Gubra
Click Here to watch a sneak preview of the flick.
Gubra (Anxiety) tells a story of love and forgiveness, its possibilities and the hopes it brings. Essentially there are two stories which parallel each other, the first is the continuation of Orked’s (Sepet’s protagonist) life while the second tells the story of a muezzin; Pak Bilal Li and his efforts to assist two prostitutes in finding redemption for themselves and their families.
Seven years after Jason/Ah Loong (Ng Choo Seong), Orked (Sharifah Amani Al-Yahya) is now married to a much older guy, Arif (Adlin Aman Ramlie). Everything seems ideal in their marriage at first glance; Arif loves Orked to bits and theirs seem like a match made in heaven.
One fateful morning, Orked is awakened by a distressing phone call from Mak Inom (Ida Nerina Hussain) with news that Pak Atan (Harith Iskander Musa) has become catatonic due to diabetic complications. Orked rushes to her parents’ house, to find Pak Atan unresponsive and ill; Mak Inom and Annuar the family driver are hysterical. Kak Yam (Adibah Noor), the family maid however is rather calm and collected. After some chaos, they take Pak Atan to the hospital. There, Orked bumps into Alan (Alan Yun), Jason’s elder brother. His father, Pa (Thor Kah Hoong) has also been hospitalized. As the film develops, we witness the friendship between Alan and Orked flourish, to Arif’s apprehension. Perhaps because for Orked, Alan is a link to her first love.
Throughout the film we are also introduced to another ‘family’. The muezzin or Pak Bilal (Shahili Abdan aka Namron) heads an institution of sorts; consisting of his wife, Kak Maz, their 7 year-old child, two prostitutes, Temah and Kiah (Juliana Ibrahim), as well as Temah’s son, Shahrin and a mysterious gambler named Ki, played here by Khir Rahman.
Pak Bilal is portrayed as a non-judgmental and religious man whose way of ‘preaching’ is most unconventional. A family man, Pak Bilal chooses to surround himself in a community that seems lost, and lacking in hope, love and trust. They’re vivacity in this film is in direct opposite from Orked’s thus the audience is invited to observe the diversity between the two sets.
The story then unfolds into a web of deceit and heartbreak. Orked finds out that her husband has been cheating on her; Temah’s is diagnosed with a serious illness, Ki meets his illegitimate son under dismaying circumstances. Kak Yam falls for a hospital attendant named Pengki, to Annuar’s dismay, whilst taking care of Pak Atan in the ward and Kiah, the young prostitute is killed accidentally.
In Gubra, Yasmin has chosen to compare a conventional and rather stable family, which is forced to adapt to recent and surprising issues; with the unconventional and improvised group that makes up Pak Bilal’s family of sorts. Who are continually being challenged by the adversities in life. The dramas of these events and the difference in approach as portrayed by these two groups in adapting and overcoming these very real trials is what makes Gubra an entertaining multi-layered examination of human behavior and social perception.
It'll be out on the 2nd of March. I'll definately be right up there in the front row (fine not really front row-lah since you can't see much what..), supporting the Malaysian film industry. Who's with me?
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