Hussain Haniff and the Place of the Auteur in Popular Malay Cinema

Abstract

This chapter re-examines ideas of authorship in the Malay cinema through a case study of one of its most prestigious filmmakers, Hussain Haniff. It considers the formation of Hussain’s reputation by reviewing the changing critical attitudes to his work and discusses his films as instances of personal and political expression, but also as contributions to a popular entertainment industry. Hussain offered timely explorations of tradition, modernity and gender, and used the period’s generic conventions and stars to shape his unique visions. By positioning Hussain within the broader world of film entertainment, this chapter contributes to a more historically grounded perspective on the role played by film directors during the golden age of Malay cinema.