Arifin the playwright, director, artist<\/p>\n
Long before he plunged into the country's movie industry in
\nthe late 1970s, Arifin Chairin Noor was a consummate playwright
\nwho led Teater Ketjil, a theater company famous for infusing an
\nindigenous quality into the art.<\/p>\n
If playwright W.S. Rendra opened up the possibility of modern
\ntheater for Indonesia, Arifin and his Teater Ketjil, literally
\nmeaning small theater, infused an Indonesia flavor into theater.<\/p>\n
Arifin wrote countless brilliant scripts for theater such as
\nSumur Tanpa Dasar (Bottomless Well), Mega Mega (Cloud, Cloud),
\nOzone and Dalam Bayangan Tuhan (In the Shadow of God), which won
\naccolades from critics for their pensive and poetic dialogs.
\nArifin was also known for his economy with words as he could
\npresent a grandiose idea or spiritual musings with three or four
\nwords.<\/p>\n
At first Arifin was hesitant to fully align himself with the
\nfilm industry and made a marginal contribution to the industry by
\nwriting scripts for movies, a skill he had mastered well.<\/p>\n
Three of his scripts, Pemberang (Hotheaded), Rio Anakku (Rio
\nMy Son) and Sanrego won Citra awards for the best screenplay at
\nthe Indonesian Film Festival (FFI) in the early 1970s.<\/p>\n
Arifin shot his first film in 1978, Suci Sang Primadona (Suci
\nthe Superstar), a heart-rending tale of a drama queen who used
\nher popularity to satisfy herself materially.<\/p>\n
His characters were never black-and-white and each had its own
\ncomplexity. The film were nominated for the Citra award in
\nseveral categories but only went home with one Citra for best
\nactress.<\/p>\n
In 1978, Arifin released Petualang, Petualang (Adventurer,
\nAdventurer). The film, which was originally titled Koruptor,
\nKoruptor, was soon banned by the government for its incisive
\nsocial criticism.<\/p>\n
The film was given the go-ahead for screening only in 1984,
\nwith a 319-meter cut by the Film Sensor Board (BSF).<\/p>\n
In the 1980s, Arifin directed government-funded films that
\nfocused on the country's history.<\/p>\n
Despite its propagandist theme, the films, Serangan Fajar
\n(Pre-Dawn Raid), Pemberontakan G-30 S\/PKI (The Rebellion of the
\nPKI's Sept. 30 Movement) and Jakarta 66 (Jakarta 1966) received
\ncritical acclaim and won Citra awards.<\/p>\n
Serangan was the first movie to use an aerial view of a battle
\nscene.<\/p>\n
Arifin also carried his trademark poetic dialog into those
\nfilms. Little-known actress Suparmi won the best supporting role
\nat the 1982 FFI only for uttering one line from Arifin's script
\n`Laki-Laki itu Indah' (Men are Beautiful).<\/p>\n
Afraid of being called a documentary film director, Arifin
\nmade two feature films in the early 1990s, Taksi (Taxi) and Bibir
\nMer (Mer's Lips), which both won dozens of Citra awards.<\/p>\n
Looking back at Arifin's legacy, his long-time collaborator
\nBudi Setiawan said: "If only Arifin joined the film industry
\nearlier, he could have achieved more ground-breaking works," he
\nsaid. -- M. Taufiqurrahman<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/arifin-the-playwright-director-artist-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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