In celebrating the 50th anniversary of the death of Tan Sri P. Ramlee, who passed away on May 29, 1973, the Yayasan Penang Free School Putra Lectures Series organised a lecture on Tan Sri P. Ramlee – Penang’s Greatest Cultural Icon on May 13, 2023, at the school hall.
The lecture was by Datuk Dr Anis Yusal Yusoff, an Old Free and current University Malaya’s Director of the Centre for Leadership and Professional Development (UM LEAD).
Anis is eminently qualified to deliver this lecture as his father was a close friend of P. Ramlee, who regularly visited their house in Kampung Makam, Penang.
P. Ramlee was an artiste and filmmaker nonpareil. He was a versatile actor, musician, singer, composer, scriptwriter, and director.
He acted in 66 films, 33 of which he directed. He also composed 359 songs. P. Ramlee has been described as a cinematographic auteur.
His early films used Bangsawan actors as they were trained to play various characters, some of which were stereotypes such as the Orang Muda and villain roles such as Jin Afrait, Mak Inang, as well as the comic characters.
The renowned Bangsawan actors then were Ahamd Nisfu, S. Kadarisman, Omar Rojik, Salleh Kamil, and Kasma Booty.
Bangsawan, thus moved from the stage to the silver screen, maintaining the plot structure of the traditional theatre form concerning acting style, dialogue delivery, and interpretation (minus the improvisation that is part of Bangsawan performance), the ‘ucap tetap’ or fixed dialogue, and the incorporation of songs and dances.
The stories then portrayed legends and tales about kings and courtiers and those of fantasies in which humans and celestial beings from Kayangan realm interact.
P. Ramlee’s films later evolved into the realistic genre but maintained the Bangsawan elements of songs and dances.
P. Ramlee’s films were commentaries on the lives of the various levels of Malay society, commenting on class issues between royalty and the rakyat, the rich and poor, the indolent and the gullible, the simpleton and the know-alls.
His films are a brilliant take on the innocence, ignorance, and gullibility of the Malays.
He captures the rustic life of the Malay community, dramatises the plight of the poor and the condescendence and loathing towards them in the film Penarek Becha, tackles head-on the class divide between the royalty and the common Malays in Antara Dua Darjat, patriotism in Sergeant Hassan, the lusts of the courtesan elites in Musang Berjangut, and parodies the gullibility and regal and erudite pretence of the royalty in Nujum Pak Belalang.
Blind loyalty to, and the recklessness of the power of the absolute monarchy, is the theme in Hang Tuah.
His comedies are hilarious and thought-provoking. For example, the Bujang Lapok and Do Re Mi series combine farce and high comedy elements embedded with moral messages.
The film Madu Tiga is a hilarious commentary on polygamy without being judgemental while emphasising the dignity of women.
Most of P. Ramlee’s films are evergreen, engaging until today with laughter and tears about humanity, strengths and weaknesses, gullibility, and foibles, as well as challenging traditional norms and values.
Compared to today, film technology during P. Ramlee’s time was basic and rudimentary, focusing on shooting and editing with basic post-production of audio effects (music and songs) and voice-over.
Just look at the flying carpet scene in the film Laxmana Do Re Mi, using the simple superimposition of sitting on the carpet superimposed onto a cloud background.
Pangilan Pulau, one of the early P. Ramlee’s films, a ship in the stormy sea, was depicted by tilting the camera left and right to create the sensation of it riding the turbulent waves.
But it was acceptable at that time for the audience to be willing to accept the illusion of the reality of flying.
These days, animated and computer-generated imagery (CGI) technology can create realistic effects like David Cameron’s Avatar or the Marvel superheroes and Disney animated productions that are life-like, leaving nothing for the imagination.
Yet P. Ramlee’s films captured the audience’s imagination despite their rudimentary effects mainly because of the good storyline, good acting, witty and philosophical dialogue, great songs, humour, and moral messages.
Sadly, the Malay films of today are a far cry from his creative efforts.
We have the latest film-making technology, finance, and government agency, National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (Finas), to spur and promote the film industry.
Yet, the current movie offerings lack creativity and philosophical insights and are usually one-dimensional compared to P. Ramlee’s multi-layered and multi-dimensional creative efforts.
The current film fare centres on horror and ghoulish stories like the soon-to-be-aired Sumpahan Jerunei, shallow farcical comedies, and cheap imitations of Western action flicks.
A case in point is the box office hit movie Mat Kilau, which is more of a collection of silat fighting scenes interspersed with sermonic dialogue laced with patriotic and religious sentiments based on a weak patriotic storyline.
It is a far cry from P. Ramlee’s Hang Tuah or Sargeant Hassan.
Then, we have documentary movies on political figures like the current offering of Anwar The Untold Story, which has no bearing on the artistry of the film industry.
But once in a while, we have films that reflect the artistry of using the film media as serious commentary on norms, values cultural traditions, such as Professor Hatta Azad Khan’s Wayang and Datuk Ahmad Tamimi Siregar’s Ayahanda.
Contemporary filmmakers have a long way to go to achieve the stature and excellence of Malay movies bench-marked by P. Ramlee’s films.
He is not only a film artist par excellence but also a polymath. And there is none to replace him.
His song Dimana Kan Ku Cari Ganti is a fitting epitaph for P. Ramlee, the legendary icon of Malay movies.
This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Twentytwo13.
