Muallaf

Muallaf The Convert
Muallaf Singapore poster
Directed by	Yasmin Ahmad
Produced by	Rosnah Kassim
Starring	Brian Yap Sharifah Amani Yeo Yann Yann Sharifah Aleysha
Distributed by	MHZ Film Sdn. Bhd. (Malaysia) The Picturehouse (Singapore)
Release dates	November 27, 2008 December 24, 2009
Country	Template:FilmMalaysia
Languages	English, Malay, Cantonese

Muallaf is a 2008 Malaysian drama film directed by Yasmin Ahmad. It tells a tale of three souls finding solace in religion. This is Yasmin Ahmad's fifth film after Rabun, Sepet, Gubra and Mukhsin.

Title

Contrary to the translation of the film's title, i.e. The Convert, Muallaf does not tell of a non-Muslim who converted his religion to Islam. Yasmin herself confessed that she had used the term as the title of her film to tell the tale of a Catholic who lost faith in his religion as a child having being embarrassed by his father, who was a strict Catholic, and later having met two sisters and gained simple knowledge of Islam, had a change of heart to finally return to meet his mother, who had persuaded him to come home numerous times.

Plot

Brian Goh (Brian Yap) is a History teacher in an Ipoh secondary school. More often than not, he receives calls from his mother in Penang, persuading to come home every Sunday to go to the church with her. Brian rejected her requests every single time, on the pretext that he was busy.

20-year old Rohani (Sharifah Amani) and her 14-year old sister (Sharifah Aleysha), Rohana, were two girls living in an abandoned house. It turned out that they were on the run from their abusive father (Datuk Rahim Razali), a 'Datuk' title holder who frequents night clubs and drinks beer, which are forbidden in Islam. Their biological mother, who was a lecturer in the National University of Singapore (NUS), had died and owned a trust fund whose beneficiary was Rohani herself once she turned 21. But knowing she could not depend on the money for long and Rohana's education needed continuous financing, in order to avoid being spotted by her father's bodyguards during the daytime, Rohani had to work in a pub (Sid's Tavern & Cafe) late night. Ironically, despite being a bartender, Rohani often told patrons about the disadvantages of alcohol to health, even including offering mineral water, she was fired by her boss, Patrick, after 'tipped-off' by a colleague, i.e. Cindy.

Both Rohani and Rohana had the mysterious habit of quoting numbers which represent the verses in Qur'an and even verses from Tao Te Ching and the Bible. Of the two, Rohana did that more often and it virtually drove anyone around her crazy, including her Arts teacher, Mrs Siva. Noticing her odd behaviour, the Principal, Bro. Anthony and Brian, who teaches at the school that Rohana goes to, sought to find out more of the sisters. Brian was particularly drawn to the sisters' 'unusual' habit and was even interested in the English translation of the Qur'an himself which Rohani presented to him. Bit by bit, he read the verses starting from the ones which the sisters often quoted.

As the relationship among the three progressed, the trio became closer and confessed to each other of their respective past. Brian lost his faith in Christianity as a 12-year old, having being humiliated by his father, a strict Catholic, who discovered him masturbating in his room while looking at nun-portraying porn magazines and later drove him out to stand by the roadside, stark naked. His mother could only helplessly watch from the doorstep. The disillusionment was due to the fact that his parents loved him very much. Rohani's story was that she had unintentionally showed disrespect for her father, who is a Datuk and yet does things that are forbidden in the religion, provoking him to shave her bald.

Despite all odds, Rohani and Rohana stood steadfast by performing the usual prayers and discussed with each other on Islam based on the translated versions passed down to them by their late mother. They made a point to forgive the people who had hurt them during the day before going to sleep and it was the reason why the girls seem to be unfazed all the time. Rohani tried to persuade Brian to go to the church with his mother every Sunday but he remained quite defiant.

In an eventful turn, the sisters' father snatched away Rohana at her school grounds and Rohani went after them all the way to Kuala Lumpur, telling Brian to look after her house while she was gone and asked him not to find her anymore should she failed to be back by Friday. On Friday, Rohani contacted Brian, telling him that her father had a stroke and she wanted to stay back to look after him. She made one last effort to persuade Brian to meet his mother, to which he finally relented. The final scene shows Brian speeding in his old car back to the abandoned house. He knocks on the door and it is opened for him to enter.

Cast

Actor/Actress	Character	Notes
Brian Yap	Brian GohTemplate:Fn	History teacher at Rohana's school
Sharifah Amani	Rohani	Rohana's elder sister, 20/21 y/o
Sharifah Aleysha	Rohana	Rohani's younger sister, 14 y/o
Datuk Rahim Razali	Datuk	Rohani and Rohana's abusive father
Ning Baizura	Datin	Rohani and Rohana's stepmother
Tony Savarimuthu	Bro. Anthony	Catholic priest and Principal of Rohana's school
Hazel Fernandez	Mrs Siva	Rohana's Arts teacher
Yeo Yann Yann	Cindy	Rohani's colleague at Sid's Tavern Pub & Cafe
Tan Mei Ling	Mrs Goh	Brian's mother
Ho Yuhang	Datuk's private investigator
Haris Zakaria	Little Brian
Shana Shafiza Muzaffar Shah	Mei Ling	Coma girl

Footnote:

• Template:Fnb Brian Yap's character was initially planned to be named Robert Ng.

Closure

• It was not clear what had happened to Rohana. However, it could be assumed that Rohani had finally met up with Rohana considering that she had volunteered to take care of her stroke-hit father who had snatched away Rohana earlier.
• It was not shown explicitly whether Brian was attracted to Rohani or the religion of Islam itself. If Brian was in love with Rohani, this would probably mark the first time Yasmin concealed the romantic relationship in films that contain the agenda of love.

Screening

As Yasmin's previous films, Muallaf opened with the usual Islamic verse In the name of God, the most Gracious and most Merciful (Bismillahirahmanirrahim). What set Muallaf apart from her previous works was that the verse was displayed in Chinese in this movie, i.e. 奉大仁大慈真主的尊名 (Pinyin: fèng dà rén dà cí Zhēn Zhǔ de zūn míng). It was understood that the verse would be displayed in Tamil in her next film, Talentime.

As Yasmin's second feature film, Sepet, Muallaf was first screened in Singapore instead of Malaysia, where it was shot. However, unlike the former, Muallaf may not be screened in Malaysian cinemas after all since the Malaysian censorship authorities had requested key scenes to be cut, thus rendering the story meaningless. The film ran for 4 weeks in Singapore from 27 November to 24 December 2008, recording turnouts more than that of Sepet.

International participation

Awards won

• 21st Tokyo International Film Festival (18 - 26 Oct 2008) ~ Special Mention Best Asian-Middle Eastern Film

Official selection

• 61st Locarno International Film Festival (6 - 16 Aug 2008)
• 13th Pusan International Film Festival (2 - 10 Oct 2008)
• Rialto Film Festival, Amsterdam - New Malaysian Cinema

Trivia

The scene where Rohani was forcibly shaved bald had incurred the wrath of several local religious scholars on the pretext that it is forbidden in Islam for a Muslim female to shave her head.

Reviews and Interviews with Yasmin Ahmad on the film

Singapore

• RazorTV Interview with Yasmin Ahmad on Muallaf (part 1)
• RazorTV Interview with Yasmin Ahmad on Muallaf (part 2)
• Moviexclusive.com
• Lianhe Zaobao (Nov 24, 2008): 马国电影《皈依》男主角原属意光良
  (Malaysian film Muallaf male lead originally for Michael Wong)
• Lianhae Zaobao (Nov 28, 2008): 《改心》马来姐妹花逃家 (Muallaf: Two Malay sisters on the run)
• TODAY (Nov 29, 2008): Much ado about Muallaf

Indonesia

• Rumah Film: Saya Membuat Film Karena Ingin Memahami Tuhan
  (I Make Films Because I Want To Understand God)
• Rumah Film: Muallaf: Brian dan Sepasang Gadis Ronin (Brian and A Pair of Girls on the Run)

External links

• Official website