2008 was a year of expansion for the Malaysian film industry. In keeping with a trend established over the past few years, this expansion affected the number of screens and the number of seats, the box office and the total number of viewers. While national productions also benefitted from this development, their percentage of total end-of-year sales did not reflect a notable difference - the Malaysian film market remains dominated by English language films, which claimed 70% of total ticket sales. There were a few notable successes in the first few months, but 2008 ended with a number of highly anticipated - and fairly expensive - films which disappointed expectations. The dissatisfaction was so great that the national association of producers considered asking the government for new protectionist measures for the national film industry.
According to figures published at the end of 2008 by FINAS, the state organisation founded to support and promote Malaysian cinema, the total number of screens in the country went from 76 in 2007 to 91 in 2008. Most of them were in multiplexes which were located inside shopping centres. These new openings brought the number of screens from 353 in 2007 to 453 in 2008. The total number of available seats rose from 78,496 to 92,642. Fortunately, the increase in the number of outlets was repaid by an encouraging rise in the number of viewers and ticket sales. According to figures from FINAS, the total number of tickets sold in 2008 amounted to 43.85 million against 33.55 million in 2007. This was an increase of 30.70%, the largest yearly gain since 2005. Thanks to a small rise in the price of tickets (from 8.04 to 8.17 ringgit), sales increased from 289.31 million in 2007 to 380.72 million in 2008.
Distribution of total earnings according to the language of the film - a criterion adopted by FINAS according to which only films shot primarily in Malaysian can apply for loans and subsidies - did not register significant change. Ticket sales for bahasa Malaysia films (films in the Malaysian language) increased total ticket sales from 30 million ringgit in 2007 to 43.93 in 2008 for a market share of 11.54% (against 10.37% the year before). But English language films maintained solid control of the market (69.63% of total earnings in 2008 against 69.70% in 2007), with Chinese films also holding their ground (9.90% in 2008 against 9.84% in 2007). It’s clear that, far from dethroning Hollywood, the percentile change of 1% comes at the expense of productions in other languages.
Nonetheless, by mid-year hopes for domestic productions remained high. Between January and April a successful string of local releases brought encouraging results. Then in August, against all expectations, the horror movie Susuk won acclaim from audiences. The first mainstream production from the founder of Malaysian digital new wave Amir Muhammad (also the creator of two films banned by local censors, The Last Communist and Village People Radio Show), Susuk, was long in the making - about two years - with a change of director that didn’t bode well. The film was based on an ambitious and structurally complex script compared to the average Malaysian production, and this made producers fear that it would fail at the box office. Instead, Susuk wound-up earning two million ringgit.
Unfortunately, the positive trend was interrupted in the autumn. Between November and December, releases for the much anticipated Antoo Fighter, Los & Faun and Cicak Man 2 - Planet Hitam spoiled producers’ and distributors’ hopes. Cicak Man 2, starring comic superstar Saiful Apek, took in just 2.85 million ringgit at the box office, compared to over 5 million earned in 2006 by the first film in the series featuring the gecko man. An exception to the trend was Histeria, another excursion into the horror genre by James Lee, a filmmaker known for his independent digital films. This came out a week after Cicak Man 2 and nearly matched it at the box office with 2.75 million in receipts. At the end of the year, the highest grossing Malaysian film was Duyung, another comedy vehicle for the kampung (village) humour of Saiful Apek. This totalled 4,679,000 ringgit at the box office. This was still under half of the single most successful film in Malaysia in 2008 - CJ7 by Hong Kong’s Stephen Chow. This totalled 12.7 million ringgit at the box office.
Following the year’s commercial disappointments, the national association of producers considered asking the government for additional measures to protect domestic films. There was even a proposal to increase ticket prices for foreign films in order to encourage the public to see Malaysian films. The idea, however, set off a wave of controversy and has not so far seen concrete developments.
Some dramas were noteworthy. Mamat Khalid’s Kala Malam Bulan Mengambang, which represented Malaysia at the FEFF 2008, was recognised as the best film of the year at the Malaysian Film Festival. On an international level, the digital film Flower In The Pocket by Chinese-Malaysian Liew Sent Tat won the most awards ever for a Malaysian film. It won the New Currents Award at Pusan 2007, and also awards in Rotterdam, Freiburg and Pesaro in 2008. The favourite of critics and audiences alike, Yasmin Ahmad has postponed the local release date of his The Convert (Muallaf), which premiered in Locarno in 2008) for fear that it would be banned by censors. Before that, the Malaysian public will see the newly released Talentime which, together with the forthcoming Estet by Mamat Khalid, illustrates a positive new trend in mainstream Malaysian cinema: the integration of actors and characters from the Indian minority.
Paolo Bertolin