A Marxist Analysis of Antagonists in KL Gangster Duology (2011 and 2013) and Kepong Gangster Duology (2012 and 2015)

Abstract

This study employs a Marxist theoretical framework to analyse the portrayal of antagonists in four Malaysian anti-hero gangster films: KL Gangster duology (2011 and 2013) and Kepong Gangster duology (2012 and 2015). The research investigates how these antagonists embody Marxist concepts such as class struggle, economic determinism, and false consciousness within narratives where the traditional hero-villain roles are blurred. This study employed a deductive qualitative content analysis approach, utilising predefined Marxist theoretical frameworks to systematically categorise and interpret narrative elements in the selected film transcripts. The focus of the transcripts is on the antagonists’ dialogues and plot developments. The findings show that the antagonists function as a microcosm of the capitalist class structure within the gang hierarchy. Their identities and behaviours are primarily determined by material conditions, transforming human interactions into transactional, commodity-based exchanges. The pursuit of wealth and status leads to the antagonists’ alienation and dehumanisation, often manifested through violence and the exploitation of women as objects of negotiation and terror. The antagonists' resistance and upward mobility can be taken as a false revolution where they do not seek to dismantle the oppressive gang system but rather to seize control and perpetuate its exploitative structure. While the films criticise the ugliness of capitalist exploitation and its dehumanising nature, it also provides a reassuring moral closure that protects the underlying system from genuine challenge. By linking the violation of traditional and legal norms to inevitable failure, the analysed Malaysian gangster films reinforce the idea that prosperity is only sustainable within the sanctioned boundaries of the existing capitalist hierarchy. Ultimately, this study shows how films can unintentionally help keep existing power structures in place in a society like Malaysia.