Passion, emotion and identity aplenty as Ola Bola hits the target

The chemistry between the lead characters comes through effortlessly, including captain Chow Kwok Keong (played by JC Chee) on the extreme right, and goalie Muthu (Saran Kumar Manokaran) who is being carried. – Pic courtesy of Woohoo Productions, January 28, 2016.​For someone who has been around for half a century, it is easy to get caught up in the memories of that great match from 1980, when Malaysia defeated South Korea with a gritty performance on a wet pitch at the Stadium Merdeka, to qualify for the Olympic Games that was to be held in Moscow later that year.

It is one of two distinct football memories I have from that decade. The other being Arsenal’s dramatic “last gasp” victory, beating Liverpool at Anfield in the last minute of the last game of the season on May 26, 1989, to literally snatch the 1988-89 First Division (then the top tier in England) title from the defending champion’s hands.

Fortunately, both matches were telecast live on TV and together with my family, I sat glued to the TV for slightly over 90 minutes, watching the dramatic events unfold. And with Ola Bola, I now have watched two movies inspired, respectively, by these two special football moments in my life. The other movie, based on a fan’s perspective of that 1989 Arsenal triumph, is called Fever Pitch.

Both movies embody what makes any sport great – passion, emotion and identity.

As much as I would like to take a trip down memory lane, reminiscing how I felt watching the ball being smashed in by Sabahan James Wong, for the winning goal on that fateful night on April 6, 1980, I am more inclined to share about the joy of watching this movie simply for its pure entertainment value, while keeping those three values I mentioned above intact.

The trailer for Ola Bola has been playing for about a month now, and already, the images, the scenes, the players in the national shirt started to make me feel the emotion of being a football fan. The movie just confirmed it. Yes, to me, the joy of victory is worth shedding a tear or two... or more.

Captain and 'tauke' Chow Kwok Keong's family are glued to the TV to watch the final match against South Korea. – Pic courtesy of Woohoo productions, January 28, 2016.The movie has a simple premise – a TV producer needs to make a documentary about that famous team, then goes to Sabah to get the story from a retired national hero. That hero relating that story and interspersing it with the complexity of living an ordinary life while pursuing a passion, is what makes this movie magical to me.

The football is ever present, but it is the lives that are transformed with the movie keeping the identity of that which we all can relate to as Harimau Malaya fans, is what moves the heart to rally for the heroes like we did 36 years ago.

And in that way, even those who had not been born yet at the time, or people who just don’t follow football will enjoy watching the movie for its lessons on family and friendship.

Ola Bola also takes us back to a different time when Malaysian football was amateur but the players were professional.

It is hard to question the filmmaking style of the director, Chiu Keng Guan. He has had success by keeping things simple, yet captivating.

And even as much as some scenes can seem cliched, but I think the movie progresses at a pace that doesn’t allow for us to dwell too much on such moments.

It captivated my attention throughout, and despite me knowing the “ending”, it was the characters and their relationships that ultimately makes the movie a winner. The tale of the glory days of local football that many Malaysians can recall or would like to relate to, is just a bonus.

This may not be the best movie of the year, but regardless of what else I watch for the rest of this year, be it winners at the Oscars or Cannes, to me Ola Bola will still be the best movie I watched all year. 

Ola Bola opens nationwide today in all major cinemas. – January 27, 2016.A good scene in the movie bringing the TV producer Marianne (centre, played by Marianne Tan) with the older version of the national legend Eric (Johnnie Lee), into the stadium as if they are witnessing him recalling the heroics of the national team live instead of just showing the latter relating the story in his living room. – Pic courtesy of Woohoo productions, January 28, 2016.