Review: Sebuah Ijtihad

I wanted to blog this post last night but was too chicken to stay up by myself. I went to hide in my room instead and read a book. =)

There was a Malay movie on TV3 last night, ‘Sebuah Ijtihad’ starring Sofia Jane. I don’t usually watch modern Malay movies, only P. Ramlee ones. However, last night’s movie was interesting right from the beginning. Let me tell you all about it in case you haven’t watched.

Ida is a hardworking woman with a son and a good-for-nothing husband. (We only knew he was useless at the end of the show.) She sells beauty products and cosmetics. One night, before leaving for Johor, her house was swarmed with lots of policemen. I don’t know why but all of a sudden, she started rummaging and emptying her bag. Finally, she brought out a plastic packet full of white stuff in it. It’s supposed to be heroine and she had no idea how it got into her bag. Therefore, she was caught, charged, and thrown into jail.

In jail, she was forced to share a cell with 2 other women, Cat and Zek or Zack, I’m not sure of the second woman’s name. Initially, they were on very bad terms with one another. They fought, wrestled, and hated each other. The way Cat and Zack (I’ll use this spelling) behave with each other made me suspect that they are lesbians. But that’s not the point.

Anyway, one day, Ida was thrown into the isolation cell, caught a fever, and returned to her cell with the other two women. From then on, somehow they made an agreement not to mess with each other and became friends.

Zack is in jail because she hit her husband many, many times. He did not die but she wished that he had. If he’d died, she would be in prison for life.

Cat, on the other hand, managed to kill her husband. She said that he brought home 5 to 10 men each night to sleep with her. I’m not each night or only one night. She loved and cared for her husband immensely but he treated her like scum. She is jailed for life.

Luckily for Ida, a lady lawyer is willing to handle her case for free, pro bono style. She is determined to free Ida from the drug charges. There was 2kg worth of drugs in her bag and the mandatory punishment is death by hanging.

When all seemed to fail and everything looks bleak, something else happened. The lawyer noticed a change in Ida’s husband. He wore stylish clothes, had a new cell phone, and was driving with another woman in his new car. He told the lawyer that he’s working as a salesman and thus could afford to buy new things.

I think the lawyer arranged for some photographers to trail and take pictures of Ida’s husband. True enough, he was already going out with another woman. He took her shopping, spent a lot, and touched her a lot. The photographers took lots of pictures of them.

In the end, the husband and the woman were caught one night. The police opened the back of the van and opened up a brown box. There were drugs in it. He was then charged for drug possession.

Ida was set free and promised Cat that she would visit her every month, on Hari Raya and Hari Raya Haji. Zack was released earlier.

And we’ve come to the end of the story. =)