Review 2001 for Dec. 28<\/p>\n
;JP;JOKO ANWAR;
\nANPAc..r..
\nYearend-film
\nJP\/19\/JOKO<\/p>\n
2001 marked by signs of recovery in RI film industry<\/p>\n
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\nJoko E.H. Anwar
\nContributor
\nJakarta
\n----------------<\/p>\n
An unusual sight has been repeating itself at Blok M Plaza
\ntheater in South Jakarta, where teenagers wait at the entrance
\nearly in the morning to get tickets for an Indonesian horror
\nmovie, Jelangkung, which has been playing at the theater for
\nweeks.<\/p>\n
"I must get a ticket today, otherwise I'll die from
\ncuriosity," 16-year-old Ria desperately told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
"I've been trying for weeks to get tickets to see Jelangkung
\nat Pondok Indah Mall (South Jakarta) to no avail, so I'm trying
\nmy luck here," she said, as echoed by her friends.<\/p>\n
It was such a refreshing sight to witness people so eager to
\nsee a local movie. It has been quite a long time since so many
\nhave lined up at the box office -- not since last year's
\nPetualangan Sherina was on.<\/p>\n
The fact that there were still a lot of people wanting to see
\nJelangkung many weeks after its premiere showed that nobody had
\nwanted to bad-mouth the movie.<\/p>\n
This could be seen from the reaction of theater audiences,
\nwhich seemed to be enjoying it. They laughed at the funny moments
\n(some of which were unintentional), and screamed at the scary
\nones: They were involved in the movie.<\/p>\n
The fact that it was technically far inferior compared with
\nanother of this year's most talked-about Indonesian movies -- the
\nart house piece Pasir Berbisik (Whispering Sands), which was
\nreleased not long before Jelangkung -- did not seem to bother
\nthem.<\/p>\n
While Pasir Berbisik, directed by female director Nan T.
\nAchnas, was beautifully (and expensively) shot on celluloid,
\nJelangkung was shot on video and is even shown at theaters via a
\nvideo projector.<\/p>\n
What really attracted the audiences was that Jelangkung was
\nmade with the clear intention of being straightforwardly
\nentertaining.<\/p>\n
"We were out to make a mainstream movie, commercial art," the
\nmovie's codirector Rizal Mantovani told the Post.<\/p>\n
The young director agreed that Jelangkung, which he codirected
\nwith Jose Purnomo, was the kind of movie needed to rejuvenate the
\nfilm industry here.<\/p>\n
"We made a movie that the audiences want to see so we had pop
\nculture in mind while making it," Rizal said, adding that the
\nmovie cost them Rp 400 million (US$40,000) to make.<\/p>\n
Rizal, who is well-known as one of the first notable music
\nvideo directors here, thought that a movie about an urban legend
\nwas a great idea.<\/p>\n
"We always hear young people talking about scary urban
\nlegends, so why not make a movie about it?"<\/p>\n
The movie tells the story of three students who, under false
\npretenses, visit supposedly haunted buildings in the city but
\nthen decide to go to a small village with a grim past after their
\nproject in the city fails to provide any evidence that ghosts
\nexist.<\/p>\n
There is nothing original in the movie, which will quickly
\nbring to mind American offerings, including the indie-hit The
\nBlair Witch Project and the Evil Dead series.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, the movie hits the bullseye, as can be witnessed
\nby the number of people who have been disappointed through
\nfailing to get a ticket.<\/p>\n
Jelangkung is currently being screened at only the two venues
\nmentioned earlier: Rexinema, the company that produced the movie,
\ncould only afford to buy two video projectors to show it.<\/p>\n
The year 2001 should be noted as an important one for
\nIndonesian cinema as it marked signs of recovery in the country's
\nfilm industry.<\/p>\n
There were at least eight locally produced movies released for
\npublic viewing this year and this is considerably more when
\ncompared with recent years.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, not all of them were winners as they failed to
\nattract significant audiences.<\/p>\n
Pasir Berbisik, for example, succeeded only in drawing people
\ncurious to watch it in the first few weeks following its release.<\/p>\n
Despite being heavily publicized, the movie was quickly bad-
\nmouthed by many as being a head-scratcher for most audiences.<\/p>\n
"I have no idea what is the aim of the film. I don't know why
\nthe film was made. For me it's simply boring and confusing,"
\nmovie buff Priesnanda Dwisatria, 25, told the Post.<\/p>\n
The film, however, was beautifully shot and won the Best
\nCinematography Award at the 46th Asia Pacific Film Festival, held
\nhere in October.<\/p>\n
However, since the storytelling is muddled for mainstream
\naudiences, the film failed to attract people in great numbers.<\/p>\n
It was also a disappointment because the film had not really
\ndecided which market to target.<\/p>\n
This was in contrast to Jelangkung, which, according to Rizal,
\nwas clearly aimed at 15-year-old to 25-year-old audiences.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, other movies ended up as disasters.<\/p>\n
Two, supposedly made for children following the phenomenal
\nsuccess of Petualangan Sherina last year, Joshua Oh Joshua and
\nBunga: Jangan Ada Dusta, were simply dead on arrival.<\/p>\n
The two movies were badly produced by filmmakers who did not
\nseem to understand that people had much better things to do with
\ntheir time than sit in theaters watching 90 minutes of mind-
\nnumbing movie, with nothing to offer.<\/p>\n
There was also an action flick produced this year titled
\nReinkarnasi, which was a shameless rip-off of everything from
\nJackie Chan's Armor of God to The Matrix.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, the movie was embarrassingly admitted as an
\nentry to the Asia Pacific Film Festival.<\/p>\n
It seemed these three local films were made without any
\nawareness that nowadays audiences are more sophisticated,
\nespecially with the existence of many TV channels and more
\nforeign movies being screened.<\/p>\n
Another movie Jakarta Project, which was also aimed at the
\nyouth market, tells a story about a massive diamond hidden on top
\nof the National Monument in Central Jakarta and involves the U.S.
\nNational Security Agency.<\/p>\n
The problem is, the moviemakers were unaware of their
\nshoestring budget for making such a big story, not to mention how
\nridiculous it was.<\/p>\n
Had the movie been made tongue in cheek and not taken itself
\ntoo seriously, it could have been successful.<\/p>\n
It is high time for our local moviemakers to be aware that
\nthey should concentrate on things they have good knowledge about,
\nsince audiences have become much more critical.<\/p>\n
One of the keys to the success of Jelangkung is that the movie
\nis at least smart enough for its target audience.<\/p>\n
Thankfully, there was at least one winner this year so maybe
\nwe can expect more locally produced movies next year. Who knows,
\nit might not be too long before our film industry awakes from its
\nhibernation!<\/p>",
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