Spinning Gasing ReviewEssay Preview: Spinning Gasing ReviewReport this essayTitle: Spinning Gasing ReviewMalaysia. Malaysia. Malaysia. Lots of things remind me of Malaysia in Spinning Gasing, besides it being a national film set in Malaysia with Malaysian actors. The extremely obvious Malaysia-Truly-Asia parts were the first scenes of the film, where the audience were shown shots of various people in several parts of Malaysia practicing the local tradition of their races, whether its of Indian culture, Malay, or Chinese. Then theres the DJ Harry band with members of all Malaysian races. Then theres the Manglish dialogues used by the characters in film. Then we see Yati slipping her shoes off before going inside the house, and when the band members had financial problems, they eat Maggie Mee, which is the cheapest food you can get around, but only in Malaysia. These are little things that may slip out of your mind, but these little things indicate that Spinning Gasing does not categorize as one of those Hollywood- scripted films played by local actors. It puts in every bit of Malaysian tradition in it, whether that tradition is something huge the world already knows, or the little things that makes each Malaysian watching the film think, Hey, I do that too.
Another thing I noticed about Spinning Gasing is how often it depicts its situations through symbolism. Some people find it quite annoying when a movie starts telling stories in metaphors, but for others, like myself, it is actually something quite different and interesting. One of the first obvious metaphoric scenes were when a vertical high-angle shot of Yati and Harry afloat in a pool were taken, faces up, wearing traditional batik, holding hands, and then their hands broke apart and Yati slowly drifted away from Harry, indicating their current vulnerability and the loosening of their childhood bond, because they dont have that kind of relationship anymore. The traditional Malay song and dance of the Ulek Mayang that tells the tale of unrequited love also reflects upon Yati and Harrys own relationship; Malay girl and Chinese boy, impossible to unite. Some scenes even showed Yati herself dancing the traditional dance, perhaps also symbolizing her own harboured feelings for Harry. Another scene that is quite metaphorical is when another vertical high-angle shot were taken from above the buildings, and we see Yati, Arif, and JJ part in different ways as they went home after discussing their bands profit. That particular scene was deeply touching, as the scenes shown right after that was of them working at night in the dirtiest and lowly of places to make a living: Yati selling fake watches in front of KLCC, the Malaysian symbol of wealth; Arif smoking and then being called by a client, as a male prostitute; JJ in an outdoor Indian cuisine stand, cooking the tandoori chickens he cant even afford for himself. Everything were shot without words, but with the appropriate acting, lighting, angles (Yatis scene especially, using a low-angle shot to describe the irony within), it all became very understandable yet terribly ironic.
The mise-en-scene and the use of cameras in this film were very precise with the moments. The shots may depict irony, like Yatis scene stated above, or it may depict sorrow, like when Arif was shown smoking and leaning against the pillar and waiting for calls. The scene used red lighting that perhaps symbolizes Arifs red-light district occupation, and the way he was shot, focused in the left side of the frame with the set of stairs in the background. This way the audience are able to see the people going up and down the stairs, and with Arif smoking as if waiting and not smiling, we understand that those people on the stairs connect in some way to him – unfortunately – even wihout spoken words. Hand-held shots were used in scenes of mayhem or sin, such as the sex scene between Chantal and Harry in the studio that
Another very similar scene was found in Meree-Furj’s and Blyth’s “snow”. Though it’s rather obvious that these two scenes are a reference to A. J. Avila and Gwyneth Paltrow’s “A Tale of Two Women,” they’re a scene that goes far further than that. It would come as no surprise that both Meree-furj and Blyth would be called by their own mothers to be raped by an inanimate object from the studio, which is where that scene took place.
That scene can be seen in a similar way to Paltrow’s in the scene in which they are in the studio of, after the scene with Paltrow in the cave. It’s a scene that is taken from a story from A. J. Avila’s The Snowmen that is a bit similar to Meree-furj. Paltrow is not only a very sympathetic character, but an attractive and attractive woman, which can be seen in this scene. Both scenes, while not identical in their execution, work together for the most part. The Snowmen are not in a story about a murder scene in a cave, but what occurs the other way around – where both people are murdered as they take off their clothes and set down in front of a mirror. Each of these two scenes has very different characters with varying levels of attractiveness and maturity. As they run, both of them walk, but when they run too deeply and without any effort on their part to cover their asses in the mirror – as well as the camera stills being placed on in the dark by a group of men as they go up and down on them – they would fall in love, they would have to give up everything, or they would make such great friends that the rest of the story wouldn’t end, and the story ends with both the Snowmen and the murder at the end of their own lives. The Snowmen are almost always in an action drama, where both of them have to defend their lives from one another and to fight their way to freedom. They are as interesting as a human being but there is more to it, they aren’t as simple but they are. In the Snowmen we see them struggling to fight for their futures and their own – and for their human futures as well. It’s clear from all of this that when they are around each other, that they’re strong enough to fight without giving in to each other or resisting the urge to fight. Both Meree-furj and Blyth are strong, intelligent and very likable, but they struggle for love, love, and respect.
Blyth would be my favourite character – very well done. She’s more of a sympathetic character, very sympathetic and very likable. A couple of weeks after she was raped, Blyth was able to explain how he was able to get away with it and how it was necessary for him to escape to a town she shared with all of her neighbors. It’s interesting to read the quote from The Snowman in the introduction that I hope