BY NEVILLE TIMOTHY SANDERS & GABRIEL LIHAN
KUCHING: In 2021, the movie ‘Edge of The World’ directed by Michael Haussman and starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers was released and inevitably attracted global attention on the history of Sarawak.
The movie, which was based on the true story of the first ever White Rajah of Sarawak, James Brooke, chronicled his journey back in the 1840s, how he founded a family dynasty in Sarawak on the island of Borneo and became the first Rajah from 1841 until his death in 1868.
Although the film showcases Borneo, most specifically Sarawak and its indigenous people, it tells the narrative of the people from a white person’s point of view.
It is delightful to see that Sarawak was showcased beautifully by the local and foreign filmmakers.
But have these films from a Sarawak context been represented enough and in a proper way or do we still have a lot of work to do to showcase these stories in the Malaysian cinema?
To understand the journey of Malaysian films that centre around Sarawak, it is apt to trace the history of the cinema itself.
History of Malaysian cinema
The history of Malaysian cinema began in the early 19th century when the first ever Malay film ‘Leila Majnun’, directed by B.S Rajhans, premiered in 1933 based on the classical Persian story of two ill-fated lovers.
Film scholar Hassan Abd Muthalib, in his article entitled “Malaysian Cinema Then and Now: A Brief History (1927-2015)”, stated that the characteristics of earlier films comprised a collection of tearjerkers, melodrama, horror, comedy and romance that were treated in a classicist manner with most of them reminiscent of the bangsawan or Malay opera which was popular with the locals.
One of the most notable icons in the classical Malaysian films was none other than the late Tan Sri P Ramlee, who starred, wrote, produced and directed some of the most iconic movies that the people still watched till to this day.
Malaysian cinema then had gone through some of the most notable transitions in terms of the narrative and storyline post Merdeka Studio era.
While the film industry has its ground rules and regulations to this day, some directors such as Amir Muhammad, U-Wei Haji Shaari, and the late Yasmin Ahmad were able to break the boundaries and cemented themselves to become among the most respectable directors in the film industry.
That being said, how far was the involvement of Sarawak stories in the Malaysian cinema or film industry as a whole? The answer is – there was, but there was not much.
Sarawak’s representation
One of the earlier Malaysian films that centred around Sarawak dated back to 1957 and was called ‘The Long House’ directed by Phani Majumdar.
The film centred around a white man who fell in love with a Dayak woman in a rural area in Sarawak. Their love story did not last long in the film due to cultural differences and ethnicity.
One review of the movie stated that it was one of the most interesting movies ever been watched as it was brilliantly shot, especially some of the scenes such as the Dayak wedding scene and the traditional Dayak welcoming ceremony at a longhouse.
It became one of the first few movies that showcased Sarawak, its culture and setting in a proper way. However, it was also a movie that narrated the story from the perspective of a white person from the Western hemisphere.
After the release of The Long House in 1957, then came ‘Chinta Gadis Rimba’ in 1958 directed by L Krishnan, which was an adaptation of Harun Amniurrashid’s novel of the same name that depicted forbidden love between a Malay man and an Iban girl.
Chinta Gadis Rimba (1958), and some of the scene from the film Photo: Google Images
Film critic and lecturer from Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Dr Norman Yusoff, in his column titled “Films of Sabah and Sarawak” in 2021, stated that the cinematic depiction of Malaysian Borneo, most notably Sarawak, were few and far between at first.
“That started to change, albeit slowly, during the early phase of the post-studio era with the emergence of Bumiputra film production companies following the introduction of the New Economic Policy in 1971,” he said.
This, however, was before Merdeka Studio changed its name to Filem Negara Malaysia and when the time came, it embarked on making feature films for the commercial market in the late 1970s.
One of the first few attempts of involving Sarawak post the Merdeka Studio era was a film called ‘Dayang Suhana’ directed by A. Aziz Abas in 1978.
It was a melodrama that centred around on a man from Peninsular Malaysia who eventually came to terms with the fact that a Sarawakian woman he was in love was actually his long-lost biological sister.
“Thus, Dayang Suhana can be read as a Malaysian (national) allegory representing the formation of the nation-state that connects Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia,” he added.
In 1988, ‘Anak Sarawak’ directed by Rahim Razali was one of the few films that were funded and supported by the Sarawak government. ‘Anak Sarawak’ revolved around a district officer, who was sent to the rural district of Laka to help eradicate an external force that threatened to disrupt the district’s ability.
“The district conceals a secret regarding the protagonists’ sense of origin, something that unfolds via the film’s archetypal lost and found a plot about family reintegration,” he shared.
He also shared that outside of the mainstream, a film scholar attached to Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Stephen Teo once made an experimental film called ‘Bejalai’ in 1989 which was screened in the Berlin Film Festival.
The film tells the story of the rites of passage that young males of Sarawak’s Iban people go through to achieve manhood.
In 2003, a film named ‘The Sleeping Dictionary’ centred around an Englishman who was sent to Sarawak in the 1930s to become part of the British colonial government, Here, he encountered some unorthodox local traditions and found himself faced with tough decisions involving a beautiful young local woman who became the object of his affections.
It was written and directed by Guy Jenkin and starred Hugh Dancy and Jessica Alba. It is one of the few movies located in Sarawak that showcase one of the few popular international actors.
All of these movies mentioned earlier were some of the films that either used Sarawak as their primary settings or centres around foreign or non-Sarawakian figures who came to the state with a life purpose.
However, none of the movies really showcased some of the great Sarawak centric stories that also used local talents as its main actors until sometime in the mid-2010s.
Dr Norman shared that while there had been Angloamerican films and documentaries involving Borneo and most importantly, Sarawak for decades, the development of Malaysian cinema representing the people and cultures of Malaysian had only gained momentum over the last five years or so.
“A few recent efforts from Sarawak would be ‘Belaban Hidup: Infeksi Zombie’ directed by Ray Lee that was released last year and it is a horror film infused with Sarawak’s indigenous cultural elements.
“Prior to this, two works drew inspiration from real life Sarawakian heroes which is ‘Peransang Rentap’ directed by Lina Johor that was released in 2017, about a young man who wished to join Iban-Dayak warrior Rentap to fight the British, and, of course, ‘Kanang Anak Langkau: The Iban Warrior’ directed by Bade Azmi that is based on a true story that valorises a prominent Iban war hero who fought during the communist insurgency,” he said.
Portrayal but to what extent?
But the underlying question throughout is, if Sarawak stories have been depicted in Malaysian films, leaving an incredible impact and capturing the essence of Sarawak, then when will the representation of Sarawak stories in Malaysian cinemas be enough to be on par to equate a sense of unity?
This is especially in films in terms of nurturing a sense of oneness as Malaysians, so how enough is enough?
With that said and done, back to the question that was stated earlier – is the representation of Sarawak stories in Malaysian cinemas truly enough or do we still have a long way to go?
Dr Norman pointed out that additionally, it was incumbent upon the filmmakers not to simply resort to “exoticising” the image and representation of Borneo/Sarawak, as to how it was being practised previously by some local and foreign filmmakers.
“The lack of Malaysian Borneo films in previous decades provides room for filmmakers to further tap into rich and vibrant stories of Sabah and Sarawak.
“In particular, stories that reflects and account for contradictory aspirations, alternative voices, marginal struggles and oppositional discourses, all of which have informed and shaped Malaysian Borneo. It is crucial to do so in our efforts for a more critical, mature and inclusive Malaysian cinema,” he said.
