"Breathing in Mud"
("Bernafas Dalam Lumpur")
(Malaysia)
A Red Films
production. (International sales: Red Films, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.)
Produced by Angie Choo. Executive producers, Lee Mee Fung, Lina Tan, Alan Tan. Directed by James Lee. Screenplay, Amri Rohayat.
With: Nam Ron, Mislina Mustaffa, Mohammad Hariry, Zahaira, Azman, Patrick Teoh.
A husband long thought dead returns to his
remarried wife in "Breathing in Mud," a well-scripted urban meller by
busy Malaysian helmer James Lee. Gently composed and laced with
incisive commentary on love, loyalty and redemption, this project
commissioned by local broadcaster NTV7 is much more conventional than
Lee's long line of minimalist indie pics and deserves to be more widely
seen at fests. Regional tube buyers should also take a look.
Believed
to have fallen afoul of his criminal associates years ago, Meor
(Mohammad Hariry) suddenly re-enters the life of wife Nina (Mislina
Mustaffa), now married to Meor's best friend, Din (Nam Ron). Each man
has sired a child by Nina, and Din is thinking of leaving her for his
sexy secretary. The thoughtful script establishes an initial air of
fear before burrowing deep into Meor's hopes and frailties to establish
he wants only to put things right. Tricky topic in Malaysia of
unintentional female bigamy is carefully handled, and the pic streams
in effective thriller elements in the final reel when Meor's old
buddies come calling. Perfs are solid and the basic tech package gets
the job done.
Camera (color, DV), Haris Hue; editor, Ahmad Azharrudin. Reviewed at
Bangkok Film Festival (Southeast Asian Competition), Sept. 28, 2008.
Running time: 76 MIN.
© Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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