Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam

Last updated

Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam
Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam poster.jpg
Directed by Shuhaimi Baba
Written byShuhaimi Baba
Produced by
  • Shuhaimi Baba
  • Aida Fitri Buyong (executive)
  • Mahyidin Mustakim (executive)
Starring
CinematographyMohd Filus Ghazali
Edited byMior Hashim Manap
Music byAjai
Production
company
Pesona Pictures
Distributed bySkop Productions
Release date
  • 20 May 2004 (2004-05-20)(Malaysia) [1]
Country Malaysia
Language Malay
BudgetMYR 2.2 million [1]
Box officeMYR 3.2 million [1]

Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam, (English: Pontianak Scent of the Tuber Rose) is a 2004 Malaysian Malay-language horror film directed and written by Shuhaimi Baba starring Maya Karin, Azri Iskandar and Rosyam Nor. [2] [3] The storyline of the film revolves around a restless female ghost who wants to avenge her death.

Contents

Produced by Persona Pictures, [4] starring Maya Karin, the film is about a restless spirit ( pontianak ) Meriam who seeks revenge upon those who killed her. The film was a major box office success in Malaysia.[ citation needed ] It was one of the first horror films to be released after the relaxation of 1990s censorship laws. [5]

A sequel, Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam 2 , was released on 24 November 2005. [6] It is about Meriam continuing her revenge on the family of Marsani until Zali, a son of Marsani dies for saving her daughter Maria.

Plot

The narrative unfolds through a series of mysterious events that transpire across two eras: the past and the present. In the late 1940s, gamelan prima donna Meriam (Maya Karin) finds herself torn between the affections of two men, Marsani (Azri Iskandar) and Danial (Shahronizam Noor). Ultimately, Meriam chooses Danial, inciting jealousy in Marsani. Tragically, Meriam is later discovered dead while pregnant with her first child. Following this event, the village becomes increasingly unsafe as various terrifying incidents occur. Marsani lives in constant fear, plagued by nightmares of Meriam, who is rumoured to be a vampire.

More than 50 years later, Marsani continues to live out the remainder of his life, yet the memory of Meriam lingers. A strange occurrence unfolds when a girl named Maria (Maya Karin), whose face bears an uncanny resemblance to Meriam's, appears. Coincidentally, Maria is a close friend of Marsani's grandson, Norman (Eizlan Yusof), and his fiancée, Anna (Kavita Sidhu). Once again, peculiar occurrences ensue, and this time, Maria is accused of being a vampire by Marsani. The critical question arises: who is Maria, and what connection does she share with Meriam?

Cast

Themes

Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam is, according to film scholar Rosalind Galt, a feminist version of the pontianak film genre in Malaysia. [5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Catatan penerbitan Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam". Filem Kita. Archived from the original on 8 October 2015. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  2. ↑ Linna, Esa. "Red Eyed Ghost (2004)". Elitisti. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  3. ↑ Tahir Alhamzah (23 July 2018). "#Showbiz: Plenty acting offers, but money isn't everything, says Maya Karin". New Straits Times Online .
  4. ↑ Rudy Imran Shamsudin (8 September 2019). "Selami kisah 'peribadi' puntianak". Harian Metro .
  5. 1 2 Galt, Rosalind (2021). Alluring Monsters: The Pontianak and Cinemas of Decolonization. Columbia University Press. pp. 4–5. doi:10.7312/galt20132. ISBN   978-0-231-20132-2.
  6. ↑ Dennis Chua (15 March 2017). "Maya Karin wants action roles". New Straits Times Online .


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.