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“Abang Adik” is a local Malaysian movie with Jin Ong debuting as its director and Lee Sin Je (Malaysian actress) as the executive producer. Apparently Ms Lee reached out to her friends for funding, including Michael Wong (a Malaysian singer of “Michael-Victor” duo fame). Even though the budget for this movie is not as huge as those big Hong Kong, China or Taiwan movies, still it is of excellent quality, and they managed to rope in the actor from Taiwan as its main lead, i.e. Wu KangRen. So far, it has won several nominations in various global film festivals and won quite a few awards. The title in in Chinese is 富都青年 (Pudu youth?). It is about 1 hour and 50 mins.
Wu plays the elder brother, Abang (“Ah Pong” in the movie in mandarin). The second lead is played by Malaysian actor, Jack Tan. He is Adik, the younger brother, in the movie, or “Ah Di”. In Malay language, “abang” means elder brother and “adik” means younger brother. They are not related by blood but grew up since childhood. Abang is deaf and mute but can hear a little with a hearing aid. He communicates by sign language. He does not have any identity document as all documents were burned down in a fire long ago. His parents died in the fire. Adik only has a photocopy of his birth certificate. But with only this, he is unable to get a proper identity card (IC) nor driving license or any other licenses. In such a situation, they live together in a shabby flat in a poor district of Kuala Lumpur. Without an identity, Abang can only work odd jobs in the wet market of Pudu, cutting chickens, loading and unloading of goods, delivery, etc. But they are honest jobs. On the other hand, Adik tries to make more money by being the middle man of illegal immigrants trying to get fake identity from illicit groups out to cheat these illegal immigrants. Due to the nature of this job, he is often caught and on the run after raids by immigration officers or the police. At night, he would provide his body to a lonely rich woman in exchange for cash. His mentally is different from his elder brother. He has somewhat of a chip on his shoulder, having a deep unforgiveable grudge on his father (perhaps for abandoning him). It is very similar to the “Go Ahead” drama I posted earlier. He Zuqiu also had a deep hatred to his blood father. Adik’s hate on his father will eventually be the source of a sudden turn of event for both himself and Abang. Abang would from time to time advise his Adik to lead a more honest life, but Adik will not listen. When Adik is on the run from hooligans, it is Abang that comes to his rescue. You can see the great bond between the two of them. So, this is the background of their life in general. Their daily suffering plays out very well by these 2 actors and the director and cinematographer. I really like the scenes at the wet market. They are beautifully shot and captures the essence of the Pudu wet market. I know because I have been there.
Spoiler alert which I may inadvertently included here. You may come back later to this blog post after you have watched the movie. Other characters in this movie are Sister Money (played by Tan Kim Wang) and the social worker - Jia En (played by Serene Lim) - that tries to help Adik apply for a proper IC. Sister Money is a transgender, I think. The social worker turned up one day at Adik’s flat to inform hm she had managed to find his long, lost father. Adik was unable to control his emotions and he just lost it at that time. A moment lacking mindfulness leads to a lot of trouble, particularly for Abang. Abang also – his own carelessness is to be blamed too. A moment's lack of control or mindfulness can be very damaging. This is so pitiful. So sad to see this turn of event. Okay, I will not divulge more. Let you see the movie for yourself. But do watchout for the appearance of Venerable Kai Zhao. Yes, he plays himself in the movie, as a counsellor to Abang, who is in the death row. In actual life, this monk does go to prison cells and provide Buddhist advice and teachings to those facing the death sentence. This is very noble and embodies the bodhisattva spirit, even though he is a Theravada monk. But I find the script given to Ajahn Kai Zhao very strange. Do you tell a person that is going to be hanged, to live life well and properly? But this scene between both of them is the most touching. A tear jerker. Abang thinks that to continue living does not have any more meaning to him. He believes that with his physical disability, already he has no future a long time ago. My contention is that Abang does not need to die. If it is only involuntary manslaughter, and not murder, does he need to be sentenced to death? I don’t think so. But then, there is no lawyer that is willing to represent him. This is so sad. Adik tried so hard to find a lawyer to help his brother, but his efforts are in vain. Are all lawyers so money-face? At least, in this movie, it is portrayed as such. Perhaps also Abang being deaf-mute, he is unable to express himself well to others that he is not at fault. He just felt responsible for the death of that person (let you find out yourself who) and there is no meaning for him to continue living. Bottom line – we need professional people to have more bodhisattva attitude and help society at large that needs it, without thinking of the compensation. Sigh! The reality of this samsaric world can be very cruel. In the end, poor Adik has to come to terms with losing his Abang.
Huh…. It is now more than a page long. Enough of my review. Go watch it somehow. I am sure you will appreciate the message this movie is trying to convey (whatever it is). Already at the Golden Horse 2023, Wu KangRen had won Best Actor award. Kudos to him! He truly deserves it. In the entire movie, there is not a single word uttered by him, although he tried to mutter some words but only sound is heard. The way he moves his hand gestures and facial expression, in fact the whole body language truly conveys wonders. Jack Tan’s performance is also remarkable. I want to see more of him in future. He has won best actor in other movies previously. A talented Malaysian actor! Sister Money is also beautifully acted by Tan Kim Wang. Remarkable. Oh yes, do listen to the movie theme song. It is called “Semalam” in Malay. It has a simple but soothing melody that is appropriate for this movie. The only negative aspect of the movie is, as what some critics say, the movie is rather dragging at some scenes. But one can also argue that this is not an action movie and dragging at certain parts may add depth to the scene. The judicial process for Abang's case appears to be super-fast, when in reality it could take years. And also it ignored the fact that Malaysia had abolished the death penalty some years back. Apparently, the prisoner uniform is also wrong. The purple uniform is for prisoners still awaiting sentencing, whereas for persons aready sentenced to death, they will be wearing a white uniform with red sleeve. But overall, I would still give the movie a score of 9 out of 10.
That’s all from me, for now. Leave your comments if you like this post or have watched the movie. You can find my other movie posts, such as this one – https://buddha-and-me.blogspot.com/2021/11/mindfulness-dharma-of-wonder-woman.html
#AbangAdik #WuKangRen #JackTan #JinOng
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