Selling the past in films: shaw brothers and the Japanese occupation of Malaya
This article aims to examine the representation of Japanese occupation of Malaya in films produced by Shaw Brothers during the Golden Era of Malay cinema, namely “Sergeant Hassan” (1958) and “Matahari” (1958). Currently, films depicting the past are relatively less prevalent in Malaysia, and scho...
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my.unimas.ir.148702017-02-22T07:21:41Z http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/14870/ Selling the past in films: shaw brothers and the Japanese occupation of Malaya Yow, Chong Lee Candida Jau, Emang N Visual arts (General) For photography, see TR This article aims to examine the representation of Japanese occupation of Malaya in films produced by Shaw Brothers during the Golden Era of Malay cinema, namely “Sergeant Hassan” (1958) and “Matahari” (1958). Currently, films depicting the past are relatively less prevalent in Malaysia, and scholarly analysis is comparatively less conducted on such films. Hence, the authors try to analyse how the films, in a given context, which reconstruct and reflect the historical past are experienced by the society at large. Bearing in mind that the films are based on a similar subject (Japanese occupation as its backdrop), it is important to determine why different receptions were registered from the audiences on both films. This prompted the authors to examine the reasons why these two films received a different level of popularity from their contemporary audiences (in the late 1950s). In this article, both the textual and contextual analysis will be employed: the former method is used to interpret the meanings constructed through the film’s text and promotional materials for both films. The latter would explore the historical circumstances that shaped both the production and reception of the films. This is mainly through promotional materials as well as secondary sources through interviews conducted by third party researchers who had interviewed Shaw Brothers and those who had experience working with them. The findings of this article indicate that the Shaw Brothers were ambitious with their films projects about the Japanese Occupation by widening the promotion of “Sergeant Hassan” to a wider audience and not limited it solely to the Malays1 . By capitalising on the historical pasts that the contemporary audiences (in the late 1950s) had personally experienced, Shaw Brothers had embarked on the complex relationship of socio-political and economic conditions which had also shaped different receptions towards these films. UKM Press 2016 E-Article PeerReviewed text en http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/14870/1/5126 Yow, Chong Lee and Candida Jau, Emang (2016) Selling the past in films: shaw brothers and the Japanese occupation of Malaya. Malaysian Journal of Communication, 32 (2). ISSN 0128-1496 http://ejournal.ukm.my/mjc/issue/view/877 |
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N Visual arts (General) For photography, see TR Yow, Chong Lee Candida Jau, Emang Selling the past in films: shaw brothers and the Japanese occupation of Malaya |
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This article aims to examine the representation of Japanese occupation of Malaya in films
produced by Shaw Brothers during the Golden Era of Malay cinema, namely “Sergeant Hassan”
(1958) and “Matahari” (1958). Currently, films depicting the past are relatively less prevalent in
Malaysia, and scholarly analysis is comparatively less conducted on such films. Hence, the
authors try to analyse how the films, in a given context, which reconstruct and reflect the
historical past are experienced by the society at large. Bearing in mind that the films are based on
a similar subject (Japanese occupation as its backdrop), it is important to determine why different
receptions were registered from the audiences on both films. This prompted the authors to
examine the reasons why these two films received a different level of popularity from their
contemporary audiences (in the late 1950s). In this article, both the textual and contextual
analysis will be employed: the former method is used to interpret the meanings constructed
through the film’s text and promotional materials for both films. The latter would explore the
historical circumstances that shaped both the production and reception of the films. This is
mainly through promotional materials as well as secondary sources through interviews
conducted by third party researchers who had interviewed Shaw Brothers and those who had
experience working with them. The findings of this article indicate that the Shaw Brothers were
ambitious with their films projects about the Japanese Occupation by widening the promotion of
“Sergeant Hassan” to a wider audience and not limited it solely to the Malays1
. By capitalising
on the historical pasts that the contemporary audiences (in the late 1950s) had personally
experienced, Shaw Brothers had embarked on the complex relationship of socio-political and
economic conditions which had also shaped different receptions towards these films. |
format |
E-Article |
author |
Yow, Chong Lee Candida Jau, Emang |
author_facet |
Yow, Chong Lee Candida Jau, Emang |
author_sort |
Yow, Chong Lee |
title |
Selling the past in films: shaw brothers and the
Japanese occupation of Malaya |
title_short |
Selling the past in films: shaw brothers and the
Japanese occupation of Malaya |
title_full |
Selling the past in films: shaw brothers and the
Japanese occupation of Malaya |
title_fullStr |
Selling the past in films: shaw brothers and the
Japanese occupation of Malaya |
title_full_unstemmed |
Selling the past in films: shaw brothers and the
Japanese occupation of Malaya |
title_sort |
selling the past in films: shaw brothers and the
japanese occupation of malaya |
publisher |
UKM Press |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/14870/1/5126 http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/14870/ http://ejournal.ukm.my/mjc/issue/view/877 |
_version_ |
1644512018226479104 |
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13.18916 |