Melaka

The writer-director Muhlis Gursoy through his beautiful creation pays tribute to his motherland as well as his natural parent. The projects like Melaka and Istanbul allowed him to follow his passion and caught the attention of the surroundings.

The plot of the movie revolves around a cinematic short film that takes one through the beauty of the city of Melaka Malaysia.

Melaka opens with a black screen and an alarm vibrating while it continues to snooze off getting the audience ready to build an emotional connection with the content and gradually falling in love with the beauty of Melaka Malaysia from the very beginning of the screenplay. The transitions and continuity between the various shots are maintained to add realism and relatability to the subject matter and keep the viewers interested for the entire running time of the film. A series of long shots to showcase even the minute details of Gursoy’s travel experiences in this particular trip A series of mid-shots and close-up shots are used to capture the cultural references of Melaka to increase the degree of audience engagement with the movie. The set design, colour pallet, camera angles, locations, lighting, sound, dialogues, costume, hair, makeup, and props complement the subject matter as well as the mood of Melaka.

In terms of performance, Muhlis Gursoy plays multiple roles like director, cinematographer, editor, and producer in making of this beautiful ode to express praise, glorification of the land that has seen one’s childhood and helped in becoming what one has always dreamed of and also to the mother who has given birth to their offspring to be able to do so. Gursoy brilliantly balances between technicalities of filmmaking and the much-required emotional depth to keep the audience engaged especially in case of such a short running time of the film.

Nurhaiza Gursoy (Mother of Muhlis Gursoy) who becomes his biggest cheerleader as well as the inspiration behind kickstarting Melaka and discovering the love and passion relating to photography and videography.

Melaka talks about staying true to one’s roots and appreciating the same every chance they get. The short film reiterates the importance of loving and supportive parents that can assist the child to achieve both short-term and long-term goals in life even with the regular struggles that everyone faces. The dramatic piece tells its audience about the significance of various experiences in life and the joy of capturing them with the help of the camera. The cinematic piece teaches us how essential it is to learn the art of giving back in the form of tribute for the unconditional love nature provides us with to blossom daily. The creative piece restates the power of expressing what one feels towards the place they belong to or their loved ones because there is no right time as such to plan these things and we as people should listen to our hearts/instincts.

To Conclude, I would like to thank the makers for reintroducing major life lessons the viewers needed to revisit and its subtle treatment to make it close to real-life situations.