Introduction

From the perspective of importance and significance, film studies, as a discipline, has to be considered as substantially important because it enables individuals to analyze a specific (and popular) genre of creative art, which is cinema. Film studies and related courses offer a foundation for understanding how cinema is somehow or other related to the society and to specific cultures, history, technology, philosophy, and aesthetics (University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2021). Film studies, as a discipline, also makes the students of the discipline capable of creating and analyzing moving images and conduct research to find out informative conclusions about the art of making movies that impact different aspects of the human life and are influenced by such aspects. It is to substantiate and justify the importance and significance of film studies as a discipline and as a way of exploring a particular genre of creative art, that the paper is going to discuss about the application of film studies on the Malaysian movie, Ola Bola, to ascertain how the different aspects of film studies like narrative analysis, descriptive content analysis, theoretical analysis, and structural analysis can relate a movie to a society and culture.

Film Studies on Ola Bola: The Contexts of Narrative Analysis, Descriptive Content Analysis, Theoretical Analysis and Structuralist Analysis.

In the context of film studies, the concept of narrative analysis deserves special mention. This is pivotally due to the fact that plot, characters, point of view, setting, theme, conflict, style, and cultural elements that often constitute a film are also essential aspects of the narrative analysis (Writing Center: Lewis University, 2021). Narrative analysis is a core part of film studies because narrative analysis is an in-depth examination and exploration of the story elements, which encompass the narrative structure along with characterization and plot progression (The Writing Center: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2021). The entirety of a movie is taken into consideration in a narrative analysis and that is why it is considered as an essential aspect of film studies. Narrative analysis, from the perspective of film studies is essential to understand the efficacy of a movie in terms of properly demonstrating any particular concept, theory, theme, or notion. In this respect, it has to be noted that narrative analysis is primarily important for understanding the meaning of the movie and to ascertain if there is any duality in the meanings projected and if there is any sublimity in terms of thematic projection (Writing Center: Lewis University, 2021).

From the perspective of narrative analysis, the movie, Ola Bola, can be understood through different lenses. Among such different lenses is the aspect of multiculturalism. A thorough analysis of the narrative on the pillars of which the edifice of the movie rests, reveals that Ola Bola is infused and ingrained with the theme of multiculturalism. In this respect, it has to be noted that the theory of diversity management and inclusion are both simultaneously thematically projected in Ola Bola and this has also formed the basis of characterization in and plot of the movie (Deraman & Razak, 2018). While conducting a narrative analysis of Ola Bola, it has been observed, from the perspective of integration of theory, that the movie’s cultural elements are thoroughly reliant on the theory of multiculturalism as the storyline and the characters all are aligned to the effort of depiction of racial unity symbolizing the racial unity and multiculturalism that characterize the Malaysian society as a whole (Deraman & Razak, 2018). The plot progression is also infused with the culmination of upholding the theme of multiculturalism that has allowed the movie to render enormous appeal to the audience emotionally, rationally, and logically.

Besides, it has to be taken into account that the narrative analysis of the movie from the perspective of thematic depiction and theoretical integration can also be coupled with the method of descriptive content analysis because it encompasses, in the context of Ola Bola, the theoretical framework of multiculturalism, specifically. The descriptive content analysis method is related to the analysis of scenes and aligning the same with some theoretical paradigms, which, in the context of Ola Bola, is multiculturalism. The through integration of research findings related to the topic of multiculturalism in Malaysia, the viewpoints of the director on the multicultural essence of the Malaysian society as a whole, and the plot development on the basis of accomplishing the objective of demonstrating racial and cultural unity, all should be considered as essential attributes of the descriptive content analysis method that is often used in film studies and movie analysis.

It is also noteworthy that the movie, Ola Bola, from the perspective of film studies, can also be analyzed by the structuralist methodology because the structuralist theory applies largely to the movie due to its social message and structuralist contents (Maheendran, 2017). In this respect, it has to be noted that the director has incorporated extensive research for obtaining a subjective view of the Malaysians on the incident on the basis of which the storyline of the movie had been developed, and incorporation of such views and opinions have been then perceived from a structuralist point of view (Maheendran, 2017). This has been done to depict in the movie the truth that different structural aspects of the society, including culture, can eventually shape the society as a whole. In this regard, Ola Bola’s structuralist theoretical analysis reveals that the movie is primarily based on five key elements, viz. interracial friendship, cross cultural interaction, portrayal of the minority community, multilingual dialogue, and cultural assimilation (Maheendran, 2017).

Conclusion

For the purpose of substantiating and justifying the importance and significance of film studies as a discipline and as a way of exploring a particular genre of creative art, the paper had discussed about the application of film studies on the Malaysian movie, Ola Bola. The movie was selected primarily to determine how the different aspects of film studies like narrative analysis, descriptive content analysis, theoretical analysis, and structural analysis can relate a movie to a society and culture. From the perspective of narrative analysis, the movie, Ola Bola, can be understood through different lenses. Among such different lenses is the aspect of multiculturalism. Besides, it has to be taken into account that the narrative analysis of the movie from the perspective of thematic depiction and theoretical integration can also be coupled with the method of descriptive content analysis because it encompasses, in the context of Ola Bola, the theoretical framework of multiculturalism, specifically. It is also noteworthy that the movie, Ola Bola, from the perspective of film studies, can also be analyzed by the structuralist methodology because the structuralist theory applies largely to the movie due to its social message and structuralist contents. Hence, considering the example of the movie Ola Bola, it can be concluded that from the perspective of importance and significance, film studies, as a discipline, has to be considered as substantially important because it enables individuals to analyze a specific (and popular) genre of creative art, which is cinema.

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