In May 1957 the 4th Asian Film Festival convened at Hibiya Hall in Tokyo. The regional industry was dominated by well-funded juggernauts: Daiei and Toho from Japan, Shaw Brothers and MP&GI from Hong Kong, LVN Pictures from the Philippines. Almost nobody was paying attention to the small Malayan delegation from Jalan Ampas.
Then the envelope for Best Male Lead was opened, and the name inside belonged to a twenty-eight-year-old from Penang.
He won for Anak-ku Sazali, and specifically for the transformation between the gentle, flute-playing Hassan and the sneering gangster Sazali. Tony Castello, the Filipino child prodigy who played Sazali as a boy, took Best Child Actor at the same festival. It told international critics something they had not considered: that Malayan cinema was not a provincial curiosity but a body of work capable of matching the psychological depth of post-war world cinema.
The wave he was riding
Tokyo 1957 was not a fluke. It was the crest of a run.
It had begun the year before at the 3rd Asian Film Festival, held in Hong Kong, where he took Best Musical Score for Hang Tuah. By integrating gamelan gongs and bamboo flutes with full Western orchestral strings he demonstrated an auditory sophistication the jurors had not expected from the region. That same film then broke a European barrier: selected in official competition at the 7th Berlin International Film Festival in 1957, the first Malayan film ever screened at a top-tier European festival.
At home the recognition had already arrived. At the 1955/56 Utusan Film and Sports awards, his directorial debut Penarek Becha swept five categories — Best Malay Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress for Saadiah, and Best Song.
The comedy years
Then he turned the Asian Film Festival into a personal showcase, and proved his comic intelligence travelled just as far as his dramatic weight.
At that same Manila festival in 1958, A. Bakar Ali took Best Black-and-White Cinematography for Sumpah Orang Minyak, beating every seasoned foreign cinematographer in the region including his own mentors at the studio. Pendekar Bujang Lapok took Best Comedy at the 6th festival in Manila, where international audiences watched him turn martial-arts folklore and phonetic literacy drills into sophisticated satire. Nujum Pak Belalang took Best Comedy at Tokyo in 1960. Ali Baba Bujang Lapok took it at Manila in 1961. Madu Tiga took it at Taipei in 1964.
The category that did not exist
The summit came at the 10th Asian Film Festival in Tokyo in 1963, for Ibu Mertua-ku.
The jury faced a problem of classification. Here was a film whose screenplay, musical score, direction and tragic lead performance had all been produced by the same person. Best Director did not cover it. Neither did Best Actor, or Best Music. So they invented a citation: the Special Award for Most Versatile Talent, created for him and awarded to nobody else in the festival's history.
He was not the only man from Jalan Ampas on the list that night. The same jury gave Best Black-and-White Cinematography to A. Bakar Ali for the same film — his second such award, after Manila in 1958. The two had arrived at the studio months apart in 1947 and 1948, both hired as labourers. Shaw Brothers never sent either of them to a festival; in Manila, Saloma collected Bakar’s trophy, and in Tokyo, Ramlee did.
And then the long silence
The honours from his own country came after he was buried. The house on Caunter Hall Road was restored by Arkib Negara Malaysia and the street renamed Jalan P. Ramlee in 1983. The Panglima Setia Mahkota, carrying the title Tan Sri, was conferred posthumously in 1990 — seventeen years after his death. The title Seniman Agung attached itself to his name and never came off.
Between the trophy in Tokyo in 1963 and the state honour in 1990 lie the years in Hulu Kelang, the collapse of PERFIMA, the court summonses, and a funeral at Jalan Ampang. The awards are real and they are worth recording. So is the interval.
PERFIMA, 1970PERFIMA, 1970
Perusahaan Filem Malaysia was founded in 1970 — with Dato’ H. M. Shah as managing director, not H. M. Rohaizad, as some accounts have it. The board brought P. Ramlee together with Jamil Sulong and S. Kadarisman.Perusahaan Filem Malaysia ditubuhkan pada 1970 — dengan Dato’ H. M. Shah sebagai pengarah urusan, bukan H. M. Rohaizad seperti yang disebut sesetengah catatan. Lembaganya menghimpunkan P. Ramlee bersama Jamil Sulong dan S. Kadarisman.
The problem it existed to solve was distribution, not production. Shaw and Cathay controlled over ninety per cent of screens across Malaysia and Singapore, and gave their own releases and foreign imports the profitable slots. So PERFIMA began as an importer and distributor rather than a studio, to raise capital and prove the demand. It worked: in 1973 the Indonesian melodrama Ratapan Anak Tiri became a peninsula-wide sensation and outgrossed studio imports. The circuits answered by pushing its releases into morning and late-night slots and raising hall rentals.Masalah yang cuba diselesaikannya ialah pengedaran, bukan penerbitan. Shaw dan Cathay menguasai lebih sembilan puluh peratus panggung di Malaysia dan Singapura, lalu memberikan slot yang menguntungkan kepada terbitan sendiri dan filem import. Justeru PERFIMA bermula sebagai pengimport dan pengedar, bukan studio, untuk mengumpul modal dan membuktikan permintaan. Ia berhasil: pada 1973 melodrama Indonesia Ratapan Anak Tiri menjadi sensasi seluruh semenanjung dan mengatasi kutipan filem import studio. Litar panggung membalas dengan menolak terbitannya ke slot pagi dan lewat malam serta menaikkan sewa dewan.
He resigned in early 1973 and died on 29 May. PERFIMA outlived him, and its lobbying outlived it. The memoranda its founders sent to the federal government on screen quotas and foreign dumping fed directly into the policy work that produced FINAS by statute in 1981 — on the Hulu Kelang site where Merdeka Studio had stood.Beliau meletak jawatan pada awal 1973 dan meninggal dunia pada 29 Mei. PERFIMA hidup lebih lama daripadanya, dan lobinya hidup lebih lama daripada PERFIMA. Memorandum yang dihantar para pengasasnya kepada kerajaan persekutuan tentang kuota tayangan dan lambakan filem asing menyumbang terus kepada kerja dasar yang melahirkan FINAS menerusi statut pada 1981 — di tapak Hulu Kelang tempat Studio Merdeka pernah berdiri.
Pada Mei 1957, Festival Filem Asia ke-4 berlangsung di Dewan Hibiya di Tokyo. Industri serantau ketika itu dikuasai gergasi bermodal besar: Daiei dan Toho dari Jepun, Shaw Brothers dan MP&GI dari Hong Kong, LVN Pictures dari Filipina. Hampir tiada siapa memberi perhatian kepada delegasi kecil Tanah Melayu dari Jalan Ampas.
Kemudian sampul Pelakon Lelaki Terbaik dibuka, dan nama di dalamnya milik seorang anak muda dua puluh lapan tahun dari Pulau Pinang.
Beliau menang menerusi Anak-ku Sazali, khususnya kerana peralihan antara Hassan yang lembut meniup seruling dan Sazali si samseng yang bongkak. Tony Castello, anak ajaib Filipina yang melakonkan Sazali sewaktu kecil, merangkul Pelakon Kanak-kanak Terbaik di festival yang sama. Ia memberitahu pengkritik antarabangsa sesuatu yang tidak pernah mereka pertimbangkan: bahawa sinema Malaya bukan keanehan pinggiran, tetapi sebuah khazanah yang mampu menandingi kedalaman psikologi sinema dunia pascaperang.
Gelombang yang ditungganginya
Tokyo 1957 bukan satu kebetulan. Ia puncak sebuah rentetan.
Ia bermula setahun sebelumnya di Festival Filem Asia ke-3, yang berlangsung di Hong Kong, tempat beliau merangkul Skor Muzik Terbaik untuk Hang Tuah. Dengan menyatukan gong gamelan dan seruling buluh bersama gesekan tali orkestra Barat sepenuhnya, beliau memperagakan kehalusan audio yang tidak dijangka para juri daripada rantau ini. Filem yang sama kemudian menembusi benteng Eropah: dipilih bertanding secara rasmi di Festival Filem Antarabangsa Berlin ke-7 pada 1957, filem Malaya pertama yang pernah ditayangkan di festival barisan hadapan Eropah.
Di tanah air, pengiktirafan itu sudah pun tiba. Di Anugerah Utusan Filem dan Sukan 1955/56, debut arahannya Penarek Becha menyapu bersih lima kategori — Filem Melayu Terbaik, Pengarah Terbaik, Pelakon Terbaik, Pelakon Wanita Terbaik untuk Saadiah, dan Lagu Terbaik.
Tahun-tahun komedi
Kemudian beliau menukarkan Festival Filem Asia menjadi pentas peribadinya, lalu membuktikan bahawa kecerdasan komedinya menjelajah sejauh bobot dramatiknya.
Pada festival Manila 1958 yang sama, A. Bakar Ali merangkul Sinematografi Hitam Putih Terbaik menerusi Sumpah Orang Minyak, menewaskan setiap jurugambar asing berpengalaman di rantau ini termasuk mentornya sendiri di studio. Pendekar Bujang Lapok merangkul Komedi Terbaik di festival ke-6 di Manila, tempat khalayak antarabangsa menyaksikan beliau menukarkan cerita rakyat persilatan dan latihan mengeja huruf menjadi satira yang sofistikated. Nujum Pak Belalang merangkul Komedi Terbaik di Tokyo pada 1960. Ali Baba Bujang Lapok di Manila pada 1961. Madu Tiga di Taipei pada 1964.
Kategori yang tidak wujud
Kemuncaknya tiba di Festival Filem Asia ke-10 di Tokyo pada 1963, menerusi Ibu Mertua-ku.
Barisan juri berdepan masalah pengkategorian. Inilah sebuah filem yang lakon layarnya, skor muziknya, arahannya, dan lakonan watak tragis utamanya kesemuanya dihasilkan oleh insan yang sama. Pengarah Terbaik tidak memuatkannya. Pelakon Terbaik juga tidak, mahupun Muzik Terbaik. Maka mereka mencipta satu pengiktirafan: Anugerah Khas Bakat Paling Pelbagai, dicipta untuknya dan tidak pernah dianugerahkan kepada sesiapa lagi dalam sejarah festival itu.
Beliau bukan satu-satunya anak Jalan Ampas dalam senarai malam itu. Juri yang sama menganugerahkan Sinematografi Hitam Putih Terbaik kepada A. Bakar Ali bagi filem yang sama — anugerah kedua seumpamanya, selepas Manila pada 1958. Kedua-duanya tiba di studio itu berselang beberapa bulan pada 1947 dan 1948, dan kedua-duanya diambil bekerja sebagai buruh. Shaw Brothers tidak pernah menghantar seorang pun antara mereka ke mana-mana festival; di Manila, Saloma yang mengutip trofi Bakar, dan di Tokyo, Ramlee yang mengutipnya.
Kemudian kesenyapan yang panjang
Penghormatan daripada negaranya sendiri tiba selepas beliau disemadikan. Rumah di Caunter Hall Road dipulihara Arkib Negara Malaysia dan jalannya dinamakan Jalan P. Ramlee pada 1983. Panglima Setia Mahkota, yang membawa gelaran Tan Sri, dianugerahkan selepas kematiannya pada 1990 — tujuh belas tahun selepas pemergiannya. Gelaran Seniman Agung melekat pada namanya dan tidak pernah tanggal.
Antara trofi di Tokyo pada 1963 dan penghormatan negara pada 1990 terbentang tahun-tahun di Hulu Kelang, keruntuhan PERFIMA, saman mahkamah, dan sebuah pengebumian di Jalan Ampang. Anugerah itu nyata dan wajar dirakam. Begitu juga jarak masa antaranya.
PERFIMA, 1970PERFIMA, 1970
Perusahaan Filem Malaysia was founded in 1970 — with Dato’ H. M. Shah as managing director, not H. M. Rohaizad, as some accounts have it. The board brought P. Ramlee together with Jamil Sulong and S. Kadarisman.Perusahaan Filem Malaysia ditubuhkan pada 1970 — dengan Dato’ H. M. Shah sebagai pengarah urusan, bukan H. M. Rohaizad seperti yang disebut sesetengah catatan. Lembaganya menghimpunkan P. Ramlee bersama Jamil Sulong dan S. Kadarisman.
The problem it existed to solve was distribution, not production. Shaw and Cathay controlled over ninety per cent of screens across Malaysia and Singapore, and gave their own releases and foreign imports the profitable slots. So PERFIMA began as an importer and distributor rather than a studio, to raise capital and prove the demand. It worked: in 1973 the Indonesian melodrama Ratapan Anak Tiri became a peninsula-wide sensation and outgrossed studio imports. The circuits answered by pushing its releases into morning and late-night slots and raising hall rentals.Masalah yang cuba diselesaikannya ialah pengedaran, bukan penerbitan. Shaw dan Cathay menguasai lebih sembilan puluh peratus panggung di Malaysia dan Singapura, lalu memberikan slot yang menguntungkan kepada terbitan sendiri dan filem import. Justeru PERFIMA bermula sebagai pengimport dan pengedar, bukan studio, untuk mengumpul modal dan membuktikan permintaan. Ia berhasil: pada 1973 melodrama Indonesia Ratapan Anak Tiri menjadi sensasi seluruh semenanjung dan mengatasi kutipan filem import studio. Litar panggung membalas dengan menolak terbitannya ke slot pagi dan lewat malam serta menaikkan sewa dewan.
He resigned in early 1973 and died on 29 May. PERFIMA outlived him, and its lobbying outlived it. The memoranda its founders sent to the federal government on screen quotas and foreign dumping fed directly into the policy work that produced FINAS by statute in 1981 — on the Hulu Kelang site where Merdeka Studio had stood.Beliau meletak jawatan pada awal 1973 dan meninggal dunia pada 29 Mei. PERFIMA hidup lebih lama daripadanya, dan lobinya hidup lebih lama daripada PERFIMA. Memorandum yang dihantar para pengasasnya kepada kerajaan persekutuan tentang kuota tayangan dan lambakan filem asing menyumbang terus kepada kerja dasar yang melahirkan FINAS menerusi statut pada 1981 — di tapak Hulu Kelang tempat Studio Merdeka pernah berdiri.