BACK in 1984, the dance movie Footloose made versatile actor Kevin Bacon a household name, playing a dance instructor who shakes up a small town.
Bacon's hero, Ren McCormack, teaches the town's youths modern dance, despite the objections of the town's conservative church leader, Reverend Shaw Moore.
Eventually, McCormack wins over the town's pious elders by interpreting scripture in a more progressive manner, and sways the more sensible members of Moore's family to his point of view.
Four decades later, Malaysians and Singaporeans have come up with their twist to this cult movie's trope, with gender roles reversed, in the form of star-studded La Luna directed by Singaporean M. Raihan Halim.
CONSTANT CHANGE
La Luna, a Spanish phrase that means the moon and indirectly refers to constant change, sees Western-educated Hanie (Sharifah Amani) shake up her late grandparents' village of Kampung Bras Basah by setting up a boutique selling stylish undergarments for women, despite the objections of the conservative headman, Tok Hassan (Wan Hanafi Su).
Hanie's lingerie unleashes "girl power" and emboldens the womenfolk to stand up against some of their abusive husbands, and the pious but open-minded villagers are slowly won over.
Raihan, 41, said while Footloose inspired La Luna in many ways, he was actually fascinated with Wan Hanafi's 2014 satirical comedy Lelaki Harapan Dunia.
"We shot it over a month last year in Manong, Kuala Kangsar. As for the name of Kampung Bras Basah, it was taken from a famous street in Singapore," said Raihan at the film's launch in Dadi Cinema, Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur recently.
STRONG MESSAGE
Amani said La Luna marked her first "businesswoman" role on the silver screen.
"The last time I showed up at a village was as a police detective in Motif four years ago. That was a gritty movie, this one appears to be light-hearted fun," she said.
"However, La Luna carries strong messages about women's empowerment and the need for society to challenge extremism."
Describing Hanie as a cut-out of her, Amani said the female protagonist did not "rebel" against Tok Hassan but served as a catalyst for change.
"The women of the village actually have the impulse to change their fate and Hanie arrives at the right time."
COP AND PARENT
Shaheizy Sam, who plays the village's police chief Inspector Salihin, described his character as more of a parent than a law enforcer.
"Salihin is a righteous man, like my other famous cop character Inspector Khai of the Polis Evo trilogy. But there's a lot more focus on him being a good father to his somewhat rebellious daughter, who embraces liberal values," said Sam.
"Salihin represents the thinking man. His belief in moderation makes the villagers weigh the pros and cons of La Luna."
PIVOTAL ROLES
Iedil Dzuhrie Alaudin who plays the headman's moderate grandson Fauzi, said that his character was pivotal to the story as the man closest to Tok Hassan.
"Fauzi's rationality and humanity is the key to ending his dictatorial rule of the village," he said.
Nadiya Nisaa, who plays Maryam, the long-suffering cousin of Hanie, said that La Luna amplified women's empowerment without sounding preachy.
"The best films to carry strong social messages are satirical ones peppered with lots of intelligent humour," she said.
Raihan added: "Seasoned actors and actresses such as Namron and Farah Ahmad give great performances as the comic relief of the story. Even though their characters are funny, their antics are actually hard-hitting."
The RM3.5 million movie, produced by Clover Films, Act 2 Pictures, One Cool Film and Papahan Films, was screened at the Tokyo International Film Festival last Oct 24.
La Luna opens in cinemas nationwide on Nov 9.