Titled Chocolate, the film was written and directed by the late Yasmin Ahmad.
A quiet tale that reminds us that, despite the multifaceted contradiction of Malaysia, life goes on – even if not all of it is sweet. more at 15MALAYSIA
This piece is equally deep and absolutely thought-provoking. She has been able to compress so many messages into this short piece. The piece lasts about two minutes but can let you to think for more than two hours! You may not catch much when the film just finished. But as you watch it or think about it again, you should gradually catch the elements Yasmin tried to tell you: Cultures, races, generations, hopes, lives, choices, limitations, government...... more at THEDANESHPROJECT
link from SNOWXWHITE:
What Yasmin is trying to tell us is that, the young generation that grow up in Malaysia wish to live in harmony with other races. They want to truly practice the concept 1Malaysia where race is irrelevant, but due to external factors (frankly speaking, this short film referring to parents mainly, but of course it covers other factors such as peer pressure, seniors, national policies, media, politicians and others), topped with parents’ stereotyping on us which contains the this-land-is-for-that-race-only paradigm, coupled with the young generation’s own experience (perhaps they did not acquire fair and just treatment in aspects like education), which slowly forms the prejudice in their minds.
“你跟那个马来婆谈这么久做莫？”
Before this question is asked, the main male character’s eyes were gentle but when his mother shouted a question at him, a question containing the term “Malay granny”, the boy suddenly became hot-tempered. He then said impatiently: “tak cukup tak payah beli lah.”
In the end, the boy put the chocolate back to the counter. It seems like an action of body language that shows frustration after being disturbed. Will the Malay girl come back? We don’t know. The boy didn’t know. Even Yasmin Ahmad didn’t know. But one thing for sure: if this prejudice remains, we will not be living in harmony, nor will the spirit of 1Malaysia come knocking at our doors.
Here is the opinion from 鄭丁賢‧巧克力.
I think his comment is quite good. It make me understand and think more about this short film.
雅斯敏阿末的遺作《巧克力》，經營雜貨店的華裔家庭，母親要男孩（兒子）離開“這裡”，因為“這裡”不屬於你，留下來沒有前途。
男孩則因“這裡”還有很多朋友，不願離開；他反而置疑母親要他走，是否因為母親有了男朋友。
爭吵中，一位包頭巾的馬來少女來到雜貨店買電池和巧克力。男孩被溫柔的少女吸引，氛圍緩和下來。
突然間，母親尖銳的聲音從後頭傳出：“你和那個馬來婆講這樣久幹甚麼？”
氣氛一時又僵住，少女少帶了5分錢，男孩冷酷的把巧克力拿回來。
少女失望的離開，男孩想要追出去，把巧克力給她；這時，母親的聲音又響起；男孩打消念頭，留下一些空白、遺憾。
就是這麼一個2分多鐘的小故事，或者，還不成為故事，只是一個片斷。
這可以是故事的片斷，也可以是社會的片斷。
雅斯敏抓到了很多大馬華人的疏離感，以及情感的矛盾。
“這裡”沒有給予公平的機會，不會有前途。離開“這裡”，是最好的出路。
然而，男孩對“這裡”是有感情的。其他地方固然提供了獎學金和發展的機會；但是，那是一個陌生的地方，缺乏情感的聯繫。
馬來少女的出現，是一種觸媒，代表了社會關係的連接。
不過，這種觸媒只產生短暫的作用。母親的聲音，代表社會固有的成見，也是一股抗拒改變的力量，把一切帶回原狀。
看完之後，有一股凝重的感覺。
大家都不喜歡那位母親的談話（母親始終沒有現身，只聽到她的聲音）；但是，幾乎每個華人家庭，都帶有這個影子。
大家也為男孩覺得遺憾，他應該更熱情一些，不需要自我保留，自己設限。
的確，華人生活在馬來西亞，太多瞻前顧後，礙手礙腳的想法；擔心這個，害怕那個，尤其表現在社會和政治生活。
所以我說，大家可以從短片中看到的是“自己”。
雅斯敏的這部短片，是她觀察到的華人生活在大馬社會的矛盾；她沒有提出方向或結論，或許她也沒有主張。
她只是把問題點出來，讓大家去思考。
more from 文中有蚊
少年與媽媽的幾句對話，道出了華人多年以來在這片國土上所受到的不公平待遇，
以致這個媽媽，要用上“我們這種人”和“他們那種人”來稱乎著彼此。
當中，帶著埋怨、惱怒，
上一代心中的不滿、偏見似乎也延續至一下代。
“馬來婆”這個稱號似乎令少年如夢初醒般。
令華人對“他族”產生種種不良印象。
The Making Of Yasmin Ahmad's 'Chocolate' - 15Malaysia
I had watched this short film at least twice.
Just have a strong feeling to share with my friends here at this moment.
I like it.
p/s: the main character is quite attractive! lolx~ especially when he is talking with the malay girl. wao~~ can't move my attention away from him! lolx~
Hope Malaysia is an UNITE and PEACEFUL country.
Satu Malaysia, Untuk Semua.
Salute to Yasmin Ahmad. :)
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