SEPET (2004) - FILM REVIEW

 SEPET (2004)

Yasmin Ahmad directed the Malaysian teen romantic comedy-drama film Sepet (2004). It was released in 2005 and is set in the Malaysian city of Ipoh. Sepet, the film's title, is derived from the Malay word'sepet.' In Chinese, it means'slit eyes.' A love storey between a Chinese boy and a Malay girl is depicted in the film. Choo Seng Ng, Sharifah Amani, and Linus Chung star in this show.

MULTIRACIAL REPRESENTATION

Malaysia is a multiracial nation with Malays, Chinese, and Indians living together. A multiracial culture is one in which people of different races coexist. Since the nation is a multiracial nation, each race's culture and language are distinct. Multiracial examples can be seen in the film Sepet (2004). Furthermore, it has highlighted the issue of bigotry in a multiracial world.

Multiracial representation has been involved in the dialogue between Jason and his mother from the beginning of the film. They communicate in a variety of languages on a regular basis. Jason, for instance, has read a poem written in Mandarin to his mother. When they talk, however, Jason speaks Cantonese to his mother and his mother Malay to him. We can tell Jason comes from a multiracial family based on their interactions. They can quickly communicate with each other in their mother tongue.

On the other hand, in the film Sepet (2004), the multiracial representative was seen in the scene where Orked's mother and Kak Yam were watching Hong Kong movies in the living room. They enjoy watching Hong Kong dramas together. About the fact that they do not understand Cantonese, they love watching it.

The next multiracial representative in the film is Orked, who enjoys watching Hong Kong films. Orked is a Malay young lady. She also enjoys watching Hong Kong films directed by John Woo, thanks to her mother's influence. She has mastered some Cantonese as a result of these films.

Furthermore, we can see that there were various races in the restaurant from the scene where Jason, his pal, and Orked met at the Chinese restaurant. For example, in the restaurant, Orked is dressed as a Malay, the waiter is dressed as an Indian, and the customers are dressed as Chinese. This shows that Malaysians are respectful of one another and get along well.

Malaysia is a multicultural nation with many languages and traditions. As a result, certain racial problems were depicted in the film. For eg, we learned from Orked and Jason's friend's conversation that there are misconceptions about Malays being lazy and Chinese being cunning. These myths are false, and they can lead to bigotry.

In addition, interracial marriage was a problem in a multiracial society since it included two races. We can see that Jason's Chinese friend did not understand why Jason decided to find a girlfriend of a different ethnicity in the scene where he wanted to show his girlfriend to him. This demonstrates that interracial marriage is opposed by a select number of individuals in society.

Conclusion

As conclusion, the film Sepet (2004) depicted Malaysia's multiracial culture. The majority of Malaysians can communicate in languages other than their mother tongue. Furthermore, Malaysians are born into a diverse cultural community. As a result, diverse cultures affected their daily lives in a variety of ways, including diet, language, and entertainment. We have a duty to preserve these cultures because Malaysia is a special and beautiful nation.

Reference

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0433692/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sepet

Multiracial (n.d). Multiracial. multiracial. Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/multiracial.

IMDb.com. (2005, February 24). Chinese Eye. IMDb. Retrieved from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0433692/.