Urban geography as pretext: Sociocultural landscapes of Kuala Lumpur in independent Malaysian films

Abstract

Current independent filmmaking in Malaysia has the potential to be an alternative and viable space for creative and political expression, relative to mainstream national cinema (Malay cinema) and to the state. I focus on alternative imagery and sociocultural mappings of Kuala Lumpur in three 'indie' films. All three films contain documentary elements capturing social geographies of the city not represented in mainstream Malay cinema, or even if represented not subjected to a critical gaze by the filmmaker. The Big Durian centres on the perspectives of the city's urban middle class of all ethnicities; Bukak Api portrays the daily struggles of Malay transsexual sex workers in Chow Kit, a predominantly working-class Chinese neighbourhood and red light district; and 18? highlights the opinions of the nongovernmental organization community, bohemians, artists, anarchists and media activists mostly in the cosmopolitan suburb of Bangsar. These representations of the Malaysian urban landscape are pretexts for and politicize the national landscape through a discussion of ethnicity and race politics, sexuality, and the lack of space for freedom of creative expression and critical thinking.Film can open a window on the sphere of human relations, depicting how people move through space, how they interact with objects in the landscape, how they interact with space designed by urban planners, how they interact with each other in this space. Films also can interpret the struggles of everyday life, often overlooked, as profoundly significant (Lisa Benton, 1995: 160).

Symbolic Representation of Tun Dr Mahathir: Visual Analysis of a Malaysian Short Film

“…Furthermore, when compared to earlier studies undertaken by Khoo (2008), Izharuddin (2015), Sora (2010), Coëgnaerts and Kravanja (2012) or A Rethina Velu and Kaur (2018a, 2018b), findings of this study yield different results. None of their studies adopted three different frameworks to provide a single component framework.…”

“…Findings showed the films gave preference to nongovernmental communities as pretexts to politicise the national landscape via ethnicity and race politics. Khoo's (2008) study is similar to our study on short film that consists of several landscapes such as the state of Kedah, city of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya based on Malaysian socio-cultural aspect. Besides, from a non-Malaysian perspective, Sora (2010) did a study based on the phenomenology of time that explains how the representation of time provides visual interpretation through interactive images as well as interactive application.…”

“…Studies on the analysis of visual representation on short films are rather scarce. From a Malaysian perspective, Khoo (2008) analysed the social-cultural geographical urban landscapes of the capital city of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur. Khoo's (2008) focus was on alternative imagery and sociocultural mappings in three films.…”

“…From a Malaysian perspective, Khoo (2008) analysed the social-cultural geographical urban landscapes of the capital city of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur. Khoo's (2008) focus was on alternative imagery and sociocultural mappings in three films. Findings showed the films gave preference to nongovernmental communities as pretexts to politicise the national landscape via ethnicity and race politics.…”

Tropics, city and cinema: Introduction to the special issue on cinematic representation of the tropical urban/city

“…Such marginal spaces, however, are resources for filmmakers to project counter‐representations and critiques of the mainstream imaginary of the city. Independent filmmakers of Malaysia, Khoo Gaik Cheng (2008) demonstrates, have used marginalized places and spaces in the capital city, Kuala Lumpur, for just such critique, disrupting official and mainstream triumphal narratives of economic development and progress of the Malaysian nation.…”