Bunohan | |
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"Bunohan" poster featuring Zahiril Adzim, Faizal Hussein & Pekin Ibrahim
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Directed by | Dain Iskandar Said |
Produced by | Nandita Solomon |
Written by | Dain Iskandar Said |
Starring |
Faizal Hussein Zahiril Adzim Pekin Ibrahim Bront Palarae Nam Ron Soffi Jikan |
Music by | Tan Yan Wei |
Cinematography | Jarin Pengpanich |
Edited by | HK Panca |
Production
company |
Apparat Sdn. Bhd.
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Distributed by | Universal Pictures, Oscilloscope |
Release date
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Running time
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97 minutes |
Country | Malaysia |
Language |
Malay Kelantan Malay |
Box office | RM 780,000 |
Bunohan (also under the international title of Bunohan: Return to Murder) is a Malaysian drama thriller film, written and directed by Dain Iskandar Said and released in Malaysia on 8 March 2012. The film features actors Faizal Hussein, Zahiril Adzim and Pekin Ibrahim in leading roles. Bunohan is the second film to be directed by Dain Said. Bunohan had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival 2011 where it was praised for its solid, visceral storytelling and arresting photography.
The film was selected as Malaysia's official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film nomination for the 85th Academy Awards in February 2013, but it did not make the final shortlist. This is the second film to be submitted to the Academy Award since Puteri Gunung Ledang in 2004.
Bunohan received thirteen nominations for the 25th Malaysian Film Festival and won eight awards, including the five major categories: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Story, Best Screenplay and Best Actor/Actress, the first time since 2003's KL Menjerit while being the second most awarded film on the Malaysian Film Festival all-the-time after Layar Lara. The film also earned four Anugerah Skrin nominations, winning the categories for Best Picture and Best Screenplay, while being nominated for Best Director (Dain Said) and the Best Actor (Faizal Hussien).
They sent an entry to be nominated in the Oscar Foreign-Language Awards.
The film primarily takes place in the rural Malaysian town of Bunohan, which is located close to the Thai border. Adil (Zahiril Adzim) is a young kick-boxer who has fallen deeply into debt, with little hope of paying his creditors honestly. In desperation, Adil agrees to an illegal high-stakes death match at a boxing club on the other side of the border, but in the midst of the fight, with Adil losing badly, his best friend Muski (Amerul Affendi) bursts into the ring and breaks up the match, dragging Adil away. This upsets the promoters of the fight, and Adil and Muski return to Bunohan, where Adil was born and raised. The promoter of the fight sends a hired killer, llham (Faizel Hussein), to find and execute Adil.
Ilham reluctantly goes to Bunohan. It is then revealed that he was born and raised in Bunohan, but left many years ago. Upon returning, memories of loneliness and abandonment flood his mind, and he experiences waves of resentment and regret. As Ilham narrows his focus on his target, he learns that he and the fugitive boxer are actually half-brothers. He then finds his mother's grave in a piece of land near the beach and starts digging for her remains to give her a proper burial. However, he later finds out that his estranged family is planning to sell the land to a large corporation from the city for a huge amount of money. He goes all out to prevent this from happening.