the gut-punch of Songlap

A review by Danis Firas, co-founder and writer at 3shotcine.

The year is 2011. The most popular drama film at the time is probably Moneyball - you know that movie with Brad Pitt as some baseball manager? That one. 

Well, what if I told you that there was a Malaysian movie that premiered in the same year, that dealt with themes of human trafficking and teenage pregnancy, without sparing any of its real, gritty details? Cause there was, and it was Songlap.

Songlap is essentially a tale of two brothers, working in the gritty conditions of the human trafficking industry, trafficking babies and young girls. Despite the nature of their work, we see the brothers grasping for any form of humanity they can get their hands on, when life never really gave them a chance in the first place. The movie sends a lot of hints through its dialogue and the subtle imagery that is at play, which allows the audience to hinge on the details that aren’t explicitly shown - due to the risk of censorship, or was it the director’s true intention?

Songlap starts off by quickly establishing its mood with shots of decrepit buildings around Kuala Lumpur, and the two main characters in their day jobs, selling a young infant to one of their clients. The movie does not stop in its continuous exploration of the dingy, grimy and rotten state of the underworld, that is sadly in and among public life. One of the most shocking aspects of the film is noticing that the locations that our characters frequent are places that aren’t particularly hidden from the public eye - common streets we have probably crossed on an assuming day off. The worst part of it all is that the same shady things that happen in the film, we’ve probably seen happening from the corners of our eyes, if not directly in front of us. 

The performances from Shaheizy Sam and Syafie Naswip are phenomenal as the brothers Am and Ad, who are constantly at arms’ length with one another due to their differing beliefs. Am is the elder brother, who has lived a life of crime and has had to provide for his younger brother for most of his life, seeing each gamble as the last that will eventually be his way out of the criminal underworld scene. Ad on the other hand shares the same goal as his brother, but searches for a way out through what he feels is a much more legitimate way, in the form of a dancing competition, all while he holds the blinded belief that their mother still cares for them and never really wanted to give them away. All of these things are explored throughout the film, and once we get to understanding who and what Am and Ad’s mum is, and whether she still cares for them at all, it leaves you feeling either empathetic, proper hateful or just purely disappointed. A 21-year-old Sara Ali delivers an amazing performance as a pregnant teenager, portraying a girl who’s been abused and just doesn’t know what to make of it. Her range of facial expressions add this particularly tragic layer to the film, allowing audiences to deeper feel the murky, sinister and nefarious undertones of her character’s plight. Everyone in this film, from the main characters all the way to the extras, did their job wonderfully in crafting a dark landscape for the story to be told in an earnest way. 

Effendee Mazlan and Fariza Azlina Ishak both deserve a huge commemoration for what they’ve done with this movie - the amount of bravery it takes to be able to tell a story like this, to represent the victims of this brutal system and to not shy away from it, that takes guts. Even when the movie may drag you out a bit due to it not getting certain sounds right during its fight scenes, these directors somehow manage to pull you back in with their engaging script and masterful direction of the camera. Honestly, all of the crew deserve a huge round of applause for what they have done on this film, and it all came from the direction of these two. 

This will be a truly painful movie to watch due to its subject matter, but the amount of care and detail that was put into each character, the cinematography, the simple but effective soundtrack that serves the scenes, and the themes that it tackles make this a movie worth your watch - especially if you’re a Malaysian! Even if not, the film serves as a harsh but necessary reminder of the horrors that certain folks are going through, who could very well be people you know. 

Before there was Abang Adik, there was Songlap, and I never thought I would say this, but with this Malaysian film, we might have our very own Trainspotting.

A review by Danis Firas, co-founder and writer at 3shotcine.

Songlap (2011) is written by Fariza Azlina Ishak, and directed by Effendee Mazlan and Fariza Azlina Ishak.

Songlap is available to watch on Viu.

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