Film ReviewsApprentice: Murder by the bookApr 5, 2017 Anchorage Press
|
|
Juefeng Boo writes and directs Apprentice, a pretty perfect and insightful character study of Aiman, a 28 year-old correctional officer who becomes an apprentice to an executioner. The Singaporean film was screened at Cannes in the Un Certain Regard section, which features those films that tell stories in unconventional and nontraditional ways. The works screened in this section are characterized as “original and different” and seeking international recognition. Apprentice was also Singapore’s official entry to the Best Foreign Language Film category for the 89th Academy Awards, but the film did not place. This may be more of reflection on the biases that underlie the Academy’s process more than a reflection on Apprentice.
Apprentice is an ambitious film that was overlooked for the most part in the U.S., which is unfortunate for American movie goers. The film tells a story in which the plot that unfolds has roots in an underlying course of events that quietly surface. Aiman is played by Firdaus Rahman, a newcomer to the world of cinema and someone to keep an eye on. He delivers the complex narrative with a great sense of control. His role as Aiman earned Rahman a nomination for the Asian Film Award for Best Newcomer, which is awarded yearly by the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society. The camera loves Rahman’s physiognomy, and all the rest of him, too. Part of symbiotic relationship between the viewer and Aiman is Rahman’s ability to act with his entire being, physically and emotionally.
On the surface, the plot of Apprentice is straightforward and tight. Aiman lives with his older sister, Suhaila (Mastura Ahmad). Initially, audiences know little about their childhood or their adult relationship but as their interaction evolves, the backstory steadily unfolds and it becomes apparent that both characters have to move beyond their familial past. However, Suhaila goes in one direction, and Aiman in another. When Aiman is transferred to a high security prison and cultivates a relationship with the executioner, Rahim, played by Wan Hanafi Su, Aiman’s search for answers takes him to painful and dark places. Wan Hanafi Su, unlike Rahman, has a robust acting career, and his portrayal of the executioner will make apparent just how great of an actor he really is. The older actor has a place in Malaysian cinema; this is hardly his first rodeo, he was part of the production of Bunohan and Lelaki Harapan Dunia, which was Malaysia’s previous entry for the Oscars.
There is beautiful chemistry between the characters, and a subtle honesty that keeps the emotional struggles front and center. It turns out that murder punished by death is simply murder by the book. The film brings to light not just the internal conflicts of each of the characters, but it also calls to question the systematic processes that make capital punishment such an efficient machine—from how it is done, to how it is justified. Apprentice explores the psyche of the executioner, that hand of the state that is ultimately tied to a human soul. As it turns out Aiman has a deep connection to capital punishment system, and thus his relationship with Rahim is both a father-son relationship, and that of an enemy. At the young age of 28, Aiman is unable to control the narrative and at the end he is faced with a final decision to choose between who he wants to be, and who the system will make him into. The dilemmas, along with Juefeng Boo’s directorial gifts, an exceptional cast and beautiful cinematography make Apprentice required watching.
Showtimes: Mon 4/10 8:00 PM
Run time: 1:41 h
Movie Rating: Not rated.
Apprentice is an ambitious film that was overlooked for the most part in the U.S., which is unfortunate for American movie goers. The film tells a story in which the plot that unfolds has roots in an underlying course of events that quietly surface. Aiman is played by Firdaus Rahman, a newcomer to the world of cinema and someone to keep an eye on. He delivers the complex narrative with a great sense of control. His role as Aiman earned Rahman a nomination for the Asian Film Award for Best Newcomer, which is awarded yearly by the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society. The camera loves Rahman’s physiognomy, and all the rest of him, too. Part of symbiotic relationship between the viewer and Aiman is Rahman’s ability to act with his entire being, physically and emotionally.
On the surface, the plot of Apprentice is straightforward and tight. Aiman lives with his older sister, Suhaila (Mastura Ahmad). Initially, audiences know little about their childhood or their adult relationship but as their interaction evolves, the backstory steadily unfolds and it becomes apparent that both characters have to move beyond their familial past. However, Suhaila goes in one direction, and Aiman in another. When Aiman is transferred to a high security prison and cultivates a relationship with the executioner, Rahim, played by Wan Hanafi Su, Aiman’s search for answers takes him to painful and dark places. Wan Hanafi Su, unlike Rahman, has a robust acting career, and his portrayal of the executioner will make apparent just how great of an actor he really is. The older actor has a place in Malaysian cinema; this is hardly his first rodeo, he was part of the production of Bunohan and Lelaki Harapan Dunia, which was Malaysia’s previous entry for the Oscars.
There is beautiful chemistry between the characters, and a subtle honesty that keeps the emotional struggles front and center. It turns out that murder punished by death is simply murder by the book. The film brings to light not just the internal conflicts of each of the characters, but it also calls to question the systematic processes that make capital punishment such an efficient machine—from how it is done, to how it is justified. Apprentice explores the psyche of the executioner, that hand of the state that is ultimately tied to a human soul. As it turns out Aiman has a deep connection to capital punishment system, and thus his relationship with Rahim is both a father-son relationship, and that of an enemy. At the young age of 28, Aiman is unable to control the narrative and at the end he is faced with a final decision to choose between who he wants to be, and who the system will make him into. The dilemmas, along with Juefeng Boo’s directorial gifts, an exceptional cast and beautiful cinematography make Apprentice required watching.
Showtimes: Mon 4/10 8:00 PM
Run time: 1:41 h
Movie Rating: Not rated.