'Berdongeng Peri' provides respite from trashy TV diet

By Tam Notosusanto

JAKARTA (JP): Kids, musicals and the issue of storytelling. They are what actor-director Harry Suharyadi is into these days. After last year's award-winning Mencari Pelangi, (Looking for the Rainbow), his television film about young children in pursuit of "method storytelling", the 30-year-old Jakarta Art Institute graduate ventures into similar terrain with his latest, Berdongeng Peri (Telling Stories of the Fairies).

The film was shown as part of ANteve's anniversary program back in January, and is rerun tonight, Friday, July 23, at 8 p.m. in conjunction with National Children's Day. It's only fitting, because Peri is a story of the friendship between two girls from different classes in society.

At first glance, the film looks like a dead ringer for Mencari Pelangi, because of the theme (kids and storytelling) and its musical numbers. But mostly it's because of Rimarsha Nugrafitra, that button-nosed, curly-haired moppet, for the second time donning shabby clothes to play yet another street urchin in Suharyadi's imagination.

The similarities end there. Peri is a well-paced, more enjoyable piece that is not as ambitious and less confusing than Mencari Pelangi. It may still have the misguided desire to become a musical film, but at least it gives the impression of a more stable, accomplished work.

It tells of Sintia (Laken Amanda), an elementary-school student from a well-to-do family and Asih (Rimarsha Nugrafitra), an uneducated cigarette vendor, who meet one day when Asih helps Sintia retrieve a small jewelry box belonging to her teacher that was snatched by a pickpocket. The girls quickly become friends, spending time together and visiting each other's homes. Sintia tells Asih stories, particularly The Little Match Girl, which Sintia will be performing in a school play and which she expects her new best friend will attend.

Suharyadi, who wrote the screenplay with Adi Nugroho (Kuldesak), uses familiar elements in the main characters: Sintia is the lonely child whose only apparent companion is her loyal chauffeur (Krisno Bossa); she is a child whose parents never seem to be around, and who is evidently still traumatized by the recent death of her much-loved grandmother (Ibu Kasur). Meanwhile, Asih is the solitary orphan who frequents the streets and lives in a shack all by herself. This provides the basis of Berdongeng Peri's simple, linear plot.

But the film is really one rife with derivatives. The bandit boss Bulo (Indra Safera), for example, reminds us of Fagin, that unforgettable ruffian from Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist. Safera's Bulo is as wickedly funny, and he sings and dances his way into his role the way Fagin steals scenes from the title character of the popular musical Oliver! Bulo's goons themselves could have been taken straight from the disaster-prone thieves from the Home Alone movies, while Unique Prisilla's benevolent, soft-spoken fairy is not unlike the one who brings life into Pinocchio in the Disney animated classic. And there's the question of the tale of The Little Match Girl itself, which is not attributed to Hans Christian Andersen's original source at all in the credits, and is used by Suharyadi and Nugroho as a parallel for Asih's life.

Suharyadi may have been quite busy borrowing stuff from all over, especially Western stuff, giving hints of his cultural influence (the film's credit title is even alternately written in English and Indonesian).

But this film does not conceal his cinematic creativity. His effective use of extreme close-ups of Bulo's face, for instance, magnifies the gangster's menacing qualities, particularly supported by Safera's superb villainous interpretation, which is surprising considering this is the guy we know as the flamboyant talk-show host of Korek si Indra. Shots of the children's swinging legs as we hear voice-overs of them conversing and the swift editing style of Suharyadi and Puri Chrisanty also are skillful choices that help enhance the film's overall look.

The regrettable aspect of the film is, of course, the musical segments. The four-minute scene of Bulo's gang dancing and croaking through a song near the film's beginning is utterly excisable, while Amanda and Nugrafitra should have been directed to a vocal instructor before they were even given the sheets of Thoersi Argeswara's splendid song. It's a shame, because Argeswara has done an excellent job in composing the film's score, adding to the enjoyment of watching this film, even if he is not justifiably served by the actors.

Overall, Berdongeng Peri is a nice little film that, as Mencari Pelangi did, provides relief from all the junk our local television serves. It may have flaws and may not be a thoroughly engaging film, but at least it's not too dumb or offensive for this weekend's family viewing.