The Journey (2014 Malaysian film)

Plot

The Journey tells the story of Uncle Chuan (Frankie Lee), a conservative father with a rigid set of rules. When his daughter, Bee (Joanne Yew) returns home after spending most of her formative years in England with a fiance, Benji (Ben Pfeiffer) in-tow, Uncle Chuan refuses to give his blessing. With cultural differences and a language barrier that could potentially damage the union between Benji and his loved one, he feels that something must be done quick. Uncle Chuan reluctantly allows them to marry but on one condition — the wedding ceremony has to be in the traditional way. Despite their lack of understanding towards one another, Benji and Uncle Chuan embark on a nationwide journey to hand-deliver wedding invitations to the latter’s childhood friends. Throughout the journey, the two learn valuable lessons about accepting each other’s differences.

Production

Principal photography had been done in many locations across Malaysia. These include the Cameron Highlands, Chew Jetty and Pinang Tunggal Railway Bridge in Penang (the latter which has since been dismantled), Aur Island, Kuala Lumpur, Baling in Kedah, Ipoh, and Sabah.

The film also features a real life Chingay procession in Johor Bahru, in which director Chiu had to incorporate into the film due to its small budget.

Home media

The Journey was released by Multimedia Entertainment in DVD and VCD formats on 20 March 2014. Alternatively, the film was also released shortly after finishing its theatre run on Astro's on-demand film service Astro First, which included a behind-the-scenes documentary namely Chasing for Dream as an additional bonus feature. The film was also released in Singaporean theatres on the same day.

Box-office

The film grossed RM2.2 million at launch, easily setting the record for best opening weekend by a Malaysian Chinese production. It went on to gross RM3.7 million after 6 days of release. By the 11th day, it had grossed a total of RM6.6 million. The film was a critical success and with good word of mouth, it officially became the highest grossing local Malaysian Chinese movie production on 12 February 2014 with a gross of RM7.6 million, surpassing the previous record which was held by Ah Beng: Three Wishes (RM7.56 million). As of 16 Feb, the film had grossed RM9.8 million, making it the first local Malaysian Chinese movie production set to break the RM10 million barrier. Local cinema operators added additional screens to meet the high demand which resulted in sold out screenings across the Klang Valley, Penang and Johor. On 20 Feb, the film was only RM0.2 million behind Ombak Rindu, grossing a total of RM10.70 million, the first local Chinese production to hit the RM10 million milestone.

Owing to the tremendous success of the film in Malaysia, the production company contemplated an earlier release of the film in Singapore. On the fourth weekend ending 23 February 2014, The Journey officially became the highest grossing local production ever in Malaysia's box office history, having amassed a gross of RM12.92 million, beating the previous record holder, KL Gangster's RM11.74 million. (That achievement would later be surpassed by Polis Evo in 2015 with its collective gross of RM17.30 million.) On 17 March 2014, the film had raked in a total of RM17.16 million.