Catalog launch a relief for film buffs<\/p>\n
By T. Sima Gunawan<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Most people love movies. Some watch them only
\nonce in a while, others everyday. Movie lovers might occasionally
\nwatch two or three films in one night, but what do you call
\nsomeone who watches three films a night all year long?<\/p>\n
Call him J.B. Kristanto.<\/p>\n
He watched three films every night for more than a year as
\npart of the research for his book Katalog Film Indonesia 1226-
\n1995 (Catalog of Indonesian Films 1926-1995).<\/p>\n
The book was launched on Oct. 21 at in conjunction with the
\n20th anniversary of Cinematic Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The first thing a reader can learn from the book is the number
\nof films produced annually in Indonesia, a statistic which
\nreflects the ups and downs of the film industry.<\/p>\n
In 1926 and 1927, only one film was produced in each year. The
\nnumber of films produced per year increased gradually in the
\nfollowing years and in the 1950s there were an average of 40
\nfilms produced each year. In the late 1980s, the number exceeded
\n100.<\/p>\n
In 1990, 120 films were produced, but the number fell
\ndrastically to 61 in the next year. The film business has
\ncontinued to be sluggish then, with the production of only 32,
\n26, and 32 films annually in 1992, 1993 and 1994 respectively.<\/p>\n
Up to August this year, there have been only three films:
\nCemeng 2005 (The Last Primadona), Limbah Dosa (Sinful Waste) and
\nPawang (Expert with Magic Power).<\/p>\n
Kristanto does not review the films listed in the book. But he
\ndoes provide some interesting facts. For example, the first
\nkissing scene in an Indonesian film is in Antara Bumi dan Langit
\n(Between Earth and Sky), a love story involving a native
\nIndonesian and a Dutch girl produced in 1950 and directed by Dr.
\nHuyung, a former Japanese soldier with some Korean ancestry.<\/p>\n
Janur Kuning , 1979, was \"the most expensive film of its
\nperiod\", costing Rp 375 million to produce. It is one of three
\nfilms based on the historic battle of Yogyakarta, between the
\nIndonesian people and Dutch troops in 1949. The other two films
\nwhich are based on the battle are Enam Djam di Djogja (Six Hours
\nin Yogyakarta), 1950, and Serangan Fajar (Attack at Dawn), 1980.
\nUnlike the other two, Janur Kuning emphasizes the role of
\nSoeharto (now President Soeharto) in the country's struggle
\nagainst the Dutch.<\/p>\n
When Kristanto first set out to write the book, he wanted to
\nanswer the question of why Indonesian fictional films were not
\nconvincing. The key to answering that question, according to
\nKristanto, is Indonesian culture, including the social, economic
\nand political conditions obtaining here.<\/p>\n
This is complicated. So, instead of seeking to set forth an
\nanswer to the problem, he decided to present the public with
\nfacts.<\/p>\n
Starting with the catalog project two years ago, Kristanto
\ncollected information on the old films from media clippings of
\nthe Cinematic Indonesia.<\/p>\n
He collected data about films made after 1970 from the
\ndocuments on the permits to produce films issued by the Ministry
\nof Information. Kristanto also looked at the censorship papers at
\nthe Film Censorship Council.<\/p>\n
But the stories in the movies were not always the same as the
\nones described in the documents. He even found two censorship
\ndocuments for a single film which showed different running times.<\/p>\n
In many cases he had trouble finding a copy of films,
\nparticularly the old ones.<\/p>\n
The oldest film Kristanto watched was Antara Bumi dan Langit
\n(Between Earth and Sky), which was produced in 1950. Cinematic
\nIndonesia had a part of Siluman Babi (Pig Devil), which was made
\nin 1935. The other part is missing.<\/p>\n
In fact, he could find only a few films made before 1970. He
\nalso had to work hard to get those made afterwards as most
\nproducers have not kept the films they produced in the 1970s and
\n1980s. Kristanto turned to video rental shops and was
\ndisappointed to find that they didn't have many old films. To
\nmake things even more difficult, the major video rental shops had
\nbeen closed down following a massive campaign against pirated
\nvideo cassettes in the 1980s.<\/p>\n
Some relief was provided by the screening of Indonesian films
\non local TV stations, at a rate of three per day.<\/p>\n
He recorded the films and watched them after work.<\/p>\n
Even though not all of them were good, Kristanto had his eyes
\nglued to the screen. His endurance is undoubtedly amazing. How
\ncould he have survived?<\/p>\n
He was able to survive because he viewed the films as social
\ndocuments and ignored their artistic values. From that point of
\nview, all the films were good.<\/p>\n
On the basis of artistic criteria, only a few local films can
\nbe considered good.<\/p>\n
\"It's the common hypothesis that we produce only a few good
\nmovies. How many American movies are there which are really good?
\nNot many,\" he said. \"But what bothers me is that the bad movies
\nwe produce are awfully bad.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/catalog-launch-a-relief-for-film-buffs-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}