SYNOPSIS (from Youtube trailer):
Step into the vibrant world of a Tamil school, surrounded by rubber trees and gravel paths, where friendships, dreams, and memories are born.
REVIEW:
The film starts with a scene where two Indian students (a boy and a girl) with growth hormone deficiency (GHD) standing alone in front of a dilapidated school court in the middle of a rubber plantation estate. A teacher then pressed play on the radio and the national anthem Negaraku started playing.
The whole audience then gradually started to stand up from their seats to pay respect. The screen goes on to show scenes of the townspeople and their socio-economic condition, which is barely out of the pre-independence day.
If this is not the director stating irony through cinema, I do not know what else it is. It is quite a subtle middle-finger salutation towards the whole thing.
The fusion of diegetic sound (the anthem coming from the radio) with the non-diegetic sound ( the anthem as the background music of the other scenes). This has placed the audience in dilemma and cognitive dissonance of the juxtapositioning between observing the visuals projected and respecting the anthem (which represents the system responsible for them)
The system. Heh. It is the phantom villain in this film. We can only see the damage inflicted by their villainous agenda.
Remember around 2 years ago? Our new PM who was supposed to bring hope for changes, was seen canceling out a question from a young Indian student when she was asking about possible changes in the quota system into a merit-based system. Like Zaffan in Tiger Stripes, a natural phase of change is being demonized by the same villain. In Tamil School Pasanga, the tragedy befell the family of an Indian girl, Kasthuri, which is foreshadowed in Act 1.
It has been done many times. For the Sabahan, Putri Purnama Sugua with Aku Mau Skola and Rumah Ndak Bertanah. In Sarawak D-Ni-OK did it with Alice. Al-Jafree with Melur vs Rajawali and Ghahim Takut Nak Azan. And Areel Abu Bakar with Walid. Yasu Tanaka with MagiK. On the global scene, we have the recent Teacher’s Lounge, the post-modernist Dead Poets Society, and classics like 400 Blows.
In the ending scene of Teacher’s Lounge, it is raining with the conflicting teacher and mother are shot looking at each other. Rain is semiotically used as a cleansing element that symbolizes forgiveness which also resolves the differences between the two characters, without uttering a single word. In Tamil School Pasanga, there is also a rain scene serving a similar purpose.
Yasmin Ahmad too, did the same thing in Talentime with NegaraKu (and rain in Mukhsin). In the scene where the school orchestra plays the national anthem, and the rest of the students stop and stand still, the main Indian protagonist, Mahesh walks and rides the motorbike through them. It is a bold and loud rebellion, again, without uttering a single word. Also shown on the intro of Talentime are shots of the dilapidated state of the school building which is an allegory to the state of the education system. The same thing is shown in Tiger Stripes. Ah. The dying art of cinematic poetry.
Tamil School Pasanga goes on satirically in its critique of the subject. Light humored almost in a style of P. Ramlee's Bujang Lapok films, complete with romance and song interlude between the main protagonist and his love interest.
Another interesting screenplay foreshadows the fate of their romance. They sat together in a temple and got a call from their mothers almost the same time. It is a saying of the motherly and also divine blessings of their relationship.
Also, Sharip Dol bad guy who is corrupt and got caught in the end (not really an accurate reflection of real-life noir-dystopia when it comes to corrupt guys at the top heh)
There is another subtle critique of the vernacular gap in the scene when they pay a visit to the Chinese school.
The main protagonist played by Denes Kumar is a teacher being transferred into a rural area, in a Cikgu Limau Kasturi fashion and goes through a similar character arc (he was shown reading a book on Marxism, Al Jafree’s Melur vs Rajawali style heh) Also facing similar resistance in a form of Lebai Lazin which archetype also appears in the film La Luna.
The cheerful tone of the soundtrack and the continuous pacing leave the audience attached to the story. The same goes for the main theme song. Subtly draws an invitation to what mainly is about improving the attitude towards education (and don’t ‘ponteng’ sekolah) by not going the preachy, didactic path. This is what I think is called a good film gestalt.
To those in the government in charge of education, the local cinema has been talking about the subject since P. Ramlee's Pendekar Bujang Lapok. Three bachelors who were illiterate. Then they learn to read. Then they learned the 'mambang tanah' chants/recitation and got hooked on it. They eventually made to discover (with a knock on the head with a parang) that change can only come by walking the talk. The three bujang lapok then stop reciting, confront the pirates, and rescue the girl.
In short, what P. Ramlee is saying is that the time for rhetoric and lip service should be long gone. Same with giving funds for B-movie/telemovie grade production to be released on the big screen. Jesus Christ its 2025 and it has been 5 years since Road to the Oscars. Why do things like this keep on happening? (It is a rhetorical question lah coz we all know the answer)
Anyways. Mamak tosai satu!
(plays NegaraKu)
From Youtube trailer:
The movie hits theaters on 23 January 2025, featuring a stellar cast with Denes Kumar, Kuben Mahadevan, Vidia Liana, Ben-G, Yasmin Nadiah, Malarvizhi, Veerasingam, and many more. Produced by Denes Kumar and Ts. Dr. Vimala Perumal, directed by Shan, with music by Shameshan and editing by Anand Geraldin, this film is set to take audiences on an emotional and nostalgic journey back to school days.
Mark your calendars and get ready to relive those unforgettable moments of childhood!
Watch trailer here:
