At the end of daybreak

Malaysia 2009

Details  lovehkfilm

Seen 4 April 2010

Young lovers
Underaged girl, early twenties boy
Rich girl, middle income family
Poor boy, ordinary folks
Unlikely
But it happens

The physical trysts
The laughter and smiles
Missing each other

But when it comes to the crunch
Young minds are not ready
To face reality
Responsibility
As it takes two to tango
What can be done when you are alone
Left bereft, unsupported
To face the world, the powerful

Reasoning
Does not carry any weight
The mind just do not register
The gravity of the situation

Then all hell break loose

Prayers for Bobby

USA 2009

Details  imdb

Seen 7 March 2010




A mother's concern
Thinking that she is doing right
Leads to unhappiness
Despair

Guilt builds up
Whereas love is needed
Understanding
Compassion
Support

Until it is too late
Discovering that a little effort
Will and can
Make a difference

That starts the new resolve
Even though it is painful
Bewildering
Accepting an alien, strange notion
Different from your norm
Conviction and belief

It is love that anchors it all
It is love that will show the way
It is love that is needed

That child needs love

Syndromes and a century

aka Sang sattawat

Thailand 2006

Details imdb

Seen 8 February 2010






Are there differences
Between past and present
Between rural and urban
Between old and new

Man still go through life
Feeling
Moving
Caring

The background
Changes
The players
Similar

A discovery
A revelation

Leads to other avenues
Paths and roads
Gravitating, pulling
Enticing to an unknown

That has always been
Man's fate and destiny
Encountering anew
Facets of life
Unknown before
Familiar now

Mundane it may be
But that is reality
Everyone goes through
Again and again

Just a question of love

aka Juste une question d'amour

France 2000

Details  imdb

Seen 7 February 2010





Is there a right time and moment
To tell, inform and declare
That you love someone

Family and friends
May not understand
You yourself
Might not be ready

Circumstances
Takes its course

You are just thrown
Into the deep end

You struggle
To take a deep breath
You flounder
To surface again

That love of yours
Is strong
Despite the hurdles
Love will overcome
Love will surmount
The barriers
The prejudices

With love
Facing the world
Seems a lot easier

Muallaf

Malaysia 2007

Details  cinema

Seen 28 December 2009





Forgive and forget
Forgive and move on
Or
Do not forgive

Keep the anger aflame

Hate and remembrance
Scars
Physical
Emotional

Festering wounds
When will it heal
There must be a time
When push comes to shove

We must face the bogeyman

We must
We must

No two ways about it

Those in the past
Remain there
We are now in the present
And we live and breathe

Carry on
There is a future

2012

USA 2009

Details  imdb

Seen 30 November 2009




Wealth and power
The lethal combination
Will it guarantee
One's survival

Does the privileged few
Have the right
To pick and choose

Or should humanity
Be the deciding factor

Ethical conundrums

The bottom line

Mankind
Is made up of many parts

Each a cog
Plays its part
In the bigger picture

Opposite forces
Different wants
Must join forces

Control
Overcome

Adversity
What come may

With the ultimate aim
Survival

Karaoke

Malaysia 2009

Details  cinema

Seen 28 November 2009





A homecoming
Welcomed?

Not quite

Past events
Colour
The present

But blood is thicker than water

The past
Are memories

The present
Is reality

The years
Has changed
Many
People, places

Retain the past
Look forward
To a brighter future?

Only time will tell

Pisau Cukur

Malaysia 2009

Details  cinema

Seen 23 November 2009




Gold diggers, beware
However sharp
The instrument
It must always
Be remembered
Can cut both ways

Power struggles
Between the sexes
Between classes
The monied
The poor

Dreams of riches
May have been attained
But it may be gone
In a blink of an eye
If those riches
Depends on the vagaries
Of others

Decide
Take control

All efforts
Are not in vain

But might even
Bring more
Satisfaction

Just rewards

The Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land

Aka An lian tao hua yuan

Taiwan 1992

Details imdb

Seen 5 October 2009




Two stories of love, longing, separation

What might be
If all happened according to plan

But is life without the other any different
Is the other's presence really significant
Or do we just accept, adjust and carry on with life
Irregardless of the feelings

Those emotions
Felt strongly before
Still has a place in our hearts

Even now

A Jihad For Love

USA 2007

Details ajihadforlove

Seen 4 October 2009











Is love incompatible with your beliefs
Of course not

The belief in the compassionate, the all loving

The elders will always maintain
The book says the act is wrong
The act?

Elaborate
The love?

Surely that is permitted

The debate continues
The struggles, persecutions
Some escape, some meet a fate
Inhuman

There will always be those
Who wants to control whom you love
Who wants to dictate the ways of love
Why is that so

The lovers
That is their wish
To share with someone
That love

But nay
You must follow just one path
It has been decided for you
If you do not agree, it will be at your own peril

VJ Burma

Burma 2008

Details burmavjmovie

Seen 3 October 2009


Video DJ? Not

This is reality
Events not meant to be seen others
The all powerful big brother
Encompassing everything

Power
To be retained at whatever cost
Even against the grain of
The long held tradition
Of belief and respect
Gone

For those dedicated in the service of a higher calling
Enough is enough
There are always limits

But the guns always win
What can bare hands do
Against such onslaught

This is a long battle
With countless victims

Will it all be in vain

Persevere
You will come through

At Stake

Aka Pertaruhan

Indonesia 2008

Details indonesianfilmfestival


Seen 2 October 2009




Four stories
Women stories

The age old prejudices are still there
Misconceptions, ignorance
Unwillingness to accept facts
Perpetuating certain beliefs
Using tradition and religion, continuity
As excuses

Supposedly
Protecting
Keeping the women safe
That is the men's view

What of the women
When will they ever be treated as equals

Otoko wa tsurai yo

aka It's Tough Being A Man

Japan 1969

Details imdb

Seen 7 September 2009

Tora-San
The bumbling idiot
The court jester

Yes, he is irritating
Yes, he does put his foot in his mouth
Not once or occasionally
But often times

His character
His actions
Are not with malicious intent

But inadvertently
Plans go awry
Hearts are broken

He does realise
Those dear and
Close at heart

Will always be
Dear and
Close at heart

La vie de Jesus

France 1997

Details imdb

Seen 3 August 2009

Moments
Broken
In
Spurts

A small town
Idle, left alone
Residents
Restless, listless
In hot afternoons

To escape
To find solace
Friends
Companions
Loved ones
Are there for you

Those presumed
Not belonging
Are the enemies
Outsiders
Misunderstood

A small spark
Lit the fire
Blows
And then
Death

In the end
Contemplation
Is that too little
Too late

Iran 2007

Details sonypictures

Seen 31 July 2009

A lifetime
Of a country
Of a nation
At the crossroads
Through the eyes
Of a girl

Maybe her family background
With liberal minded
Strong willed
Parents
Helped shaped her
During her growing up years

Studying abroad
Through formative years
Opened her eyes
To so many things
But her heart is still
In her homeland

A home that has gone through
So many changes
And still in flux

She does return
Starting anew

Will she remain?

Events
Dictate otherwise

Offside

Iran 2006

Details imdb

Seen 31 July 2009

A football game
Seems simple
But when it is played in Iran
Passions are a flamed
Especially when a World Cup
Is close at hand

Irrespective of gender or creed
Young or old
They are all swept away
By the torrent of emotions

But women are not allowed into stadiums
How do you get in

Ingenuity

But you are caught
With others
Who had the same idea
The guards
Do not understand
At first

As the game progresses
There is a camaraderie
Thoughts, ambitions
Of the men, the girls
A common denominator

There maybe differences
There maybe arguments
There are rules to obey
There are orders to follow

But Iran wins
Then there is celebration

Gadoh

Malaysia 2009

Details komas

Seen 19 July 2009

All those thoughts
Out in the open
Once it was not meant
With any malicious intent

Now it will lead to fights
Just a brush of shoulders
Would bring forth
The urge to fight

Prejudices inbuilt, inborn, inherited
Perpetuated
We are human after all
Aren't we
The same desires
The same dreams

Change must come
And it must begin
From within
Ourselves

Himala

Philippines 1982

Details imdb

Seen 6 July 2009

Faith and miracles
Believe and trust
Hand in hand
Leading us to salvation

Elsa, the saviour
Is she really what she says she is
Did she see what she saw
Or is it all just an imagination

But people want to believe
They want that miracle to happen
Especially when there is no hope
A miracle does wonders

With the fame, scavengers throng
Picking up fruits of the labour
But once the miracle stops
Everyone turns the other way

But can miracles stop
Or is it a prelude
To a bigger miracle
A momentous event

Elsa, the girl, the woman
The abandoned child
The trusted friend
Who could not help
When we do need miracles

But as she says
The miracle is within
Ourselves

Kinsey

USA 2004

Details imdb

Seen 5 July 2009

Human sexual behaviour
A taboo subject for some
But a fascinating study
For Dr. Kinsey

Growing up with a strict father
Repressed feelings, high expectations
Might have been a factor
Leading him to study nature

His quest to find a link
To study sexual histories
Began with his own marriage

That first night set the wheels in motion
To help indirectly, to understand better
The sexual act between human beings
What is common and what is not

The report had no precedent
Scandalous, ground breaking

But for every voice against
There was someone
Who said thank you to Kinsey

He started a revolution
Of course with many
Minor and major faults
He had blazed a path
For others to continue
To learn more about ourselves

But he did acknowledge
He cannot measure love

Surviving Beijing

Malaysia 2000

Details soundscaperecords

Seen 4 July 2009

A musical journey
A search, a quest
A test, a challenge
Can they cut it
In the big bad world

They chose Beijing
The mecca for many
A one month sojourn
With much hope and anticipation

On the outskirts of the metropolis
An underground music haven
A community of like minded musicians
This is their destination
Here they will congregate
In the hopes of discovering, learning
Exchanging ideas

The early adjustments
Was just a prelude
To the first setback
Unprepared, a blow to the ego

Depressed, arguments, bad feelings
Outpourings of the heart
Until that sweet promise comes along

Yes, they managed to go through
That final concert
Before the journey home

But the journey revealed
The many shades of each band member
Differences, similarities, dreams
And those committed to the music
Will continue on another journey