Gritty labour of love
Young filmmaker Zahir Omar took his time to deliver his debut feature film and the result is an edgy ride with characters locked in ever-worsening situations, writes Aref Omar
IT’S a local heist film involving a group of taxi drivers in the city that execute elaborate plans to rob their wealthy passengers by exploiting their personal details. Titled Fly By Night, it’s director Zahir Omar’s first feature film and it’s an excruciatingly gritty ride that sees all the characters sinking into tougher situations as things spiral out of control.
The 37-year-old filmmaker and commercial director says that he gets his inspiration from watching and observing people and seeing how they react to different situations.
“We are all the same. We all have preconceived notions of how society draws the line between good and bad. We would like to think that we would never cross that line. Most of us only really know when we get there.”
His idea for this film had its roots from the many taxi rides he’s taken in the past. Zahir noticed that passengers inadvertently expose a lot of personal details about themselves during the trips with these seemingly “invisible” taxi drivers.
“They have access to a lot of information every day. If they got themselves caught in a desperate situation, they could use all that information if they chose to.”
LONG TREK TO COMPLETION
The film has already made the festival circuit from last year’s Busan Film Festival in South Korea to the Santa Barbara International Film Festival and New York Asian Film Festival this year.
Currently playing in cinemas, the film has been a labour of love for Zahir, who had worked as second assistant director on the late Yasmin Ahmad’s Sepet back in 2005.
The initial idea had its germination period in 2012 and Zahir worked with his friend Ivan Yeo to bang out an original draft for the script.
They had started a working relationship after Zahir had won the inaugural BMW Shorties competition in 2007 with his short film K-Hole.
“We were talking about how everything nowadays is not clearly black and white. We also talked about how people have baggages that they carry all their lives. And I had always wanted to do a heist movie.”
Unfortunately, tragedy struck and Yeo passed away due to an illness in 2015.
“For awhile it was difficult to go on. But we both wanted to see this through and Ivan would have wanted it that way.”
Zahir had to pick up the pieces and eventually the script was finally crafted with the help of Frederick Bailey and award-winning director Dain Said.
The laborious process of finding funding for the project also paid off when Zahir managed to get RM900,000 from the National Film Development Corporation (Finas).
FUTURE TENSE
Although Fly By Night’s script was written in English, 70 per cent of the dialogue is in Mandarin with the rest in Malay, English and Cantonese.
Apparently, four months were spent to meticulously translate the script in order to preserve and convey all the specific details in the
lines.
Adding to the process of getting things down to a tee was a two-month workshop conducted with the actors that included a script breakdown and an acting coach.
“The language barrier wasn’t a big thing. I knew what they were saying because I wrote the script. I knew the meanings and the emotions. All we needed to do was to make sure we were all on the same page.”
Zahir’s passion for quirky and emotional storytelling is reflected well in the film, with its mix of languages an uncommon oddity but a most welcomed one for a Malaysian production.
The crux of Fly By Night is in the various goings-on of four small time crooks made up of elder brother Tai Lo (played by Sunny Pang) and younger sibling Sai Lo (Fabian Loo), together with their friends Gwai Lo (Jack Tan) and the stoic ex-inmate Ah Soon (Eric Chen).
They use their day jobs as taxi drivers to blackmail their wealthy passengers and things go well for the time being. The calm is nothing but a prelude to a thrashing storm as things take a turn for the worst when the hot-headed youngster Sai Lo, who thinks he has everything figured out, decides to handle things on his own on the side.
He recruits his best friend Gwai Lo to orchestrate their own plan but things just go downhill from there with their troubles multiplying quickly from all sides.
On one hand, they end up owing money to a flamboyant but vicious mobster named Jared (Frederic Lee). On the other, they unwittingly attract the attention of Inspector Kamal (Bront Palarae), a hard-nosed cop who will stop at nothing and use any method necessary to bring the bad guy down.
COMMUNAL EXPERIENCE
Although the film showcases lots of scenes that involve the police, and corrupt officers at that, Zahir says that the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) were in actuality really helpful.
“When we showed them the film, they did not prohibit anything. Instead, they were very accommodating and made several suggestions with which we were completely fine. In fact, they liked the film!”
The dramatic crime thriller showcases Zahir’s interest in exploring the grey areas of life. “In the end, who’s good and who’s bad doesn’t really matter anymore. Everyone’s the same when pushed into a corner to fight for their survival.”
Citing Hong Kong and South Korean movies as his influence and Quentin Tarantino as his favourite filmmaker, the director adds that he wanted his first feature film to be accessible.
“I want people to go see it and to connect with it. This is the whole point of why I want to make movies. It’s not just me presenting my point of view on things.”
“Cinema for me, is the super-highway that connects all of us. It’s communal. Everyone can find release or escape. In fact, they can find whatever they want in the cinema.”
Catch Fly By Night