Spinning Gasing Review

Title: Spinning Gasing Review

Malaysia. 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 it's of Indian culture, Malay, or Chinese. Then there's the DJ Harry band with members of all Malaysian races. Then there's 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 don't 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 Harry's 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 band's 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 can't even afford for himself. Everything were shot without words, but with the appropriate acting, lighting, angles (Yati's 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 Yati's 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 Arif's 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