The New York Asian Film Festival took place between June 29 and July 15 in Manhattan. For more information about films and events, click here.
A tip to aspiring filmmakers: if you’re trying to get your foot in the door, and you’re searching for that perfect pitch that makes ears perk up and gets producers to practically salivate at the very idea of throwing money at you, it’s hard to improve upon “supernatural horror/courtroom drama based on a true story.”
That’s the tactic Dain Said took back in 2006, when he first tried to release his controversial film inspired by a ritualistic murder that took place in Batu Talam in 1993. The culprit was one Mona Fandey, who was a pop star turned Dukun, a Malay term for shaman.
Pop star turned murder witch?
Yes. Do please take my money.
The journey the film took from inspiration to premiere at the NYAFF was a long one, having spent the past 12 years buried due to its controversial fact-based premise. Perhaps if this were in Malaysia, where the actual events occurred, the question would be, “Was it worth the wait?’
Happily, since this the story of the film (and, for that matter, the backstory of its origin) was completely unknown to me until basically the moment the film was introduced, the only question I had to be concerned with was: is it any good?
The answer: Yeah, it was pretty good.
Opening with a disclaimer indicating pure fictionality (which, given the lengths our hosts took to stress the true life basis for the story, engendered titters of knowing laughter from the audience), the film begins in 1962, a visceral sequence referred to as the Womens’ Shaman Rebellion, where soldiers sadistically execute women who are implied to have dark and heretical magical powers. With that gruesome bit of table setting, we travel forward in time to the present day (relatively speaking, mind you).
We are very quickly introduced to our version of Mona Fandey, name of Diana Dahlan.
She is preparing for her execution.
Immediately, this tells us that her trial didn’t go so well.
At first blush, this would appear to defang the film, rob it of a certain level of suspense. And yet, it turns out to be one of the most clever conceits of the film, as by the time we return to those final moments, the new information we’ve gained over the course of the film reveals the true horror of what’s about to unfold.
Neat trick, that.
Our protagonist, an out-of-practice defense attorney Karim Osman (Faizal Hassan), has other things on his mind besides trial law, namely the disappearance of his troubled daughter Nadia. Using every resource available to him, including the assistance of Daud, a former cop turned private investigator, Karim finds himself cutting the first of several ill-advised deals when a quietly domineering co-worker coerces him into defending accused murderer Dahlan in exchange for extra resources to find his daughter.
If that sort of bargaining strikes you as more than somewhat cynical, just hold tight; Dukun’s opinion of humanity doesn’t exactly get more glowing from there…
Dukun is an early work from Dain Said, only his second film. And while it still has some of the flaws redolent of a rookie filmmaker, one of the more impressive feats is how out of time it doesn’t feel. For a twelve year old film, this still feels in style and tone like something that could have been made today. And maybe part of that is due to how relatively unique the clashing of genres is in the first place.
It’s not the first film to mix legal pyrotechnics with the fundamentals of horror… The Exorcism of Emily Rose springs immediately to mind, for a number of reasons. But Dukun shows a more pronounced commitment to its horror elements than Rose, which was burdened by the desire for a certain sheen of respectability.
Dukun has no such reservations, and as such delves into its horror elements with an almost distasteful glee.
There are some truly gruesome and disgusting moments in the film, portions that occasionally sprint so far past the line of good taste that it’s not even a speck in the distance; mixed with the twisty legal proceedings that make John Grisham novels seem like pop-up books; mixed with a related ongoing investigation that even gives us our daily requirement of buddy cop banter (including a runner about the World Cup that never fails to get a laugh… a much appreciated bit of levity in what is obviously a very, very dark story).
And holding it all together is Diana Dahlan herself.
A figure who revels in her so-called sinful nature, eyes the rest of society with contempt for its unenlightened ways, and fills the very air around her with an unshakable confidence in the sheer force of her unholy power, Dahlan is a powerhouse of a role, one that needs a very specific brand of ham to come correct.
Umie Aida gives everything she’s got to the role and them some. She starts over-the-top and just keeps finding ever more inventive ways to continue rising.
Her contortions when invoking her black magic powers in a tiny cell alone should earn her some kind of award.
It’s a towering achievement in the field of scenery chewing, and without her weapons-grade level of strategic overacting, the whole movie might very well fall apart.
The general novelty of the conceit, the factual basis, and the surreally entertaining performance by Umie Aida are all Dukun needs to make its bones (so to speak). Even if it isn’t the best film, it’s still a singular experience.
