«Tiger Stripes: a new Malaysian label

Best Film in International Competition at the Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival (NIFF) and, incidentally, Grand Prix de la Critique, Amanda Nell Eu's debut feature is emblematic of the coming-of-age. Monstrously fresh.

Zaffan is twelve years old and lives in a rural community in Malaysia. Puberty turns her life upside down. The young girl realizes that her body is changing at an unnatural rate. Faced with Zaffran's new behavior, her friends move away. Now alone, she decides to accept her metamorphosis.

One of a kind

The compositional work emphasizes the individual character of the main protagonist's body and entire identity. The director acknowledges Tiger Stripes as a celebration of individuality. The group of friends is often depicted as a trinity, with each of them taking center stage as the story unfolds. The centered placement of the heroine, played by Zafreen Zairizal - who plays her leading role with impressive naturalness and energy - has two effects. First, the schoolgirl is presented as a brazen leader, surrounded by her friends; then, through this same centrality, she is singled out by her peers.

Moreover, physicality, so important to the plot, is never sexualized. The story is rooted in a feminine, rural and religious school environment. A context rarely adopted in coming-of-age, tales of youth at its most defining moments. Zaffran, like her peers, is veiled, and the changes associated with puberty are shown through her hands and face.

Incommunication, the common thread running through Tiger Stripes, This is reflected in the omnipresence of rumor and legend. This atmosphere sustains the lack of information among the girls and those around them. The adults, secondary characters, are deliberately stereotyped. Men, in particular: between Zaffran's passive father and the laughable Doctor Rahim, the director attacks head-on the male hegemony that ignorantly rules Zaffran's world.

Ancient history

These legends, which punctuate the daily life of the schoolgirl's village, are a tribute to fairy tales, a genre dear to the filmmaker's heart. Tiger Stripes, is a nostalgic work. Amanda Nell Eu brings many Southeast Asian traditions up to date. The film is also a tribute to old Malaysian horror films and embraces the folklore of the monster figure: Zaffran's transformation refers to the figure of the «Harimau jadian», a wolf-tiger popular in Indonesian tradition. Further references to Malaysian genre cinema, the special effects and make-up of Zaffran's paws and snout, with their cardboard-paste look, give the film a welcome kitsch effect.. The virtual absence of visual effects, the result of a budgetary constraint and a desire to honor the cinema of yesteryear, comes as a pleasant surprise.

Zaffran's metamorphosis show doesn't just use make-up. The set is also of great importance. The omnipresence of the luminous jungle reveals the bestiality and restlessness experienced by the transforming girl. The sound design oscillates between peaceful nature sounds and intense moments of electronic music. An explosive cocktail that contrasts with the tranquility of the forest, illustrating the internal tug-of-war between childhood and adolescence that drives Zaffran.

The originality of its story - a conservative community on the edge of the jungle - the apology of a bygone genre cinema and the freshness of the acting of the three performers, make it easy to understand the enthusiasm of the festivals where the film was screened. Unfortunately, the denouement is long in coming - a certain length is felt in the second half of the film - and the narrative remains relatively linear. The hysterical screams of the girls, frightened by their body changes, belie the film's claim to challenge patriarchy.

Write to the author: leila.favre@leregardlibre.com

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