The Big Durian

The first and only Malaysian movie to screen at the Sundance Film Festival (in 2004). It also screened in over 30 other festivals.

"Mixing authentic, performed and fake testimony, it builds up a picture of KL as a 'big durian' - a knobbly coalition of special interests which smells foul and tastes sickly sweet. Witty to a fault." – Tony Rayns, TIME OUT FILM GUIDE

"Ambitious, sleek-looking, clever." - Ken Eisner, VARIETY

"Named for the thorny local fruit and unafraid to take on a variety of prickly Malaysian taboos, prejudices, and urban legends, The Big Durian ends up a sober critique of the country's "neo-feudal" politics (as one interviewee puts it) and an impertinent love letter to its people that doesn't let them off the hook for their apathy." – Dennis Lim, THE VILLAGE VOICE


Synopsis:

On the night of 18 October 1987, a soldier ran amok with an M16 in the area of Chow Kit, Kuala Lumpur. Due to the thorny circumstances of the time and place, his amok triggered a citywide panic and rumours of racial riots. Why did he do it? Why were Malaysians so jittery at the time? And what happened next? "The Big Durian" speaks to 23 Malaysians (some real, some fictional) to find out.

Director : Amir Muhammad
Year of Production : 2003
Country of Production : Malaysia
Duration : 74 Min
Language : Malay, English, Cantonese, Hokkien, Tamil
Subtitle : Mandarin
Shooting Format : miniDV
Preview Format : DVD
Screening Format : DVCam / Beta SP / Digital Beta/ HDCam
System : PAL
Aspect Ratio : 4:3 (1.33:1)
Sound : Stereo
Dialogue List : English

URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0342107/

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