SEPET 单眼皮

Sepet is a 2004 Malaysian romantic comedy drama film set in Ipoh, Malaysia.
Directed by Yasmin Ahmad, it tells a tale of a love that blooms between a Chinese boy and a Malay girl.
Sepet is a Malay word which, in this context, refers to the 'slit eyes' of the Chinese.



Something about the story :

19-year old Ah Loong (who also called himself "Jason") is in charge of a stall selling pirated VCDs. Contrary to the stereotype of his social standing, Ah Loong is an incurable romantic with an unlikely hobby: He loves to read and write poetry. Quite content to carry on being the Romeo of the slums, Ah Loong's life takes a sudden turn one day when a Malay schoolgirl, Orked, arrives at his stall. She is in search of films starring her favorite actor Takeshi Kaneshiro. Love blossoms between Orked and Ah Loong, although there are social and racial pressures that stand in their way. In the end, Ah Loong is involved in a motor vehicle accident while Orked is going to England to pursue her studies.




Awards:

18th Tokyo International Film Festival 2005
Best Asian Film Award
Ninth Malaysian Video Awards
Best Film

27th Créteil International Women's Film Festival in France
Best Film

18th Malaysian Film Festival
Best Film
Best Original Screenplay (Yasmin Ahmad)
Best Poster
Best Supporting Actress (Ida Nerina)
Most Promising Actor (Ng Choo Seong)
Most Promising Actress (Sharifah Amani)

Global Chinese Golden Arts Awards
Best Film

Anugerah Era 2005
Best Film

Social Commentary：

Being cynical in character, Yasmin Ahmad included a few sarcastic remarks of today's Malaysian society in her film:

（1） Orked had on a few occasions sarcastically criticized her friend, Ling, about her obsession with Western male celebrities, particularly Leonardo Dicaprio. She even told off Ling's Western-facelike Malay boyfriend for failing his English in the SPM examinations. This was in reference to the teenage Malays nowadays' obsession with Western celebrities.

（2） Orked rebutted Ling's boyfriend for questioning her love relationship with a non-Malay, i.e. Jason, by telling him Malay men had been marrying non-Malays for generations. This indirectly referred to today's quite prevailing biased perceptions of people having inter-racial love relationships. It was also expressed through Keong's dialogue with Jason when the former was hospitalized. Keong had said people in the olden times can marry each other regardless of race but people in the today's more civilized society tend to fight over and think too much of such matters.

（3）Mak Inom expressed her gratefulness to God after knowing Orked obtained a scholarship to study overseas despite getting 5As in the SPM examinations. Kak Yam, who was sitting beside her, solemnly said Jason had 7As (probably a few years back but wasn't even offered a scholarshhip). This indirectly criticized the Malaysian Government's perceived biased treatment in handing out scholarships to non-Bumiputras.