The Big Durian (2003)

Directed by: Amir Muhammad | 75 minutes | drama, documentary | Actors: Amir Muhammad, Ghafir Akbar, Soh Boon Tat, Bernice Chauly, Anne James, Salleh Ben Joned, Teoh Kah Yong, Jo Kukathas, Erna Mahyuni, Namron, Low Ngai Yuen, Nell Ng, Farish A. Noor, Michael Oo, Nigel Rajaretnam, Rashid Salleh, Zedeck Siew, Sandra Sodhy, Chacko Vadaketh, Shanthini Venugopal, Elizabeth Wong

‘The Big Durian’ examines the mood that emerged after the historic event on October 18, 1987. Private Adam Jaafar shot and killed three people with an M16 in the Chow Kit Chinese residential community, Kuala Lumpur. As a result, panic spread throughout the city and there were rumors of race riots. This fear is not entirely unfounded. On May 13, 1969, serious Malay-Chinese racial unrest shook the country. In Kampung Baru, this led to 137 deaths, 342 injuries, 109 burned cars, 118 destroyed buildings and 2,912 arrests. Operation Lalang followed nine days after the shooting incident in 1987. More than 100 people were convicted and imprisoned without trial on October 27, 1987.

The film is somewhere between a documentary and a drama. Muhammad himself indicates that it is not a documentary. He interviews twenty-three Malays. He asks them what they remember about that infamous day in Malaysian history. The explanations are partly genuine and partly texts written by Muhammad himself, commissioned by actors or by himself.

Activist Elizabeth (Eli) Wong indicates that the newspaper, “The Star”, was banned immediately after publishing photos of the prisoners of Operation Lalang. Anne James, teacher and actress, says that the streets were completely empty when she drove to work. Like everyone else, she had no idea what had happened and what was about to happen. These are examples of some explanations.

The aim of the film is not to find out the truth of the event and discover who soldier Adam Jaafar really is. Muhammad, who himself had the feeling of rumours, tries to find out the truth as the people saw it. The degree of perception and memory has great influence on the so-called truth. The conclusion that when the media and the government do not allow us to understand something, we always turn to the rumors is completely in line with Muhammad’s feeling.

‘The Big Durian’ is a film that resembles a documentary in style and a viewer who does not know that a part has been staged will certainly be misled. The title of the film is based on fruits from South Asia with a foul smell, but a good taste. It’s going too far to say the same about this movie. Without a doubt, there is something fishy about it if you think you have to film it this way. And whoever takes the film seriously will have a bad taste.