Fridae

Amir Muhammad is regarded as one of the leading light of the Malaysian New Wave, but his latest documentary on Malayan communism is a rambling and unengaging affair.

As a follow-up to his 2006 documentary The Last Communist, Amir now travels to Southern Thailand to interview dozens of former members of the banned Communist Party of Malaya. Living in exile as farmers, the aged men recount their glory days of guerilla warfare against the Malayan government.

Amir allows his interviewees to talk freely and at length about how they fought for their vision of a socialist Malaya. But the film's long static shots and meandering structure does nothing to stir our interest in Malayan history. Putting a camera in front of (semi-interesting) talking heads and hoping their words will be enough, can hardly constitute good documentary-making in our books.

Of course, some might beg to differ.