This fascinating Malaysian gangster filmis a crime film without crime. It is a compelling, detached and unflattering portrait of gangster life as morally hollow and yet the film indicates a world of possibilities and happiness just out of each character’s reach. It has all the traditions of the genre: friendship vs. honour, power vs. faith and ethics, and yet the film is unlike anything else I’ve seen. Every long scene, flat in composition, is amazing in its shabby authenticity and by staring at these shots, the characters’ rich lives become clearer and clearer through their silence. The end, and ironic reason for the title, is heartbreaking.
