MUKHSIN

Directed by Yasmin Ahmad

Falling for Angels: the Films of Yasmin Ahmad / Malaysia / 2006 / drama, romance / 95 mins / English, Malay, Mandarin with English subtitles / Digibeta

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MUKHSIN

UltraStar Mission Valley
Sunday, Apr 22, 2018 1:00PM

Description

Grand Prix, Generation Kplus, 2007 Berlin International Film Festival

The final entry in Yasmin Ahmad’s acclaimed “Orked Quartet” is actually the first in the story. MUKHSIN plants the seeds for romance, the bedrock from which Orked’s future relationships will later flourish. In this nostalgic look back, we meet Orked as a ten-year-old, the only child of slap-happy progressive Malay parents, the sort that slow-dance to Nina Simone and send their daughter to a Chinese school in a culture where most stay in their ethnic lanes. At school and on the soccer field, Orked prefers to play – and fight – with the guys, though things get complicated when she meets 12-year-old Mukhsin, a boy with a quiet, gentle smile.

Between bike rides and tree climbs, Orked and Mukhsin develop what adults would call love. But in Yasmin’s eyes, their budding relationship is something at once more chaste and more profound: the discovery of one’s capacity to impact another life. And with that in mind, the film is not just about love between young people, but the love that adheres and mends families. Children may inherit the sadness of their parents, but they also learn empathy and humor. While this may be Yasmin’s most detached, relaxed film, MUKHSIN is still a vibrant portrait of everyday charm, from a cat that finds its way, to fits of unexpected magic, to a musical tribute to family that beckons all – audience included – into its warm embrace. –Brian Hu

Co-presented by: SingMa Club