Duyung

Plot

The story is set on the east coast of Sabah. Jimmy (Saiful Apek) is a young man who spends his days cleaning the rubbish in the sea village that he lives. He refuses to do any work other than caring for the environment, which makes him an outcast and laughing stock among the villagers. His only friend is Orix (Yassin Yahya).

Jimmy wants to marry his childhood sweetheart, Aspalela (Yasmin Hani), who returns his feelings. He asks Aspalela's father, Wan Pagek, for Aspalela's hand in marriage, but Wan Pagek declares that he has to have land of his own before he can marry her. Jimmy builds a floating island out of discarded rubbish, on which he builds a small hut. This amuses Wan Pagek and displeases Kordi (Awie), another man who wants to marry Aspalela.

One night, Jimmy is woken up by a mermaid named Puteri (Maya Karin). She explains that she has been watching Jimmy for some time, and to show her appreciation for Jimmy's efforts in cleaning the village, she has been helping fortify his floating island. Jimmy boasts to the entire village that he has met a mermaid, but when Puteri refuses to surface when called, Jimmy is declared a crazy liar and disowned by his father.

When Puteri returns to visit Jimmy, she reminds him that their friendship is supposed to be a secret. She takes him to her home in an underwater cave, which is filled with pirate's treasure. Puteri explains that she is lonely, and has developed feelings for Jimmy. However, Jimmy explains that he is in love with Aspalela, but he cannot marry her because he has no money. Puteri offers to give her treasure to him, but he turns it down. After Jimmy returns to his floating island, he wakes up the next morning and finds that Puteri has left two boxes of treasure for him. Jimmy flaunts his newfound wealth and gains the favour of all the villagers and Aspalela's father.

Kordi is suspicious of Jimmy's good fortune and goes to his island, where he captures Puteri. He places her in a cage and charges the villagers money to see her. Jimmy's father sees the mermaid and realises that his son isn't crazy. Jimmy, Orix, Aspalela, Jimmy's parents and Aspalela's parents work together to free Puteri. After getting away from Kordi, Puteri wishes Jimmy happiness with Aspalela, and swims off into the ocean.

In an epilogue set three years later, Jimmy and Aspalela are married, Kordi is working for them, the village is prosperous, and the villagers work for Jimmy in monitoring the environment. Jimmy explains in voice-over that he has not seen Puteri since their goodbye and doesn't expect to see her ever again. Puteri is briefly shown secretly visiting the village with a merman by her side.

Soundtrack

Track list:

1. Aspalela - Saiful Apek
2. Hampir Ke Situ - Mendua
3. Kenapa Singgah Kalau Tak Masuk - Flava
4. Bila Terasa Rindu - Dafi
5. Datanglah Kekasih - Pianka
6. Teramat Sangat - Aznil Haji Nawawi
7. Jikalau Aku - Ezlynn
8. Masih Mencari - X Factor (Group)
9. Gadis Misteri - Indigo (Group)
10. Yahoo - All Casts of Duyung

Production

Duyung is the first Malaysian film to shoot undersea. Nearly 40 percent of the scenes were filmed underwater. Eric Madeja of Treasure Images Sdn Bhd was responsible for co-ordinating and filming of the underwater scenes. Filming took place over 25 days at Sipadan, Mataking, Semporna and Boheydulang island in Sabah. Maya Karin performed almost all her underwater scenes without the aid of a stunt double.