Dayang (2023 film)
| Dayang | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Rudolf Jati |
| Written by | Ludwig Teh |
| Screenplay by | Ludwig Teh |
| Starring | Karl Hijau Kersani Jumaat Mayang Tuah |
Production company | Studio Hanabi |
Release dates |
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Running time | 128 mins |
| Country | Penduk |
| Language | Pelangi |
Dayang is a 2023 drama film directed by Rudolf Jati and written by Ludwig Teh. The film features Karl Hijau in the starring role, with co-billing shared by Kersani Jumaa and Mayang Tuah. The film is the third theatrical collaboration between Jati and Teh, and the second to feature Hijau in the leading role. Dayang was produced by Penduk film studio, Studio Hanabi, and debuted at the 84th Montecara Film Festival on 24 October 2023. The story follows an underemployed graduate who finds himself returning to his hometown to serve as the administrator of his late uncle's estate. Having left the village in his youth, he finds himself caught between his urban existence and his rural past, with tensions heightened as he is required to operate the ailing family fishing business.
Synopsis
Tam Awang (Hijau) despite having graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Federal University, Bandaburu finds himself unable to find post-graduate employment, and instead supports himself by working as a waiter and bartender, almost exclusively on night shifts. With his days mostly unoccupied, he splits his time between drinking with similarly underemployed friends from his days in university and playing slot machines in smoking-friendly gaming parlors. One day, while on a winning streak during the latter, he receives a telephone call from Reinhardt Intan (Jumaat), a childhood friend, who informs him that his uncle (who is never named) has passed away. As his uncle left no will, and he is his sole next of kin, Tam has both inherited his estate and is expected to serve as administrator as per the rules of intestacy. Somewhat reluctantly, Tam returns to his hometown in Gelamutam.
Tam books a weeks worth of accommodation at the local public house, run by an old friend of his mother's, Suria (Perang). His return is met with light mockery by his former peers, although he finds himself rekindling his friendship with Reinhardt and his younger sister Minah (Tuah), the latter of whom works both as a waitress at the public house and as the book-keeper for his uncle's company. On his second evening, she brings him his late uncle's ledgers, and the two bond over a drink before she returns home, citing that Reinhardt will be missing her. While reviewing the estate's assets over dinner at the pub's bar, Tam discovers that his uncle was functionally insolvent, only owning the family's fishing business and the trawler from which it was conducted, the eponymous Dayang. Tam concludes that his uncle must have been living on the boat, having sold his house to a short-term homestay operator. Questioning the wisdom of his uncle's decision, noting the ailing nature of the family business, Tam queries aloud to Suria why his uncle would make such decisions, to which she responds, "Sometimes, all a man has left is his pride."
As he makes arrangements to deal with the estate, Tam concludes that the only sensible option is to shutter the company and sell the Dayang for scrap. When he shares this idea with Reinhardt and Minah over dinner, the former becomes violently angry. Reinhardt furiously informs Tam that he has served as the first mate on the vessel for half a decade, and that it is crewed by his younger brother and cousin, and that any sale will see them out of a job and penniless. He accuses him of playing at family patriarch, stating that he still has a family to look after and that the elder Awang was more family to him than he ever was to Tam, before storming off into the night. In the aftermath, Minah apologises for her brother's outburst, but explains that job prospects in the village are near non-existent and the fishing industry has been gradually strangled by major corporations, both domestic and foreign. After the two confide in each other over their shared sense of inadequacy arising from a lack of control over their lives, Minah kisses him on the cheek and leaves for the night.
The next morning, Tam resolves himself to do right by his friend and by his family, and apologises to Reinhardt. The latter offers to buy the boat off of the former, but cannot offer a fair value on his meagre salary. Instead, Tam names him captain of the Dayang and says that if his old friend will handle the practical aspect of the business, he will handle the financials. This plan is rapidly dashed when it is discovered that the Dayang requires five hands to adequately operate. Tam's uncle had served as captain of the vessel, and had never taken a salary, meaning that there are no funds available to bring on a new hand. As such, Tam finds himself filling the absent role on the crew. He finds himself an incapable seaman, and regular disagreements between himself and Reinhardt over the following days erupt into an argument when his ineptitude causes a trawling net to be lost to the sea.
During this time, with his stay at the public house expired, Tam moves on to the boat as his uncle did, living in the crew quarters. His habitation goes unnoticed by the other men, given the lack of items he brought with him from Bandaburu.
The Dayang and her crew prove incapable of turning a profit, and the relationship between Tam and Reinhardt sours further. The latter eventually arranges a bank loan that would enable him to purchase the company and the vessel, using his family's ancestral home as collateral. However, when he proposes the sale to Tam, the conversation again devolves into an argument. Tam says that he offered to sell the business weeks ago, but Reinhardt convinced him to stay and that it had been left to him. Reinhardt again accuses Tam of being a child of the city, playing at being a fisherman and a family man, and pleads with his old friend. The two again argue and no sale eventuates.
That night, while drinking at the public house, Tam finds himself flirting with Minah. Again, the two bond over both their shared animosity and jealousy towards Reinhardt, speaking equally of the man's anger and his assuredness. After a number of drinks, the two return to the Dayang where they sleep together. In the wee hours of that same morning, Reinhardt comes aboard the vessel, ostensibly to steal it. Unbeknownst to him, Tam has moved his residence aboard, and when Reinhardt comes downstairs and sees him in bed with Minah, he becomes enraged. Tam and Reinhardt brawl, resulting in the accidental breaking of the latter's knee.
The following evening, Tam watches storm clouds roll in from the distance, as he sits in the damaged crew quarters of the vessel pouring over the company ledgers once again. In the background, a radio broadcast speaks of a hitherto-unseen migratory event in the local fish stocks.
Enlisting the help of a local boy, Agus (Jaya) who been attempting to sell bait on the docks, the crew of the Dayang brave the storm to attempt to alleviate their fortunes. Whilst they are successful and a record quantity of fish are brought aboard, the Dayang suffers heavy damage and its keel is cracked. In effect, the ship is unsalvageable, regardless of the success of this venture. As the Dayang returns to harbour in the pre-dawn of the next morning, they are met by Reinhardt, who is using crutches to get around. He asks Tam why he did all of this, to which he responds, "Sometimes, all a man has left is his pride."
The five men share a cigarette and watch the sunrise from the deck of the Dayang.
Cast
Production
Teh originally wrote the screenplay for what would become Dayang in 2016, prior to his first theatrical writing credit, but was unable to sell the script to any interested parties. Following the success of Studio Hanabi produced Kita Yang Kekal and Os Ingovernáveis, projects which Teh wrote and Jati directed, the studio expressed interest in a third project from the duo. Whilst initially conceived as a Bahasa Subag language film, owing to Teh's own heritage, Jati convinced Teh that the themes of familial obligation and urban-rural divide were applicable to Penduk as a whole, and the setting was changed as to allow for the film to be produced in Pelangi. This final draft went into pre-production in late 2021, with filming commencing in February of 2022. Much of the main cast had previously worked with Teh and Jati in Os Ingovernáveis, with the remainder of the casting process finalised by December 2021.
Filming took place on location in the village of Pelbuma in the Gelamutam Governorate, with production making use of locals as both extras and in behind-camera roles. Filming wrapped in July 2022, with post-production editing taking place between August 2022 and December 2022.
The film was initially scheduled for a domestic release on 14 April 2023, but this was delayed in favour of submission to the Montecara Film Festival, the first Pendukese film in over a decade to be submitted for consideration. The domestic release was pushed back to November 2022, following the festival's conclusion, with international distribution rights not yet sold.