When a movie is banned by the authorities, you know it is a must-watch.
Gadoh is a Malaysian movie that seeks to examine the racial tensions in our country. A Malay gang fights with a Chinese one in an urban school and that incident makes it to the papers. In order to placate the public and most importantly, the Ministry, the headmaster accepts the proposal of one Cikgu Ann to set up a theatre club to 'correct' the 'troubled kids'. Cikgu Ann ropes in her friend, Azman, who is a theatre activist.
Even with the few surprises, the plot is quite predictable. You can already expect a somewhat happy ending. But what makes the movie stand out is the fact it is a Malaysian movie and that racial slurs are constantly thrown about when the kids fight each other. Ah, bingo! No wonder the movie was banned!
I love the way the school is being used as an allegory to our country. When the kids fight along racial lines, there are suggestions to keep them apart - Malays with Malays and Chinese with Chinese. Someone said: "The problem is not the kids; it's the system." It's all too familiar. It is a system that keeps us apart, when we are trying to say, "Hey, we can work this out." It is a system that is too quick to judge and too eager to find a quick, but temporary solution.
Because at the end of the day, the kids manage to work together to put up a show, for the sole purpose of placating the authorities and media. I love the fact that even though it is not the most ideal situation, they make a statement through theatre and make the authorities squirm uneasily in their seats.
Ministry official to Headmaster: "How can you allow those kids to make a fool out of us all? I want you at my office. You have to be responsible for this."
That is one feel-good ending. Even so, I have a few criticisms. The fight between the gangs starts very early in the movie and resolves just as quickly. The movie oversimplifies things. As I was watching, I kept thinking if the situations were realistic enough.
Having said all that, the movie has achieved what it was meant to do. In my book, it is a good movie.
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