Hanyut

HANYUT is a riveting story about madness. In the 1800s, Kaspar Almayer (Peter O’Brien) is a Dutch trader who supplies weapons and gunpowder to whoever has enough money to pay. He has married a local woman (Mem, played by Sofia Jane), eats the local cuisine, and lives in a kampung house with a pet monkey, but Kaspar hates his life in Malaya.

He longs to leave for his motherland where (so he has heard from stories) the weather is better and life is more “cultured”. He sends his daughter Nina (Diana Danielle) away to be educated by nuns in Singapore while he works on a grand plan to find gold in the mountains.

Once he finds it, he plans to take Nina and set sail for the Netherlands. His lifelong dream, however, is simply based on stories that he’s heard. It becomes clear that Kaspar doesn’t really know life in any other land when his wife cynically reminds him that he was born in Singapore.

Director U-Wei Saari weaves multiple stories on various characters around Kaspar’s quest for gold. In one corner, we have Raja Ibrahim (El Manik) and his advisor Orang Kaya Tinggi (Khalid Salleh, stealing the show) scheming to get their hands on Kaspar’s treasures.

Their plan includes eliminating Dain Maroola (Adi Putra), a charming trader who Kaspar believes can lead him to navigate the treacherous jungle to the fabled mountain of gold.

However, Dain has his eye on Nina and when the two fall in love, they plot an escape. Mem – who doesn’t want to see Nina consumed by Kaspar’s madness – believes that her daughter is better off with Dain.

The different schemes brewing underneath the surface of Kaspar’s dream make Hanyut an intriguing watch. The languid pace builds up to an emotional final act but at times, Hanyut feels like it’s all over the place as there are too many characters with many stories to tell. It may be difficult to keep track of each development.

Do consider the off-screen narrative where U-Wei spent more than 10 years making Hanyut. Compelled by the desire to fulfil his late wife’s request to see him make this film (based on Joseph Conrad’s Almayer’s Folly), working on an RM18mil budget with the local audience in mind ... now that is madness.

Or a labour of love. Whichever you prefer. –