Ombak Rindu

Anybody who does not mention the word RAPE when reviewing or talking about Ombak Rindu is either a) a chauvinistic man who subconsciously does not think that RAPE is a crime b)is an oxymoron c) didn't see the movie and is just lying his way through.

Ombak Rindu is a story of a spineless woman tricked and sold off to a whore-house, gang raped, passed on to a regular client who rapes her again to whom she pleads not to leave her. She becomes his personal whore because she gets to live in a nice villa overlooking the sea. She is most disturbed only when the 'hero' and rapist gets a second wife. In Malaysia this is a box-office movie and people actually think nothing of the continuous RAPES but instead see it as heartbreakingly romantic. In essence it is a cinematic attempt to rehabilitate a rapist into a hero and in Malaysia, unfortunately it works. But that MUST NOT be permitted to be the case anywhere else in the world because it is a blatant glorification of RAPE, subjugation of women and all things Taliban. Horrifyingly, it was adapted from a book that to date has been reprinted 29 times due to the popularity of the film, written by a woman.

It is also an attack on Islam because it portrays the imbecile victim, Izzah as a religious teacher of the Quran but one who does not even attempt to defend her dignity and flee as a real Muslim woman would have done. Instead, Izzah sits demurely waiting for her RAPIST pimp and would-be-polygamous husband at a bus-stop in broad daylight to come pick her up in his posh car after the first rape encounter to take her home and be his whore. She submits to zina (illegitimate sex) with not much resistance at all before he agrees to marry her.

The locations are lovely. The cinematography is acceptable. The acting is POOR. Maya Karin, who was once a good actress shows not much emotional depth in this film but her standard cliché expressions.

Bronte Parlare, an otherwise excellent actor is horribly amateurish especially in the opening scenes, which were terribly corny.

Directors' heads must always roll first when there is poor acting. Given that Bronte Parlare was so bad, it just indicates that the director was a complete and absolute failure. Further proof of his total lack of skills in this movie is the glaring continuity errors such as when Hariz, the RAPIST is drenched by rain but when he goes into the whore house, he has towelled off.

The biggest and absolute FAILURE of this movie is the screenplay, adapted by Mr. director extraordinaire. To portray a woman who has just been raped by a total stranger begging to follow him home is the most perverse form of Taliban literature and most audacious attempt in the world to justify RAPE - 'she asked for it'.

This could well be the most revolting movie in terms of CONTENT and MESSAGE on the planet and I am not kidding you!

If you think that this movie is good or you could say that it's romantic, it is not. This movie normalizes the relationships of a rapist. WHY??? Because he rapes her, relationships need consent but he did not ask her for consent at all, this is called rape. He touched her without consent and she ask him to stop touching her but he did not. This is so wrong how could you fall in love with your rapist. She kena rogolkot. And yes Aaron Aziz in the movie played Harris, he is so hot but what he did to Izzah is not forgiven at all.

It is now 2014, and my face is finally starting to un-cramp after the extreme second hand embarrassment and grimaces from watching this film when it was first spurted out into our unfortunate local film industry.

On the other hand, I forged strong friendships with near-strangers after the film, by being able to share our mutual horror at how this could have been produced at all. If you watch this with a stranger, you too could huddle after the show in post-traumatic stress.

This is the kind of film that (without any sense of irony) portrays rape as something a woman can/should suffer for the sake of her unrequited love. As in, someone comes, buys you as property (because I suppose the filmmakers think slave-trading is also acceptable), rapes you — and you are supposed to suffer in silence and await the day he falls in love with you.

Possibly the most worrying thing about this film is that it managed to be made at all — didn't anyone bring to the production team's attention how terrible the direction was heading? And with a finicky, almost creepy and ultra-sensitive censorship board, this film still got through — I am not for censorship, but it says a lot that I can't watch Daredevil in cinemas here because of the word "devil", but glorified slave-owning rape fantasy gets through with no issues whatsoever.

If you watched this film because a Malaysian recommended it to you as a good film, I sincerely apologise. Please smack that monster.

I would have to say that this film contains the common cliché that most Malay or Hindi films have. For that, the director is not to blame because this film is based on a novel. But the directors did a great job at choosing the right talent for the 2 main casts and that stops me from watching it half way.

Aaron Aziz & Maya Karin did a wonderful job playing their roles. Their convincing and realistic acting makes me forget that the plot is similar to most Hindi films. Unfortunately, the rest of the casts are such a contrast that it can become comedic when its not supposed to be so.

Another area I would like to compliment is the beautiful cinematography. The choice of scenic locations just adds on to enjoyment of this film. Unfortunately, the close-up cameras reminded me of the awful sinetron that my grandma loves to watch.

Sorry but I cannot stop commenting until I get to mention about the most irritating part. What the hell is wrong with the soundtrack? First of, it is too loud!! And secondly, why the hell does the soundtrack keeps repeating itself? Why keeps repeating the same loud song over and over again? Why Why Why??

This film is not without its flaws (and there are a lot of them especially the part where Izzah was about cry even before the news mentions her husband's name) but Aaron Aziz & Maya Karin performance is the reason why I am able to watch it the whole way through.

For a long time since 2011 I keep this movie in my pc, this movie is too popular at that time and I wonder why, I'm not so into drama/romance so its sure took a long time for me to watch this movie. So exactly in the evening of 14 December of 2013 I watch this movie, finally. First, this is not a comedy movie but I'm laughing a lot along this movie. Why? I'm trying to stop watching this movie in the first 10 minutes because I found it really cliché, like everyday TV drama in Malaysia. But then, I just discover something new, something movie. The story is so good and unpredictable, usually I can guess what will happen next in malaysian TV show but this one, I surrender. It got a lot of awesome twist that I never wonder. I'm laughing just because it feel awkward to see something different in malaysian cinema. Although my country got a lot of bad movie every year, this one is worth for you all check out too. Maybe this movie is not suit for international audience because of its culture theme but every malaysian very love this movie.