The comedy genre in Malaysia has often been marred by a slew of horrendously rotten slapstick comedies circa 1980's and 1990's, thanks largely to the antiques of comedians like AR Badul, Mr. Os, Hamid Gurkha, and R. Jaafar, just to name a few.
Not until the emergence of Othman Hafsham, via his earlier movies like Adik Manja and Mekanik, that the masses found a breath of fresh air in the comedy genre. Hafsham's approach in film making lies in his concern and focus on the strength of the script prior to directing a movie. And in his movies, he has proved that you need intelligence in comedies for you can fool some of the people some of the time, but definitely not all the people all the time.
Soal Hati, being his 3rd comedy in the span of almost 20 years, may not be as fresh and magnetic as Adik Manja or Mekanik, but it is actually quite good. It tells the story of Danial (played surprisingly well by the versatile Afdlin Shauki), a playboy by nature, who defies his womanizing ways in order to captivate the heart of a down to earth, "kampung" lady (an effectively different role for Erra Fazira as compared to her other Yusoff Haslam's movies).
The script / screenplay may not be as solid as I would have expected, coming from Hafsham, but the story is not too bad after all. And what makes it work is the way Afdlin moves and grooves in his attempt to woo Erra. One would think that someone as plump as Afdlin would find it tough to be believable in his role as a modern day Lothario. But to everyone's surprise, he made it work.
Afdlin & Erra both won the Best Actor & Best Actress Trophy at the year's Festival Filem Malaysia (Malaysia's answer to the Oscar Ceremony). And the movie did quite well in the Box Office too.
A close 7 out of 10.
Not until the emergence of Othman Hafsham, via his earlier movies like Adik Manja and Mekanik, that the masses found a breath of fresh air in the comedy genre. Hafsham's approach in film making lies in his concern and focus on the strength of the script prior to directing a movie. And in his movies, he has proved that you need intelligence in comedies for you can fool some of the people some of the time, but definitely not all the people all the time.
Soal Hati, being his 3rd comedy in the span of almost 20 years, may not be as fresh and magnetic as Adik Manja or Mekanik, but it is actually quite good. It tells the story of Danial (played surprisingly well by the versatile Afdlin Shauki), a playboy by nature, who defies his womanizing ways in order to captivate the heart of a down to earth, "kampung" lady (an effectively different role for Erra Fazira as compared to her other Yusoff Haslam's movies).
The script / screenplay may not be as solid as I would have expected, coming from Hafsham, but the story is not too bad after all. And what makes it work is the way Afdlin moves and grooves in his attempt to woo Erra. One would think that someone as plump as Afdlin would find it tough to be believable in his role as a modern day Lothario. But to everyone's surprise, he made it work.
Afdlin & Erra both won the Best Actor & Best Actress Trophy at the year's Festival Filem Malaysia (Malaysia's answer to the Oscar Ceremony). And the movie did quite well in the Box Office too.
A close 7 out of 10.