Questioning the myths of origin : Amir Muhammad's historical film about the Communist Party of Malaya and Malaysian independence / Wan Aida Wan Yahaya

Malaysian independent filmmaker Amir Muhammad has become known internationally for his witty and satirical documentaries on Malaysia and Malaysian society. One of Amir's latest works, Lelaki Komunis Terakhir ('The Last Communist', 2006), was well received internationally. However, th...

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Main Author:	Wan Yahaya, Wan Aida
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	UPENA 2008
Subjects:	Malaysia Historical films
Online Access:	http://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/11628/ http://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/11628/1/AJ_WAN%20AIDA%20WAN%20YAHAYA%20JSM%2008%201.pdf

id	uitm-11628
recordtype	eprints
spelling	uitm-116282016-06-23T08:04:07Z http://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/11628/ Questioning the myths of origin : Amir Muhammad's historical film about the Communist Party of Malaya and Malaysian independence / Wan Aida Wan Yahaya Wan Yahaya, Wan Aida Malaysia Historical films Malaysian independent filmmaker Amir Muhammad has become known internationally for his witty and satirical documentaries on Malaysia and Malaysian society. One of Amir's latest works, Lelaki Komunis Terakhir ('The Last Communist', 2006), was well received internationally. However, the film has been banned in Malaysia. This documentary recounts the life of exiled Communist Party of Malaya leader, Chin Peng, now living in exile in Southern Thailand. The film was inspired by Chin Peng's autobiography, 'Alias Chin Peng: my side of history' (2003). In his film Amir juxtaposes Chin Peng's life (past and present) against scenes of modern day Malaysia, simultaneously exploring issues of social development and progress, and notions of loyalty to the state and to a cause. The paper has a number of aims. Firstly it examines the circumstances of the banning of the film and the reasons or justifications given for the ban. Secondly it highlights and explores a main contention put forward by the filmmaker, the need to reexamine the role of the much maligned Communist Party of Malaya in the Malaysian independence movement in the period leading to independence from the British, and particularly the function and contribution of Chin Peng in this period, an aspect of Malaysian history that has been suppressed since independence in 1957. Thirdly it examines Amir Muhammad's alternative documentary style, and his mode of raising issues about contemporary Malaysia by via processes of ironic commentary and subtle juxtaposition. UPENA 2008 Article PeerReviewed text en http://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/11628/1/AJ_WAN%20AIDA%20WAN%20YAHAYA%20JSM%2008%201.pdf Wan Yahaya, Wan Aida (2008) Questioning the myths of origin : Amir Muhammad's historical film about the Communist Party of Malaya and Malaysian independence / Wan Aida Wan Yahaya. Jurnal Skrin Malaysia, 5. pp. 139-150. ISSN 1823-1020
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	Universiti Teknologi MARA
building	UiTM Institutional Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English
topic	Malaysia Historical films
spellingShingle	Malaysia Historical films Wan Yahaya, Wan Aida Questioning the myths of origin : Amir Muhammad's historical film about the Communist Party of Malaya and Malaysian independence / Wan Aida Wan Yahaya
description	Malaysian independent filmmaker Amir Muhammad has become known internationally for his witty and satirical documentaries on Malaysia and Malaysian society. One of Amir's latest works, Lelaki Komunis Terakhir ('The Last Communist', 2006), was well received internationally. However, the film has been banned in Malaysia. This documentary recounts the life of exiled Communist Party of Malaya leader, Chin Peng, now living in exile in Southern Thailand. The film was inspired by Chin Peng's autobiography, 'Alias Chin Peng: my side of history' (2003). In his film Amir juxtaposes Chin Peng's life (past and present) against scenes of modern day Malaysia, simultaneously exploring issues of social development and progress, and notions of loyalty to the state and to a cause. The paper has a number of aims. Firstly it examines the circumstances of the banning of the film and the reasons or justifications given for the ban. Secondly it highlights and explores a main contention put forward by the filmmaker, the need to reexamine the role of the much maligned Communist Party of Malaya in the Malaysian independence movement in the period leading to independence from the British, and particularly the function and contribution of Chin Peng in this period, an aspect of Malaysian history that has been suppressed since independence in 1957. Thirdly it examines Amir Muhammad's alternative documentary style, and his mode of raising issues about contemporary Malaysia by via processes of ironic commentary and subtle juxtaposition.
format	Article
author	Wan Yahaya, Wan Aida
author_facet	Wan Yahaya, Wan Aida
author_sort	Wan Yahaya, Wan Aida
title	Questioning the myths of origin : Amir Muhammad's historical film about the Communist Party of Malaya and Malaysian independence / Wan Aida Wan Yahaya
title_short	Questioning the myths of origin : Amir Muhammad's historical film about the Communist Party of Malaya and Malaysian independence / Wan Aida Wan Yahaya
title_full	Questioning the myths of origin : Amir Muhammad's historical film about the Communist Party of Malaya and Malaysian independence / Wan Aida Wan Yahaya
title_fullStr	Questioning the myths of origin : Amir Muhammad's historical film about the Communist Party of Malaya and Malaysian independence / Wan Aida Wan Yahaya
title_full_unstemmed	Questioning the myths of origin : Amir Muhammad's historical film about the Communist Party of Malaya and Malaysian independence / Wan Aida Wan Yahaya
title_sort	questioning the myths of origin : amir muhammad's historical film about the communist party of malaya and malaysian independence / wan aida wan yahaya
publisher	UPENA
publishDate	2008
url	http://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/11628/ http://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/11628/1/AJ_WAN%20AIDA%20WAN%20YAHAYA%20JSM%2008%201.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T22:48:19Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T22:48:19Z
_version_	1777417373944381440

Questioning the myths of origin : Amir Muhammad's historical film about the Communist Party of Malaya and Malaysian independence / Wan Aida Wan Yahaya

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