Blanco's Bali affair gets televised

Blanco's Bali affair gets televised

By K. Basrie

UBUD, Bali (JP): It was the mid 1950s. A vessel from Singapore
sailed through the Malacca Strait bound for this tourist resort
island. Among the passengers was a 23-year-old Spanish artist,
Don Antonio Blanco.

He read books to kill time. One day, Blanco felt asleep with a
book on Bali on his lap. He dreamed that he met a beautiful fairy
who would be the main model for his future paintings.

When he told the captain his story, Blanco got a laugh as a
reply. The captain suggested that he forget his dream and go to
America. Bali was no ordinary island, the captain said.

But Blanco didn't want to believe the captain until he stepped
ashore at Buleleng port, Singaraja. He was disappointed as the
island did not live up to his dreams or glowing descriptions he
read in books. He decided to take the captain's advice and sail
to the States.

But before he carried through with his plan, Blanco met a
local man called Ida Bagus, who asked him to make a trip to Ubud.

He accepted the offer. It was during this trip that Blanco
discovered the real Bali, its culture, the Balinese and their
amazing rituals.

In Ubud, he met a Balinese young woman who reminded him of the
fairy in his dream. The artist invited her to become his model.
As time went by, the two fell in love but confronted many
problems due to their different cultural backgrounds.

Their relationship reached its apex when the young woman, Ni
Ronji, became pregnant. While she was condemned by her parents,
relatives and friends, Blanco was unconcerned. He kept on
painting and became a renowned impressionist.

They faced more difficulties but eventually Blanco and Ronji
married. In time, their relationship was accepted in the Ubud
community.

Reconstruction

Forty-seven years later, the true story of the love adventure
and career of the Spanish painter, who is noted for his penchant
for colorful clothes and berets, is reconstructed again in the TV
drama Api Cinta Antonio Blanco (Blanco, The Color of Love) by PT
Jatayu Cakrawala Film & Video.

Primary shooting began last Saturday evening after a ceremony
in the garden of Blanco's mansion in Campuan, Ubud, a one-and-a-
half hour drive from Ngurah Rai Airport.

In the TV drama, expected to be divided into six or eight
episodes, Blanco is played by Michael Pas, a film actor from
Belgium, and Ronji by I Ketut Melati, a local girl and a newcomer
to the film industry.

Ketut replaced actress Dian Nitami, who left due to
undisclosed reasons.

Dozens of Bali artists and dancers also play roles in the TV
drama.

"The total budget for this film, which could take about two
months of shooting, will be between Rp 800 million (over
US$325,000) and Rp 1 billion," producer Harry Simon, known for
his many quiz shows on TV stations, told The Jakarta Post.

Among the film's sponsors are Bali Cliff hotel, the state-
owned Garuda Indonesia airlines and ANteve television station,
which is tentatively set to broadcast the series starting in
October.

Directed by veteran actress Rima Melati, most shooting will
take place in the tourist resort island.

"But it's not easy for us to create Bali as it was 50 years
ago," said Rima.

She said trees will be used to camouflage electricity poles
fringing a river.

"This drama is meant to expose the beautiful nature and people
of Bali, the sincere devotion to arts and faithfulness of love,"
said Rima.

Blanco, now 67, is one of the most famous foreign painters
residing in Bali. Collectors of his paintings include President
Soeharto and family, Michael Jackson, Elizabeth Taylor, King Juan
Carlos of Spain and international tycoons.

Many of his hundreds of works are portraits of nude women,
including young Ronji.

Blanco wants to be buried in Ubud "because my children and
grandchildren are all here".

He renounced his Spanish citizenship and became an Indonesian
in 1967.

"I'm proud to be an Indonesian. This is now my country and I'm
giving my life to this country, specifically to Bali," he says.

As for the "resurrection" of young Blanco and Ronji in the
film, Blanco said: "One can play Blanco but not Ronji because for
me, there is only one Ronji in this world."

In Ronji's eyes, Blanco is a temperamental husband. "Sometimes
he's so kind to me, but on another occasion he could suddenly
reprimand me so that I feel I have to go away from him," she told
the Post.

It seems that Michael Pas has perfectly assumed Blanco's
prickly persona, evident when reporters asked him politely about
his acting fee.

"It's none of your business!" was Pas' terse reply.