The Contemporary Malaysian Fantastic Film: Imagining an Alternative Modernity

The thesis posits that contemporary Malaysian fantastic films possess critical characteristics: they offer an alternative version of an imagined community and undermine the status quo. These films deploy elements of fantasy to negotiate the dominant notions of cultural and national identity in Malaysia. However, my study notes that the degree of resistance in such films is contingent on how well the filmmakers navigate the censorship guidelines, and negotiate with the authorities, and highlight the ongoing tension between artistic freedom and state control in film production. Most filmmakers of the fantastic genre do not produce films that are explicitly critical as such. As I will demonstrate, they need to navigate the productive dimension of censorship.

My key aim is to overcome the limitation of Malaysian cinema scholarship that focuses exclusively on censorship as prohibitive. This thesis aims to broaden the scope of research on Malaysian cinema by examining the role of censorship in shaping the emergence and development of the fantastic film as a genre. Rather than simply viewing censorship as a hindrance to creative expression, this thesis argues that censorship can also be productive and lead to new forms of artistic expression. Alongside textual analysis, I interview filmmakers and study the history and recent change in censorship practices to gain a deeper understanding of current fantastic film practices in Malaysia. By doing so, the study hopes to contribute to a more nuanced understanding of how Malaysian national and ethnic identity is constructed in film. My thesis proposes a definition of the fantastic film that identifies several stylistic features constructing an alternative national identity, thereby promoting diverse notions of belonging. The Malaysian fantastic films are intertextual. They deploy Computer Graphic Imagery (CGI), and their representation of religious and racial identities explore interaction between official and unofficial definitions of nationhood.

In 2003 the Malaysian censorship policy was revised, thus, allowing the production of fantastic films which had been banned for decades. This shift came with new censorship guidelines that aimed to impose control influenced by the rise of Islamisation and the emphasis on Malay paramountcy. In times of political and ideological crisis the stylistic strategies invoked in these films become crucial in negotiating with the authority and offering relief when other institutions fail. This thesis argues that fantastic films have the tendency to perform criticism with such films serving to present an alternative version of an imagined community and questioning the status quo. The thesis delineates several types of Malaysian fantastic films in terms of stylistic features that construct an alternative national identity and promote different notions of belonging, which are often facilitated by religious influences, racial identity and technological advancement in presenting the conflict of interests between the public and private definitions of nationhood.