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Film Review: Geran (2019) by Areel Abu Bakar

Geran" is a great action movie, that thrives both on the martial arts aspect, but also on context,

As we have mentioned before, the epicenter of (Asian) martial arts productions have moved from Hong Kong to the ASEAN countries for some time now. Malaysian “”, which won the prestigious Daniel A. Craft Award for Excellence in Asian Cinema from New York Asian Film Festival is a proper testament to the fact.

“Geran” is Screening at Five Flavours Asian Film Festival

The film revolves around  a family of five, with the father, Pak Nayan, being a teacher of silat Gayong, the local martial art, and his three offsprings, Ali, Fatimah and Mat Arip, his long-time students. The latter one, however, is the black sheep of the family, with his constant gambling in illegal fights and drag races, which have caused a number of problems for the family. The worst, however, occurs when he steals the deed of the family's land and pawns it to the local loan shark, Haji Daud, who is a long-time rival of Pak Nayan, and also in the business of stripping the locals from their land and selling it to rich clients. As Haji Daud's men start pestering the rest of the family, Mat Arip tries to pay off his debt with more gambling, a decision that, inevitably, brings even more troubles. Despite Pak Nayan forgiving him for one more time, the young man ends up in the hands of Haji Daud, and Ali and Fatimah have to rescue him.

in his debut builds a very interesting setting, of a land where lawlessness is the law, and where the disconnected from everything youths struggle to find a way out of their poorness and boredom by indulging in illegal activities, something that does not only apply to Mat Arip, but also his opponents. In that setting, values like family seem to have very little meaning, while illegal land speculation is one of the main driving forces. Eventually, family and tradition prove significant powers, but not until the consequences have become dire. Mat Arip is the main medium of these comments, with his reckless behaviour and the troubles he causes his family highlighting the fact in the most eloquent way, and giving a very convincing performance in the part.

The role the father plays is also very significant, with the fact that the education he gave his children eventually becomes more than handy, and regarding a comment about how parents always forgive their children, even in their worst mistakes. Namron, who has already given a great performance in “ROH” this year, continues in the same level, through a measured but full with dignity portrayal.

Car races, illegal fighting, and few action scenes here and there, of which the one in the house allows to shine as Fatimah, particularly due to the slapping she “admonishes”, is the most impressive, take care of the action aspect in the movie, at least until the last part. It is in this last section of the movie that Azian Komeng's action choreography, 's abilities as Ali, Areel Abu Bakar's cinematography, and Nik Johan's frantic editing find their apogee. The three-fold scene that has the three sibling fighting in the market, a bus and the fields, is excellently staged and shot, and only finds its equivalent in the next session, where a mad Ali destroys everyone in his path in search for his brother. Abu Bakar's decision to leave the best (Khoharullah Majid) for last was a great one, with the impression the finale leaves benefiting the most by the build-up until that point, which also includes a mystery regarding Ali's actual abilities.

Lastly, Abu Bakar also does not omit to include some relief moments in the film, with the impressive images of the area and the many moments of humor taking care of that part.

“Geran” is a great action movie, that thrives both on the martial arts aspect, but also on context, in a trait not so frequently associated with the action category, but something Malaysian cinema seems to have the knack for, as witnessed also in films like “Bunohan” and “One Two Jagga“.

About the author

Panos Kotzathanasis

My name is Panos Kotzathanasis and I am Greek. Being a fan of Asian cinema and especially of Chinese kung fu and Japanese samurai movies since I was a little kid, I cultivated that love during my adolescence, to extend to the whole of SE Asia.

Starting from my own blog in Greek, I then moved on to write for some of the major publications in Greece, and in a number of websites dealing with (Asian) cinema, such as Taste of Cinema, Hancinema, EasternKicks, Chinese Policy Institute, and of course, Asian Movie Pulse. in which I still continue to contribute.

In the beginning of 2017, I launched my own website, Asian Film Vault, which I merged in 2018 with Asian Movie Pulse, creating the most complete website about the Asian movie industry, as it deals with almost every country from East and South Asia, and definitely all genres.

You can follow me on Facebook and Twitter.

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