'Fatahillah': A must see film for Jakartans
JAKARTA (JP): Another Brave Heart? No, but the gala premiere of Fatahillah, The Battle of Jayakarta, was as good as the Hollywood Oscar-winning film which starred Mel Gibson, according to some local people.
Fatahillah depicts a heroic Islamic figure in the 16th century who recaptures Batavia, then the name of Jakarta, during a bloody war against Portuguese colonial troops.
The premiere, which took place downtown at the Jakarta Theater Wednesday night, was attended by Vice President Try Sutrisno and Governor Surjadi Soedirdja, who was also producer of the movie.
Executive Producer H.M Johan Tjasmadi, currently the chairman of the Film Control Agency, said Fatahillah was a must-see movie for all Jakartans. "Fatahillah is as good as the Oscar-winning movie, Brave Heart," he said.
The Rp 2.5 billion (US$1.02 million) movie, sponsored by the municipality, was made in conjunction with the 470th anniversary of the capital on June 22. It will be simultaneously screened at 100 cinemas, in 13 of the country's 27 provinces on June 20.
Portuguese conquered the Sultanate of Malacca in 1511 and then established a trading post at Sunda Kelapa, at the northern tip of Jakarta. Fatahillah, a leader from the Sultanate of Demak in Central Java, succeeded in expelling the Portuguese from Sunda Kelapa port on June 22, 1527. Since then, the name Sunda Kelapa was changed to Jayakarta (present day Jakarta), which means "the city of victory".
In a related development, Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro said on Wednesday he expected the colossal and appealing movie would bolster the national film industry and encourage Indonesian movie producers.
"Hopefully, many Jakartans will want to watch the movie," Wardiman said. "This is one of the milestones of a new Indonesian cinematographic era."
Misbach Yusa Biran, a well-known local author and chairman of the Indonesian Movie Archives, wrote the screenplay, while Uka Tjandrasasmita, an anthropologist, supervised the movie. (10)