Men Who Save the World

Men Who Save the World
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Liew Seng Tat
Produced by	Sharon Gan
Written by	Liew Seng Tat
Starring	Wan Hanafi Su Harun Salim Bachik Soffi Jikan Jalil Hamid Azhan Rani
Music by	Luka Kuncevic
Cinematography	Teoh Gay Hian
Edited by	Patrick Minks Liew Seng Tat
Distributed by	Everything Films
Release dates	11 August 2014 (2014-08-11) (Locarno Film Festival) 27 November 2014 (2014-11-27) (Malaysia)
Running time	94 minutes
Country	Malaysia Netherlands Germany France
Language	Malay
Budget	RM 2.5 million ($ 750 000)

Men Who Save the World (Malay: Lelaki Harapan Dunia) is a 2014 internationally co-produced comedy film written and directed by Liew Seng Tat. It is produced by Sharon Gan and is a co-production project between Everything Films Sdn. Bhd. (Malaysia) and Volya Films (The Netherlands), Flying Moon Filmproduktion (Germany) and Mandra Films (France) with support from Ministry of Information, Communication and Culture (Malaysia), Torino Film Lab (Italy), Hubert Bals Fund (The Netherlands), Netherlands Film Fund, World Cinema Fund (Germany), Visions Sud Est (Switzerland), Fondation Groupama Gan pour le Cinéma - Cinefondation (France), Prince Claus (The Netherlands), Sundance Institute Mahindra Global Filmmaking Award, Sundance Institute Feature Film Program dan the Doris Duke Foundation (USA).

The film was selected as the Malaysian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards but it was not nominated.^[1][2]

Cast

• Wan Hanafi Su as Pak Awang
• Soffi Jikan as Wan
• Jjamal Ahmed as Mat Kacamata
• Harun Salim Bachik as Megat
• Azhan Rani as Cina
• Muhammad Farhan Mohamad Nizam as Zakari
• Hazeehan Husain as Isteri Penghulu
• Othman Hafsham as Encik Juta Seri
• Jalil Hamid as Tok Bilal
• Azman Hassan as Khamis
• Khalid Mboyelwa Hussein as Solomon
• Bob Idris as Mat Lembu

Production

Liew developed Lelaki Harapan Dunia at the Cannes Director’s Residence — Cinéfondation and participated at the 2011 Sundance Screenwriters Lab. The film, shot in Kuala Kangsar, Perak. Lelaki Harapan Dunia was supposed to be Liew’s debut feature film but he ended up shelving it and making Flower in the Pocket first. Luckily, the critical success of Liew’s debut paved the way to the young director receiving grants from all over the world for Lelaki Harapan Dunia.^[3]

Release

The film had its world premier at the 67th Locarno International Film Festival on 6 August 2014. Its North American premier was held at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival on 4 September 2014. The film was released in Malaysia on 27 November 2014.

Critical reception

The film got mixed reviews with praise for the humour and stunning cinematography. Critics were also more focused on the issue of the absence of actresses, homosexuality and racism that exists in this film. Kamran Ahmed of entertainment portal Nextprojection.com in describing the film," It’s an extreme and exaggerated form of humour that works well to make certain ironic or sardonic remarks...". Shelly Kraicer of film portal Cinema-scope.com reviewed this film as "... sets out to be a boisterous comedy of rural cross-dressing and ghostly hauntings, but it has fascinating, somewhat disguised undercurrents suggesting something more serious."^[4][5] Jenna Hossack of dorkshelf.com entertainment portal also provides two words to describe this film, namely "Vibrant and funny".^[6] Shane Scott-Travis of entertainment portal vivascene.com give 4 out of 5 stars for this movie.^[7] Muzaffar Mustafa from Astro Awani also praised "... among the best films of in production aspects, both in terms of art direction and cinematography."^[8] Irvan Syed Syed Mahdi of Utusan Malaysia also praised the film directing and cinematography.^[9] Hassan Abd Al-Muttalib from the same newspaper also commented "... a continuation of the early history of Malaysia movie ..." ^[10] K.Anand of news portal The Malaysian Insider also looming this film as "... the best local film this year and among the best films of the decade. "^[11]

Jay Weissberg of Variety criticised the film for playing with homosexuality and racism issues. "This ultra-light comedy about an apparently haunted house in the jungle is loaded with racially problematic scenes and homophobic gags, plus barely one line is uttered by the marginalized female characters." he stated.^[12] Justin Lowe of The Hollywood Reporter state "From ridiculing superstitious villagers to stereotyping Africans and completely sidelining women, Liew’s film barrels ahead with barely a clue. His puerile script leads the well-known Malaysian castmembers pointlessly astray and returns little on the clearly significant effort required to move the house and shoot extensive footage in the depths of the jungle.".^[13] Mark Adams of Screen Daily questioned the absence of actresses in this film.^[14] Nazim Masnavi of news portal Malaysiakini also criticised the "Liew imitate the style of the early films of Mamat Khalid. But it's only good news that I can say." ^[15] Aidil Rusli of The Star also comment on this movie as a movie filled with potential that can not be translated properly.^[16]

Accolades

Lelaki Harapan Dunia swept five awards among other fourteen categories nominated including the prestigious Best Picture and Best Director awards in 27th Malaysian Film Festival.

See also

• List of submissions to the 88th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
• List of Malaysian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

References

External links

• Men Who Save the World at the Internet Movie Database
• Official website
• Official Facebook page