The incentive to go to the cinema to watch a movie has
diminished greatly over the years. This is largely due to the big screen HD
television set up in the comfort of your home and the hundreds of satellite channels
available at your finger tips. If that is not enough there is online video streaming.
However, exceptions are sometimes made for the rare foray to
the cinema if a highly rated and top grossing movie is playing. A movie with outstanding
acting, awesome cinematography and engrossing plot. Ola Bola definitely does
not fall into such category. The low budget film with unknown cast centered
around a boring and raggedy past football team would not warrant a trip to the
cinema. However piqued by the hype and rave reviews plus the long CNY festive
break, decided to incorporate the movie as part of a family outing.
RM20 for a movie ticket was shocking crazy. During my childhood
days a third class ticket cost only 50sen. The price has gone up 4000%!!!. Back
then we also did not eat Angmo popcorn in the cinema but melon seeds. 3 packets of Quachee were sold for 10sen. Now
a bucket of unhealthy popcorn oozing with sugar , caramel and blood clotting
saturated fat cost RM12.
So was the movie worth watching on the big screen at RM20 a
pop? I must say it is a local film made only for Malaysian audience. Compared
to commercial international films it would paled into oblivion. Outside
Malaysia even if it is screened for free nobody would come to watch. It has all
the tell tale markings of a low budget film. Grainy pictures, no big names,
mediocre acting and amateurish football scenes. Even though touted as a
docudrama the plot is so cliché and predictable. Sabahans were also upset that historical
details were distorted in the final football match between South Korea and
Malaysia.
Why then the fuss and it becoming one of the highest local
box office collection. There are a number of things going for it.
Firstly, football is popular in Malaysia even though there
are a lot more fans than players. 1970s were the glory days of Malaysian
football and it has been downhill since. It is currently languishing at 171 in
the latest FIFA world ranking. The patriotic Malaysian fans are desperately
looking for new football heroes but there is still no light at the end of the
murky tunnel.
Secondly besides the younger crowd the film was also able to
draw in the baby boomers. It offered
this middle aged generation a
nostalgic trip down memory lane of the good old days. The familiar sights and sound
from the Seventies came flooding back. Youth with the long hair, psychedelic
prints, the town funfair and Joget
scenes.
Thirdly, to appeal to the general audience the film had to
spice up its simple plot. Hence, a concoction of tear jerking scenes that pull
at your heart strings and some funny antics and comedic relief were thrown into
the mix.
Ultimately however, the most salient message that emerged
from the film, maybe inadvertently, was the absence of racial undertone in our society back then. For
a group of young people with a common
goal and patriotic dream the bond of friendship was color blind . It also showed how a poorly funded football
team could succeed through sheer
determination and hard work. Fast forward 35 years to 2016. Instead of progressing
to a harmonious multicultural nation our country had regressed. Today the very
social fabric of our country are being torn asunder by the onslaught of discriminatory
policies and blatant racist polemics.
So was it worth the effort to make the trip to the cinema
and spend the RM20? I suggest waiting
for it to be screened on the idiot box and it should be real soon too.
Simon February 2016
