special mention here.

For the acting department, Chiu has certainly took a huge gamble by casting actors with little or no experience in acting at all. However, his gamble proves to be surprisingly rewarding. 73-year-old retiree Frankie Lee is perfectly cast as the conservative and stubborn father Uncle Chuan. He pairs well with Australian stage actor Ben Andrew Pfeiffer, who delivers an impressive performance as Benji. Watching the way they argue against each other because of their cultural and ideological differences are simply both entertaining and heartfelt. Miss Astro Chinese International Pageant 2007 Joanne Yew, in the meantime, is not only photogenic but also acted well as the estranged daughter Bee. As for the rest of the supporting actors, all of them have their equal share of limelight.

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT(S)

The brief but wonderful scene where Bee uses a black marker to draw caricature of her father, Uncle Chuan and her fiancé, Benji riding motorcycle together on the car window.

THE BAD STUFF

Throughout the duration, I was surprised by the mesmerizing result of this movie. In short, THE JOURNEY is pitch perfect that I hardly find a flaw within.

FINAL WORDS

Like the title itself, this is one cinematic journey worth exploring for. No doubt THE JOURNEY is a rare gem of a local movie not to be missed this Chinese New Year. By the way, make sure to stay for the end-credits music video featuring Ben Andrew Pfeiffer singing a wonderfully cheeky song that combines English and Chinese languages.

The Journey is a cross-continental Malaysian comedy drama film with a simple story but full of depth and meaning. The story is about Bee, who returns from Britain to Malaysia to seek her conservative and stubborn father's blessing for her marriage with a Caucasian, Benji.

However, due to Benji's lack of cultural understanding of Chinese culture and traditions and the issue of language barriers from both parties further complicates the situation, which results in Bee's father, Chuan strongly opposes the union. But, due to a series of unexpected events happening at that time, Chuan reluctantly agrees to give his blessing, with some terms and conditions.

Soon, the journey begins with Benji and Chuan riding a motorcycle together to deliver the wedding invitations to Chuan's ex-primary schoolmates all over Malaysia. Throughout the journey, the two learn valuable lessons about love and accepting each other's differences.

The film successfully depicts the Malaysian Chinese culture and tradition, the love between father and daughter, life-long childhood friendships that transcend time and culture, the liberal views of our current young generation on screen, the unpredictability and fragility of life...all in one film. The script is genuinely funny at times, emotionally poignant and relatable to all Malaysians. It's incredibly rare to see a local production of this quality. It's a tremendous accomplishment for the Malaysian movie industry and it's something we, Malaysians should be proud of.

Moreover, the cinematography is surprisingly stunning for a local production and the film is shot on various locations in Malaysia: Cameron Highlands, Ipoh, Penang, Kedah, Melaka, Sabah and Johor. The film captures the beautiful sights of the country...the hills, paddy fields, beach, bridges, etc. The props used in this film...the old furniture and decorations in Chuan's or any of his other ex-classmates' house provides a feeling of authenticity.

The Journey is a character-driven story, the film shines because of its wonderful casts. Lee Sai Peng is wonderfully cast as he managed to provide a great performance as the mopey and grumpy old man. On the other hand, Joanna Yew Hong Im and Ben Andrew Pfeiffer both provide a convincing performance as the interracial couple, managed to convey believable character emotions for certain scenes in the film.

Overall, it's one of the best Malaysian Chinese film ever made, don't miss it. It's a film for the young and old, a film that exceeds my expectation. It's better than many of the trashy and pointless foreign Asian productions out there now. Highly recommended.

http://yjcool.blogspot.com/2014/02/movie-review-journey.html

I was hesitate to watch this local production movie, but after a few rounds of good comment and some push from my kids and wife, I finally gave in and step into the cinema for a Malaysian movie. I must say this is a good piece of work reflecting the meaning of life in a typical Malaysian community, the importance of filial piety, treasuring friendship transcending races, "just do-it" attitude and make your own dream come true.

It is fun to see new faces across the country border in making this movie a must-see. I must say, my tears drop when they finally made the hot air balloon and release it. I must mention that the cinematography have been improved very much and the Cameron Highland scenery was superb. Although various language and dialects are used, but this is reflecting the real Malaysian life.

Double thumbs up for Director Chiu! I hope he can keep up the expectation and bring even more surprised for next Chinese New Year movie.

I missed Yasmin Ahmad (Sepet) so much. With her untimely passing, I feel Malaysia cinema went backwards. Today I saw the future. This is a gem of a film and it didn't even look cheap like many locally made films. I swear I wore a smile throughout the heartwarming film, an amalgam of sights and sounds. The cinematography is stunning. At times I had to do a double-take because I have never seen Malaysia looking so beautiful. The script is sometimes so hilarious and there are times it is so emotionally poignant. I am not ashamed to say I cried.

It sounds like I am describing a perfect film. It is not. The acting is at times over-wrought, the comedy borders on slapstick (thankfully it didn't step into farce territory), the direction lacks clarity at a couple of spots, some characters are not developed to satisfaction and the editing is not seamless at times. But the emotional beats are spot-on and the acting so earnest. I enjoyed watching the mopey and grumpy father played so naturally by Lee Sai Peng. There is also hardly any emotional schmaltz forced down our throat which makes it somehow more powerful. A lot of gems came up when we were talking about it later. For example, in the first act Chuan told Benji that he cannot sleep with Bee in the same room. Later in the last act, Chuan is not at home but Benji automatically leaves Bee's bedroom. What does it mean? Benji is a different person now. He has learned respect and the Chinese way. There are many innocuous gems like these once you let the movie simmered a bit. This is a director I will definitely follow in the future - Chiu Keng Guan.

The Journey is definitely worth taking a journey into JB (I live in Singapore). When it ended, it put us in a sublime state and both of us simultaneously proclaimed "this is so good". We couldn't stop discussing about it all through dinner and even on the journey back. Ah that word again... Journey. The movie made both of our heart soared up to cloud nine (it's still there). It's the type of film that comes once in a while... It may be far from perfect but it wears it's big warm heart on its sleeve and it will make you want to hug everyone in the cinema because they are 'family', they are kindred. Don't count on this to come here. If it does it will probably be marketed as a foreign film which will be so inappropriate because The Journey feels like home.

The Journey happens to be the first Malaysian film i ever watched in the cinema. The beauty of my experience is that there were 4 generations of my family enjoying it - my 76 year old mother, my old 50 year old self, my 35 year old cousin and her 9 year old daughter. We all connected to the characters and their issues immediately.

The first reviewer has probably mentioned almost everything there is to be said about the movie but i want to add that since i am an educator by profession, i would love to use excerpts of the film's conversations as teaching - learning points for our current generation. The part when Benji did a telling off to his father in law for his reluctance to send off his dead friend highlights the important point of my learning and teaching resource. The little boy who stood in between them as interpreter did a wonderful job. He epitomizes the very essence of human communication... keeping the message simple, precise, easily understood and preserving the original purpose and intent.

And that, is mastery of excellence in communication :)