Everyone has a first love story to tell
A little late on the review but better late than never. I've wanted to watch Mukhsin ever since watching the trailer in the cinema and knowing that Yasmin Ahmad was involved in it made me even more excited especially after the success of Sepet and Gubra and not forgetting the fact that this movie won a few awards internationally. The song which was used in the trailer called Rain(Hujan) is simply brilliant.
So the story is basically a prequel to Sepet where Orked meets her first true friendship with a boy named Mukhsin who soon later on finds that friendship can soon turn in love. From the beginning of the movie itself Orked parents are potrayed as being different and this is even more obvious when Orked's father Pak Atan starts playing his music and when it starts to rain Orked and her mom Mak Inom run out to dance in the rain.
Orked is different from the rest of the girls around and prefers spending her time reading books and going to football matches with her dad. The movie had me in stiches as I laughed loudly at the many funny scenes and lines the movie has to offer. Pak Atan nonchalant attitude is also priceless especially how he has this blur looking face.
Some of the funny moments that I can recall were
- Orked threw away the bullies bag off the bus
- Orked teaching Mukshin English while he takes her around with his bicycle
- Mukhsin using heaps of gel on his hair and having holes in most of his clothes
- Mak Inom punishing Orked for throwing the bullies bag off the bus
- The scene where the song Ne Me Quitte Pas was sung
and loads more that I can't really recall at this moment.
The story truly has included many Malaysian cultures that we see everyday for instance the nosy neighbour who is more interested in what's happening in Orked's home rather than her own or how Pak Atan has calculated how many times he can go and get credit from furniture shops without pay back on time.
It also brings back memories to the yesteryears where there weren't board games or internet and kids had to actually go out and interact with each other and have fun. As soon as I saw Mukshin playing "galah panjang" it immediately brought back memories and not forgetting numerous other activities that children nowdays have not even heard of. A friend of mine who went to see the movie with me kept asking me what "galah panjang" was and how it's played. Hahahahahhahaha
There were a few parts that I didn't really understand how it connects to the story of Orked and Mukhsin for example how Mukshin brother goes out drinking and looking for entertainment to the wee hours of the morning or the part where the neighbours husband goes out looking for another woman leaving his pregnant wife behind.
The part where Mukhsin went for the last time to visit Orked before he leaves and asked her if she had read the message on the tail of the kite he had given her. I still wonder what Mukhsin wrote on the kite that got Orked to run all the way to look for him.
Overall I absolutely loved the movie and how it showcases the friendship and love through the eyes of 12 year old Mukhsin and 10 year old Orked and most importantly of all it's about second chances and how only a few of us will ever have it.
