Director: Yasmin Ahmad Year: 2009 Rating: 7.5 Country:
Malaysia
Talentime is the latest film from one of my favorite directors, Yasmin Ahmad
from Malaysia. As in her previous films that comprise the Orked trilogy,
Yasmin explores the themes closest to her heart of faith, tolerance, family
and living in a multi-cultural society. The film is less moody and more narrative
than her previous efforts as she widens her net and follows three families
- a mixed Malaysian family that is very much like the one in Orked, an Indian
family composed of a widow and her two children and another Malay family
of a dying mother and her son. The thread that brings them together is a
Talentime - a high school talent show in which a child from each of the three
families are involved. The film initially appears to be a lighthearted comedy
but as the lives of these families spill over and interact, it takes on a
powerfully emotional resonance that is at times wrenching. There are a few
false notes here - primarily in the form of an English grandmother - and
the directing at times felt lax - but in the end her humanistic voice and
a simple plea to love each other is what will be remembered.
