Victim(s) (2020)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2020
	Director: Layla Zhuqing Ji
	Actors: Lu Huang, Remon Lim, Xianjun Fu, Wilson Hsu, Kahoe Hon
	Country: MAL
	Genre: Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 28.06.2020, FEFF2020, 14" screen.
Synopsis: When high-school student Gangzi (Hon) is killed and his two friends wounded, all suspicions turn to rich kid Chen (Fu) who can't be found.
Review: What starts as a murder mystery turns very quickly to a traumatizing bullying story. I have the feeling this topic is not much tackled in Western cinema, except to show a high-school student as the ultimate asshole. In Asia it is taken very seriously for the life-wrecking drama it can be, as I remember from the Animated Korean The King of Pigs, and shown by the presence of a second bullying movie, Better Days, closing this Far East Film Festival. On a side note, the director of this movie is Chinese (and the original language Mandarin) but she made it in Malaysia to escape censorship in her country. The movie is very good at turning progressively what looks obvious at the beginning (the murderer even confessed) into a much more ambiguous situation, once we see flashbacks of what happened at school. And I can warn you this is not your simple "give me your money" bullying, it goes well beyond to a point where it made me feel ill-at-ease watching the movie. But it cleverly stayed within the boundaries of what I could tolerate. So the whole backstory tells a lot about teenagers, how they treat each other and lie to look better, or not to become the bullied themselves. Bullying and prejudice is everywhere and against everything: money, race, sexual preferences... I sincerly hope this situation is an exaggeration of reality in most schools.  But the aftermath of the murder deals more with how people (adults and teens alike) stupidly react in the face of such situation, in particular by deciding who's fault it is before even a hint of due process. Journalists and random people quickly made up their mind without having knowledge of most of the facts. A behavior I would expect from the teens is in fact shown to be the same in adults. A movie hard to watch, but well-done and successful at delivering its message.
Rating: 7 /10

Mrs K (2016)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2016
	Director: Ho Yuhang
	Actors: Kara Wai,Wu Bai, Siow Li Xuan, Simon Yam
	Country: MAL, HK
	Genre: Action, Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 24.04.2017, Teatro Nuovo, FEFF2017, Cantonese/Mandarin/Malay with English subtitle
Synopsis: K (Wai) lives in the suburbs of a big city with her daughter (Xuan) and her husband (Bai). She left Hong-Kong and has a nice family life. When her daughter is kidnapped by her former robbery partner (Yam), she has to reveal and revive her past.
Review: One surprising thing in the movie could be the many actors from Hong-Kong and also the story-line very inspired from the kung-fu movies of the 70s and 80s. But usually it was not the daughter who is kidnapped or killed or threatened but rather the sister, the mother or so. The introduction scene in which Mrs K kicks the ass of three young thieves but ends in a funny situation and off-the-wall dialogues reminds me the style of Jackie Chan in the 90s.  Then the question is What makes all this HK influence in a Malaysian movie?! Ok, Malaysia may have a lot of migrants from China and HK, so that the Malaysian market would like the movie. But it is the director Ho Yuhang who got these influences and gets inspired by it and it is something I noticed in the FEFF2017 more than in any other. This will deserve a dedicated Article...  The choreography is not necessarily the best point in the movie but quite impressive to see Kara Wai fighting. The dialogues and the situations are really cool. Both risky and thrilling on the one hand and with totally unexpected and thus funny dialogues on the other hand.  The idea of the movie is great but the realisation needs still some maturity. Let's see the next movie by Ho Yuhang.
Rating: 4 /10

The journey (2014)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2014
	Director: Chiu Keng Guan
	Actors: Ben Andrew Pfeiffer, Lee Sai Peng, Joanne Yew Hong Im
	Country: MAL
	Genre: Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 29.04.2014, Teatro nuovo, FEFF2014
Synopsis: Bee, a Malaysian girl, and Benji, a British guy, are coming from England to Malaysia to get married. Bee's father is reluctant to accept a white member in the family.
Review: The story turns fast to a road movie through Malaysia, showing amazing touristic pictures and places where people live. The conjunction of several languages, English, Mandarin, Malaysian in the same movie paves the way to a movie about tolerance. The acting of the stubborn father is very good. He really has a photogenic although rude face. The journey is a journey across Malaysia, across its culture, and in particular the Chinese culture, omnipresent. It is a feel good movie that the whole family can enjoy and learn something about. It is not a question of keeping the tradition against the Western culture. The question is to marry both and that both respect each other.  The only movie from Malaysia presented this year in the FEFF2014. It might be a pity, because the quality is quite good. This was a hit in the Malaysian box office, for sure sue to the tolerance and opening transmitted by the story.
Rating: 5 /10