Religious Studies students everywhere should watch this film: Film Review

NOTE: Some people might not see the point in me (or of course anyone) reviewing a film from 2016 or just anything "non-recent". If you're going to tell me that, don't bother. I believe in introducing people to films they may have over-looked or never considered watching just because of genre, language, topic etc. since I have been surprised by many a film myself that I never thought I would genuinely enjoy. This is one of them. So no, year of release doesn't matter to me. Enjoy!

If you're like me and did GSCE Religious Studies (or Religious Education if some schools still call it that) in the UK, you might remember doing a topic on punishment and retribution. As part of that topic, you have lots of debates about the infamous death penalty - Is it moral? Is it justified? Was it ever either of these things? It's a very tricky topic and rather complex as part of the subject is always to play devil's advocate and no matter what you personally believe in, you often also have to look at the other sides of the argument. And this exactly why I would recommend this film for you. For the future philosophers and re-makers of modern justice, I think this film could be a very engaging and important watch for you and I would highly, highly recommend it.

Apprentice (2016)- directed by Boo Junfeng, a Singapore director and writer best known for this film and also Sandcastle (2010) - is the story about a prision security guard who strikes up a friendship with the Cheif Excutioner at a fictional top Malay prison and by coincidence, ends up taking over as the executioner's assistant and apprentice (roll credits, as CinemaSins would say!). Taking the job forces Aiman (our protagonist) to question his idea of compassion, morality and his guilty conscience from his father's past as he comes face to face with the execution room.

I was so surprised at how engaged I was with this film.

This is mainly because I, in straightforward terms, am a wuss. I hate gore, strong violence, overt horror, murder (with the exception of murder mysteries and films in which my suspension of disbelief is high), heavy/gritty crime and just all that stuff that keeps me away from the horror films in today's cinema. So, naturally, you couldn't imagine me being a fan of a film about the death penalty in a high security prison. But that is exactly one of the reason's why I actually engaged with this film so much.

Despite featuring two death row executions, this film doesn't aim to shock you. It doesn't want to show you a horrific death in long, dragged out stylistic scenes played for emotional impact. Instead death in this film is quick, clean and simple, because the question this film wants you try to answer is "is this humane"? Generally, from documentaries I've seen based on prison life and convicts, they try to sell to you the "real side of prison". They want you to be aghast at what goes down inside prison walls, perhaps hoping it will act as a deterrent for young offenders. Of course, this is coming from a country which no longer has the death penalty as a legal punishment and therefore may be seeking other ways of putting people off committing crime, but I don't want to get into the actual political debate on this page. My point is that by not trying to shock me, disgust me, or make me sick, I had more engagement with the moral and ethical philosophies the film wants me to think about. When watching the chief executioner pray over the convict and tie the noose around his neck, I'm not itching to turn away from the screen - instead, I'm contemplating the moral standpoints of these characters and whether their actions are indeed speaking louder than their words.

And on the note of the characters, that brings me to my second praise of this film: it's complex characters. I can not tell you for certain if I liked any of the characters for definite, because each one was so morally grey and had different viewpoints on the central ideas that it was impossible to pin them down. It was realistic. People aren't black and white and when you're telling a story about such a debated topic, it is essential to include as many ethical viewpoints on that topic as possible as to not sway your audience (if that is indeed your intention, of course). I massively appreciated how the film didn't try to sway me on how punishment should be carried out: it aims to educate, not dominate. The character complexity adds to this non-bias: we have the executioner who believes he is being compassionate to the criminals when he lies to them about their final moments, when he has prayers read aloud and tells them they are going onto a better place. He believe his practice is humane in his country and what he is doing is the right way to do it, even if it disgusts other people. Our torn protagonists however does not see compassion: only lies. Aimin's sister on the other hand hates the idea of working in a prison altogether: the job disgusts her and she wishes her brother didn't associate with it. Especially when that is the man who executed their father. Having all these opposing ideals and three-dimensional characters who have real reactions to sanctioned death and struggle with their moral compass in front of the audience helps makes the story an even playing field for audience ideology - especially for Religious Studies students who need to contemplate every argument. All this complexity is why I personally believe that this film is a very important film for displaying complex topics and, in a word, educational.

If there was one thing that struck me the most with this film in terms of narrative devices, it was the uncomfortable foreshadowing. And this wasn't something that only I noticed as I had the pleasure of watching this film as part of a study group and a fellow friend and classmate of mine also picked up on the obvious motifs and sense of oncoming importance, heightening his sense of dread and intrigue for the end of the film too. Throughout the film you might pick up on just how much attention is played to small details: pliers, tools and 3/4 inch rope. For me it was like watching a Macbeth and he was meeting the three witches who was foretelling his rise to the top... but at what cost? And when Duncan falls, who is taking his place? A worthy replacement or a brutal tyrant.

The film is symbolic and stylistic but still smooth. A good film will have scenes that will stick out to you for their sheer construction (and hopefully not because they horrified you so much that it haunts your nightmares, which is personally the kind of sticking that I hate) and I can confidently say this movie did that for me. The sudden turn in tone when Aimin violently beats apart the cabinet decorated with childhood stickers the night before his first execution is an excellent example of all of this. Not only are we greeted with impactful sound and lighting, we see our protagonist seemingly make his final decision: destroy his weak-willed childhood self once and for all and turn into the hard-edged man that it takes to (maybe) pull the trapdoor lever.

The cinematography in this film is excellent: close-up shots and composition work together wonderfully to put you right in the head of Aimin (quite literally sometimes, such as taking you inside the convicts sack with his heavy, close and personal breathing) as he tries to face his morality head on. Lighting continues to be excellent - the funeral of the twins father comes to mind immediately: a scene that actually pricked my eyes for tears even though I had no real emotional connection with the actual characters as such, but I believe that Junfeng wanted to put the feelings of the convicted family into the audiences head at this point, once again hitting you head on with the inbred human morality of this political debate. Junfeng can honestly make a beautiful film; a strange approach I feel for a film about death row. For me, this film ticks all the boxes for style and symbolism and I do hope this director comes back more in the future.

My only critique that I would ponder on is that of context. My praise comes from a place of ignorance in terms of the Singapore justice system and my appreciation for how this film tackles the subject could be seen as gullible. After all, how do I not know that this whole film is an ethical lie? How do I know if this is really the level of respect shown to the drug dealers and murderers of death row? Because if it isn't, than am I really just praising propaganda? So, I'm curious - if you're someone who has done your research or had experience in justice, I encourage you to watch this film and let me know if this is an accurate representation of the Malaysian punishment system. While this film is more ethical than political and doesn't give you much on that side of things, I think it is still something to be aware of when viewing serious films.

This film also isn't an advocate for feminist films either, if you like to always contemplate that sort of thing (which I now find myself doing automatically now as a film student). From the top of my head, I don't think this film passes the Bechdel test as I believe the only "main" female character is Aiman's sister, (whose name I'm afraid escapes me because Aiman's was the only name I could hold on to unfortunately. That's my fault though) who while still playing a key role, she isn't a focus and exists to feed the male protagonists character arc.

So I once again what to convince you don't have to be a law student or have a love for gritty drama (for trust me, I am neither) in order to engage with this film. I think if you're someone who truly likes to broaden their horizons, explore new perspectives and engage with ideologies (which is something beneficial that I think everyone should aim to do), I highly recommend giving this film a go.

If you've already seen it, feel free to leave a comment saying what you thought about it to! If you wanna start a discussion or ask a question (to me or anyone else), go ahead - you're all more than welcome!

Thank you for reading and enjoy widening your horizons cheesecakes - it's a wonderful practice to do!

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Written: April 2020