TALENTIME : A Good Watch...

Salam ukhuwwah fillah...

1) Talentime to me is a cool movie. It is Yasmin's slow moving type movie, again (as usual there are long takes, still camera shots) strong sense of drama, love and it is so heartwarming...

2) It's another series of Yasmin's life she portrayed in a film. Lame...but nice. I'm convinced that it is good and worth to watch.

3) I'd rather grab the soundtracks of the movie than the DVD. Recommended track - Angel, by Atilia. The other songs are by Aizat. I think his vocal level is the most outstanding among male singers in Malaysia and Aizat managed to bring out the best for the film. Credit to Shafi'e @ Mukhsin who made it looked real when he did the lip-sync part so well during the song and played the guitar. I almost had the thought that he was performing live!)

4) All of the songs are simply good to listen to... Really need to have the soundtrack once it is out...

5) Mahesh is doing good with the acting as a deaf and mute boy. But, I'd love to hear him speaks! He's good-looking, of course he is. But, I wonder how on earth he suddenly reminds me of Dev Patel from Slumdog Millionaire!

6) Although Melor and her siblings are from an English mixed-blood family, but her Malay-ness seemed fake and artificial. There were so little 'Malay' I can see - almost none I must say, no matter how Yasmin tried to portray them as a balanced family from all aspects. Yes she showed to the audience that they do pray, they speak Malay (sometimes), Melur and her siblings do wear baju kurung (just like how Yasmin created Orkid in Sepet).

7) Melur's family are just too much overpowered with their English-ness. They speak almost perfect English most of the time (their father's mother - Granny - is from England). At the same time, they do eat using chopsticks. There's also Mei Ling as their maid. They enjoy Hindi dance and even Melur was involved in love with an Indian boy. Everything just got mixed up with one another. I don't know what and how I want/expect it to be, but I just hope to see something else, more out of it. Maybe a little specific. Uniqueness are not necessarily needs to be shown in everything. It is good that Yasmin is showing to the audience an example of Malay people with good English who do not practise racism. Talentime is one movie that is so colourful, harmony and beautiful. But at the same time, mixed up. It is just lack of something...

7) The characters are playing great role to keep the story alive. I love Adibah Noor's acting. She's the coolest teacher ever dreamed of any student in school. Jac did a great job too. For the first time acting, I think she did it well enough. I like it when she speaks in Tamil.

8) I simply love all the songs compared to the movie. It is as if I'm watching with my eyes closed, I can still enjoy the movie.

+ I first read the title of the movie as 'Talentime' (the singing competition), but when I look again, i think it's Tale-n-Time... Confused...? Or interesting? +