The review is based on the movie's premiere screening to a selected group of audience. The theatrical release is set to be on 13th September 2018.
Making a film out of a true event is not an easy attempt. Most filmmakers whom have tried their hands on recreating a historic event as a feature film have often struggled with the conundrum of whether they should make the film as realistic as possible (which means the need to tell the story as close to reality without no exaggeration) or take certain cinematic liberties and infuse elements of dramatisation to enhance the movie experience.
So, when Nik Amir Mustapha, Saw Teong Hin and M.S Prem Nath was given the task of directing possibly the single biggest historic event in Malaysia since the Independence Day as a movie, we could very well understand the complications that could have arised.
Rise: Ini Kalilah is essentially an ambitious film depicting the historical 14th General Elections of Malaysia. It also means that the movie has been conceptualised, directed, and produced in the timespan of last 3 months. One can't help but to wonder whether it should have been given more time on the pre & post production level.
Talking about a true event in a movie does give one a rare sense of nostalgia. The movie takes a real look at the events leading up to the big election day, by incorporating some very interesting elements, characters and subplots as a way to lift the significance of the story. The movie's single biggest success comes in the form of relatability, when any audience would be able to say "Yes, thats me! I did that during the election." in quite a few number of scenes throughout the movie.
But...
At the end of the day, more than a documentation of a historical event, Rise: Ini Kalilah also has the responsibility to entertain as a movie. That's where the film struggles. When narrating a real life incident, film makers often get into a frenzy of wanting to tell us as many stories about the incident as possible. This could very be down to the fact that the directors could have had a goldmine of contents, due to the fact that alot of the memory post-election is still fresh in our minds.
A troubled policeman doubting his actions, a soon-to-be father stuck in the depths of a moral dilemma, a rebellious teacher against her father, a young man who doesn't belong where he is, a Malaysian in a foreign country, and a foreigner in Malaysia. All these people, tied together by one event, the 14th General Elections.
The premise is promising. Yet, the sheer number of plot lines and the lack of time to indulge in any one of it completely stops this movie from achieving the potential it had. Every story of each main character has a great concept behind it, addressing a certain aspect of the 14th GE such as fraudulent votes, corruption of officials during the elections, the race to submit the postal votes in time, while still maintaining a certain level of personal motivation for each character. The intention and detail behind each character and each subplot is applaudable. But for some reason, it just doesn't feel complete. It doesn't click.
The world building that is done in Rise: Ini Kalilah is spot on. You would be able to almost immediately get transported into the election time and the chaos that ensued. But, the number of subplots and multiple characters doesn't allow one to fully commit to the story. The runtime of the movie is divided and shared by too many characters. Although this is an attempt to showcase different facets of the community and race in Malaysia, it ends up treading just the shallow end of each story, and never really diving into any of it deep enough.But then again, the directors could well argue that the intention of RISE Ini Kalilah, isn't to dive into a single story line of just one or two characters. It is, as obviously advertised, a story about Malaysians, and an attempt to showcase everything we did as a nation in the days leading up to the 14th GE.
Given that, you can forgive this movie for the lack of depth. Another concern that the movie brings up is the slow pacing of the story. The directors might have intentionally decided to edit the movie in a slow pace, as an attempt to make sure each subplots are fully explored - but for a story that we are already pretty familiar with (we know how the movie ends), the pacing proves to be a big problem.
The whole movie continues with this exact lacklustre pacing throughout and right up until the climax. You find yourself thinking "okay let's move on to the next scene now". And then comes the climax, the polling day, and everything that happens in and around the polling station. To put it simply, it felt flat. But maybe that's just because the actual thing, the real life polling day and the crazy scenarios that were unfolding on that day was just on another level. Maybe the climax of this movie felt "meh" because what we experienced in real life on May 9th was just incomparable in terms of the sheer drama and suspense. Can one truly ever feel the euphoria again?
In terms of technicality, the movie can truly be proud of it's end product. The visuals were very pleasant to the eye, the editing seamless and something to be praised given how different and contrasting each adjacent scenes where in terms of the location and story progression. The three directors who each handled three separate portions of the film, if anything, seemed to have done an excellent job in making sure all three of their portions fit together very well as a single product.
You would not be able to pin point on different directing styles from any of the scenes and that is a testament to the teamwork and communication between the directors and the crew. When it comes to the cast, this movie boasts an array of extremely talented actors both experienced and newcomers to the big screen. And it shows. Each and every cast member have pulled off their particular roles to perfection. Having seen plenty of subpar (and even terrible) acting in Malaysian movies recently, this is a breath of fresh air.
In summary, Rise: Ini Kalilah is a movie Malaysians need to see. It's a documentation of an event that we will look back decades from now on and be proud of. That being said, as a standalone film, the movie leaves alot to be desired. It certainly does not lack any ambition, but can definitely improve in terms of the execution.
So, carry your Malaysian flag and head out to the cinema. The movie releases this 13th September onwards.