Bunohan

Bunohan [Online Image].(2011). Retrieved August 28, 2015 from http://moviebuzzers.com/movie-review-bunohan-return-murder/

            Bunohan was a kickboxing movie that was directed by Dain Said (2012) and had triumphed in the 25^th Malaysian Film Festival by earning eight awards. The story revolved around three brothers: Ilham, the hired assassin, Bakar, a schoolteacher, and Adil, the kick-boxer. The film begins with the ending which confused the audience about the story at first but the dark secrets in their family affairs were slowly revealed along the progression of the story.

            Adil who was a Muay Thai kick-boxer lost in an illegal fight-to-death battle ring when his friend immediately stepped in to save his ass. The opponent promoter, who was upset about the turn of events, hired Ilham, who was actually Adil elder brother to kill Adil. And so, two brothers eventually returned to their hometown, Bunohan with Adil fleeing from the death chase of the kill while Ilham who was the hitman, tracking down his brother. In the meanwhile, the middle brother, Bakar came back as well to help their ailing father, Pok Eng. As described by the director (Said. D, 2012), Bakar was a portrait of “banality of evil” which maybe clean-looking on the outside but was actually the most sly and ruthless of all. He went back not out of his filial piety virtue but to convince his father to sell the burial ground to a resort construction company. Things were gone more complicated when Ilham and Adil found out that they were in fact stepbrother. Bunohan was not only a barbarous crime and gangster film but was also a complex family reunion film.

            Obviously, the film was more focusing on the vary masculinity images portrayed by every male characters in it as there was seldom woman portrait shown in the movie. For Adil character, he portrayed to likely more gangster image but was the most fragile out of three brothers. He hated his father as Pok Eng did not take any action when Adil was bullied by his stepmother and elder brother. Though he felt estranged from his family, he still appreciates the heritage that was passed down by his father. In one of the scene when Bakar tried to persuade him to sell the burial ground, Adil refused as he thinks that the place was full of his father’s memory towards his mother. Through his daily interaction, there was also gangster-like characteristic performed by him and he shows independent personality as he denied inheriting the place that his father had left him. Adil portrayed more emotional and humane part than his two other brothers. This was proven when he knew that the deserted beach that was under his legacy property was the memorial place of Ilham’s mother when she lived out alone there. He felt compassionate for Ilham without accused Ilham for attempting to murder him before. His decision of not selling the place to the resort construction company was more determined after he knew the story behind Ilham. Yet, this decision had leaded him to a killing death.

Adil (2011). [Image, screen capture]

            At the end of the scene when he attended the last kick-boxing ring, he was wounded by the face with a scar and a traditional herb medicine was applied on it. Unfortunately, the herb medicine was created by Jolok, the contractor of the resort construction with a poisonous fruit that he hired someone to search for it. Jolok who was also lost to the desire of escaping poverty, decided to obliterate Adil’s existence as Adil has the right of the legacy they want.

Ilham (2011). [Image, screen capture]

            Next, Ilham’s masculine image was the portrait of confusion and disorientation in his way of living. He also portrayed the barbarous part of the overall film with every assassin crime he had committed. In the beginning of the story, Ilham shows no compassionate and remorse for committing murder but he later changed to be more benevolence after he reunite with Adil and found out that they were stepbrothers. This could be proved when Ilham decided to spare Adil’s life in the last scene. Ilham was a distorted character as he took the wrong path of being a hitman and his hatred for his father of marrying three women and causing his mother died alone.  He was always on the path of uncertainty and confusion as he begged in his heart to be someone else that could make his mother proud, other than a killer yet he was not. As the story progressed, Ilham started to realize his sin of killing and all he could felt was depression and loneliness. He felt estranged from the world. In one of the scene when he murdered the last two people who seems to be digging out graves in the white beach, Ilham had the vision of seeing the Adil’s mother caressing the dead man who Ilham had just killed. Ilham woke up and found himself in the swampy underbrush area, surrounded by many white skeleton heads. That was the event that triggered him to atone his sins.

Ilham talking to the bird in the swampland (2011). [Image, screen capture]

            Out of three brothers, Ilham was the one that connected more to the border of myth as he was always wandered in the realm of death. There was this scene where he collected many white skeleton heads in his boat and was having a conversation with a bird. The setting itself was unreal and visually somber which the message maybe to convey the emotional thinking of Ilham questioning his path of living. When the bird asked what he did, he answered that he killed people for living. Then, a sudden slow-motion edit technique cuts in showing the bird flying and somehow making a laughing sound towards Ilham. To me, it may seem like that the bird was a subconscious of Ilham and he was laughing at his own sinister life. Ilham also intends to make reparation for those he killed by digging up ground and burying the skeleton heads. At this stage, Ilham’s mind had come into calmness and he had made up his mind of stop taking other people lives.

Bakar (2011). [Image, screen capture]

            Lastly, Bakar was the middle of the three brothers and was the most cunning and corrupted character out of them. He also portrayed the image of typical modern people where materialistic is important in one’s life. Although Bakar may seem like the son that shared the closest relationship with their father, that was just the surface deceit. In truth, Bakar was just like the other brothers, did not actually cared for his father. For instance, when Bakar came back, there was this scene that shows two rooms gaped by a wall which indicates the disconnect bond between Pok Eng and Bakar. Indeed, Bakar’s motif of coming back was not to take care of his ailing father but to convince his father to sell the burial ground.

Bakar murder his father (2011). [Image, screen capture]

            When audiences may think that “Bunohan” was referring to Ilham, but it was also referred to Bakar. Bakar was a symbol of the dark side of society where urban people wore masks over their faces to hide their corrupted personalities, so as Bakar. He may seem clean by his profile but he murdered his own father in the end which was much cruel than his elder brother, Ilham. Eventually, they were all “Bunohan” themselves.

Pok Eng (2011). [Image, screen capture]

            Besides the three protagonists in this film, there were other masculine figures with different characteristics portrayed by other characters. For Pok Eng, he was the person who appreciated the traditional heritage that has been passed down. For instance, he enjoyed creating the Malay kite and the puppet for “wayang kulit” which was rare to be found in that modern era. However, he failed to be a good father as he followed the traditional marriage conception of marrying three women, which was polygamy.  In consequences, the harmony in the family torn apart and causing his sons and wives to live in hard life. Pok Eng character also represents a lot of myth influence of Malay such as the little boy who often visited his house. 

The boy talking to Mek Wah (2011). [Image, screen capture]

          In some intercut of scenes, the little boy would voice in Pok Eng’s sound which it can be thought of that the little boy was the subconscious of Pok Eng himself. For example, in the last scene when Mek Yah told the little boy that she wanted to heal this destructive land, the little boy replied her in Pok Eng’s voice. At this moment, we could be sure that Pok Eng reincarnated into the little boy and that the “supernatural” Mek Yah added into the essence of Malay myth influence.

Pok Wah (2011). [Image, screen capture]

            As for Pok Wah, he depicts the portrait of ancient ‘bomoh’ who expert in herb medicine and always seem to have connection with supernatural things. When Adil’s friend, Muski asked for Pok Wah help, the location he searched for was not in ordinary house region but in the swampy area. In the meantime, Pok Wah answered to Muski’s call when the scene shows no Pok Wah’s existence but could only be heard by his voice. Then, we could see Pok Wah sitting on a tree trunk in the middle of the swampy area. At this moment, the audiences would probably be confused about the appearance of Pok Wah in the swampy area while not in some ordinary village hut. However, if one was familiar with Malay myth culture, ‘bomoh’ would usually lived in forest biome and that particular swampy area was ideal to portray Pok Wah’s role in the Bunohan’s film.

            Thorough the film, there were no modern medicine used because it was all replaced by traditional herb medicine. This enhanced the Malay’s ancient heritage and to promote the richness of herb medicines that had been maintained to the world.

            “…Healing needs time. And time needs healing…”, exclaimed by Mek Yah who intends to protect the nature land from the destructive power of masculine. Her phrase implied that there is a need to revert to the ‘ancient matriarchal’ heterogeneous time. It was also the message that the film wanted to convey that masculinity is overpowering the nature heritage that has been passed down generation by generation. Cinematographer, Charin Pengpanich did a very good job in collaborating visuals, action and a bit of fantasy into one film. The film was also deliberately shot in swamplands during monsoon, thus creating the somber mood and intensifying the dangerous sensation in it. 

Swampy area I (2011) [Image, screen capture]

Swampy area II (2011) [Image, screen capture]

Reference

Killing Fields - Bunohan. (2012, April 29). Retrieved August 28, 2015, from http://thoughtsonfilms.com/2012/04/29/killing-fields-bunohan/

Wai Yeng, K. (n.d.). Bunohan. Retrieved August 28, 2015, from http://www.timeout.com/kuala-lumpur/film/bunohan