Mencari Rahmat by Al-Jafree Md Yusop : The Experience

Disclaimer: This review is from my perspective as a viewer with little or no knowledge of films and how they are made. What is written is entirely how I feel about the movie from my personal view as a movie fan and not a film critique. Also, note my limited English vocabulary in describing things and the absence of film-making terms and jargons. My take on the movie and its understanding are also probably based on the life that I went through as a person, as I think films touches these elements most of the time in terms of story. I hereby apologize for any error in touching those matters. Also, I have a very short-term memory so the review might miss talking about some parts

The Journey

Having missed the first screening on the 1st of September 2018, I've booked a seat for the second screening in Kuala Lumpur scheduled on the 30th of September.
Between the two Kuala Lumpur screening, the team went for a tour to the east coast of Malaysia, Kuala Terengganu and Kuantan.

That is already quite an effort, plus all the promotional campaign. It is the first time that I have seen such a thing in a local scene. One of the reason is the movie can't be shown in the mainstream cinema for the reason I don't know specifically. But having seen some of Al-Jafree's body of work on Melur vs Rajawali, Ghahim Takut Nak Azan and Laksa Di Ambang Wati, and also knowing it is an adaptation of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest which he has written for a number of years, and also with the meteoric line of casts, I think I can guess why this one does not get the green light to go public.

So for that I supposed, they had to go indie.

The movie was first shown in 2017 at the Kota Kinabalu International Film Fest and was getting great reviews.

The Arrival

Having zero English literature background and failed on the first few minutes on listening to the audio version of the Importance of Being Earnest, I honestly don't know what to expect and if I ever will understand what the movie trying to tell.

My habit of not watching any movie trailers before viewing for not to have any sort of expectations is applied here too. Even though I get some visual clues from the posters and screenshots, I am going in blind.

The public review from the screenings in Kuantan and Kuala Terengganu has been positive (with me stopping at when they starting to tell about the story line).

The second screening was held at the same venue as the first one, Menara Ilham in Kuala Lumpur. Being Ilham means Idea in English.

Aptly.

It's a brand new office tower done by the famous architect, Norman Foster. I got to the third floor where the screening is happening and there was a counter for ticket purchase and movie merchandise (t-shirt, movie posters and a special book published just for the movie - and I bought it all).

The offer is either you buy the ticket or buy the book and get the ticket for free. The choice is obvious for me. I paid for the book and got the ticket for free. The ticket itself is nicely done with the movie fonts and colors and design.

I walked to the open area facing the atrium lobby and there's the director himself, Al Jafree chilling with cinematography director and producer Madnor Kassim on comfy sofas. I went to them and said hi.

I then realized that this is already a different experience that a normal movie screening. Its a movie premier!

Then we moved into the hall and not long after that Adibah Noor, Nam Ron and Amerul Affendi walked in and sat together with us before the movie start. I can't ask for more.

I was sitting amongst the best people in the industry including Hassan Abd Muthalib and Kamil Othman who lead the after-movie QnA session. It's a privilege to interact with them and hear them talk about the movie and answer questions, straight from the horse's mouth.

The finale

I also paid a little extra for an exclusive story-telling class, after the screening, with the director and writer himself, Al Jafree Md Yusof. He shared with us on the basics of storytelling and how it should and should'nt be. We spent time watching examples from iconic Hollywood movies and explain why they're good and why they're not. Movies like Sleepless in Seattle, 12 Angry Men and he delved into things like character introduction comparison between Achilles in the movie Troy and Hang Tuah in Puteri Gunung Ledang. The class ended with a QnA session where we had the chance to ask anything to Al-Jafree and he was brilliant in getting them answered.

I think all movie outing should be done like this but I know its impossible so that's why this one is special :)

I have touched on my opinion about independence film scene in my previous blog entry
Noob Film Review : Karya by Abror Rivai - The Perseverance of the Independence Film Scene in Malaysia

Kudos to AB Roll Sdn Bhd!

I will share my review on MENCARI RAHMAT soon. I was planning to mix it with this blog post but it will be a too long wall of text for you guys to read all my nonsense haha.

Thanks for dropping by!