Bront Palarae talks on police corruption depicting "One, Two, Jaga"
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It seems that more Malaysian films touching on social issues faced by the country have been making their way into films. The latest, "One, Two, Jaga" directed by Namron and produced by actor Bront Palarae's Pixel Play, touches upon rather sensitive issues within Malaysia indeed.
It stars Zahiril Adzim as a rookie policeman who discovers that his superior is corrupt. Also in the cast list are actors Ario Bayu, Asmara Abihail, Amerul Affendi and Iedil Putra.
The public have been eagerly awaiting the movie ever since its production stages, worried if it'll even make it to Malaysian screens after a reportedly two-year pre-production delay.
It could be script tweaks due to its relation towards rather sensitive issues, like the exploration of corruption within authority and its portrayal of foreign workers, but hey, we guess we'll have to watch the film to find out.
It also makes a mark in history as the only film to touch upon the corruption of Malaysia's authority forces that has to date been approved by the PDRM (The Royal Malaysia Police).
Cinema Online were able to talk to the producer of "One, Two, Jaga", Bront Palarae, and got some insight towards the making of this film.
We also managed to dig in deeper to find out what are Bront's other projects that are in the pipeline.
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Cinema Online: How do you think people would react to "One, Two, Jaga" since it touches upon sensitive social issue?
So far we were quite surprised in a good way. It's like the phrase, "don't judge a book by its cover", with the cover being seen as provocative, it could actually be subversive. For those who have seen it, we were quite surprised when they said it was an entertaining story, just that it focuses on sad issues of the world. The identity of the movie is meant to be entertaining, not anything else.
Has this movie been screened for the public before?
No, our World Premiere will be in April in Italy. It will be our first screening ever. But we had to show it to Dato Azmir from FINAS first because he wants to take a look at it even though the movie isn't done yet. He's just worried about the story since it touches upon sensitive issues. He said, "The movie isn't that bad. I expected it to be angry or blaming a party." Yes, it's about those kinds of topics and people, and the corruption of the community, but we're not making it a story that wants to point fingers or blame people.
Where else are you planning to take this film to besides the Udine Far East Film Festival in Italy?
The one that we can confirm now is the World Premiere. We're going to have another Asian Premiere and the Malaysian Premiere, of course, when the movie is out. As for the press preview, it will be slightly earlier, 10 days before the movie releases this September.
Are you planning to release the movie in any other countries besides Malaysia?
We are in talks with one party in Indonesia, but of course I want to share it to as many audiences as possible cause that's the whole idea of telling a story.
Besides "One, Two, Jaga", can you tell us of the films you're also currently working on like "Dawn Raid"?
We're still working on the script for "Dawn Raid", it's not perfected yet. I think I'm moving towards something smaller before I go back to "Dawn Raid", so I'm currently working on a project in July called "The Intern".
What is "The Intern" about?
A cat and a mouse game in a blackout office. [Laughs] It's about a girl who has to stay over at the office on the first day of her internship. The office suddenly has a blackout, and then it turns into a cat and mouse game. There will be action involving constant pursuit.
