Film scene 2000: A year of alternative movies in Indonesia
Film scene 2000: A year of alternative movies in Indonesia
By Joko EH Anwar
JAKARTA (JP): Moviegoers were blessed with more nonmainstream
films among the still dominating straight entertainment entries
this year.
It seems that Studio 21, the company which owns most film
cinemas, finally realized that there is a market for alternative
films, those that do not follow the usual Hollywood formula.
The high number of venues showing alternative movies in the
city proves that people are hungry for "fresh" films. The venues
include the Usmar Ismail Film Center in South Jakarta and Teater
Utan Kayu in Central Jakarta.
The audience's enthusiasm for alternative movies was also
witnessed at the first Jakarta International Film Festival
(JiFFest) held in 1999.
This year, some of the more than 100 alternative titles from
various countries shown last month during the second JiFfest were
even screened at two mainstream theaters in the Studio 21 chain.
Unfortunately, each of those films were only screened once
during the festival. To comfort the disappointed fans, some of
the movies were later played at the Teater Utan Kayu.
There were also several alternative films which were given
regular showing at film cinemas this year. This served as a
window to see worlds other than those depicted by American films.
Let's start with the bittersweet Iranian film, Children of
Heaven. The film's simple story about a 10-year-old boy from a
poor family who loses his little sister's shoes is very charming.
The film was screened for many days at theaters here since
many were able to relate to the story.
Another film in the same category is The Cup, a film directed
by a Tibetan monk. It is about how the World Cup craze influenced
the life in a Tibetan monastery at the foothills of the
Himalayas.
The film was imported by the newly-established film
distributor Tanimbar pictures which has vowed to screen several
art-house films every year. The Cup is their first presentation.
It was also surprising that a film distributor had imported
the German-made Run Lola Run which was first screened at JiFFest.
The extraordinary film shows a red punk-haired young woman
running and running endlessly throughout the film. It is not the
kind of film which will attract a lot of viewers here and this
was proven by its short run at the theaters.
The fate of Wim Wenders' Million Dollar Hotel was even worse.
During its first screening at one of the top film theaters in the
city, one third of the audience left the theater before the film
reached its second half. The remaining audience kept mumbling
words like, "This is such a waste of time."
However with Mel Gibson in its cast, the film was able to
attract some people to see it before the word about the "badness"
of the film spread out.
Too bad, because it is such a good film.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is one of several movie gems
this year. In contrast with most non-American films shown here,
the movie directed by noted Taiwanese director Ang Lee was well
received by the local audience as they are familiar with Chinese
films. While it is not your average martial arts film, it's great
fighting scenes alone are enough to attract people to see it.
The great Italian-made film, Life is Beautiful, naturally made
it to film theaters here as it was much hyped after winning at
the Academy Awards.
Children
The real movie event this year, however, goes to the
Indonesian-made Petualangan Sherina (Sherina's Adventure).
The film had been highly anticipated since it features the
child singer Sherina Munaf who is loved by many for her talents
and good behavior which is unlike most child performers in the
country.
While there is nothing special about the film's plot which is
about a little girl who tries to save her schoolmate from bad
guys, Sherina, as expected, shines in her film debut. The film's
direction and camera work also meet the standard of decent
filmmaking.
The film succeeded in making people stand in long lines to get
tickets to watch it. Some even had to leave the theaters
disappointed because the tickets were sold out. Many children
also forced their parents to take them to see the film more than
once.
Despite all of its shortcomings, the film is a real winner
which single-handedly brought the country's film industry back to
life.
Three other Indonesian films screened this year were Garin
Nugroho's Puisi Tak Terkuburkan (Unburied Poetry) which was not
well received by the audience and critics, the supernatural-
action flick Reinkarnasi (Reincarnation), and the children's
movie Joshua Oh Joshua, which seems to want to cash in on the
success of Petualangan Sherina.
Indonesian cheap skin flicks did not appear this year. Thank
God.
Hollywood entries surprisingly featured several different
films this year starting with Fight Club. The dark comedy was
directed by David Fincher who also directed the great thriller
Seven in 1997. Indonesian film distributors might just grab the
film since it stars Brad Pitt.
However, the mainstream audience might be put off by its
unusual story line and daring style.
The film had a long running at theaters simply because of its
cast and it finally exited theaters after those who had seen it
bad-mouthed the film saying that it was confusing and
nonsensical.
Three Kings which was screened later is reminiscent of those
directed by the Coen Brothers. it is even underrated in its home
country. Again, the film's distributor probably wanted to cash in
on the appearance of George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg.
Like Fight Club, the film's story line is also quite
different, so those looking for a straight action film might be
disappointed. It had an even shorter run at the theaters.
The other great film passed by many people was the hip,
stylish, and highly enjoyable Go. Though the film is filled with
such enjoyable scenes, it ran for only a short time because it
lacked stars well-known to the local audience.
The film can be compared to the wildly successful Pulp Fiction
(which was not too successful here either) which it resembles in
many ways.
Boys Don't Cry surprisingly found its way to film theaters.
Its provocative approach on a sensitive subject might put off
many an audience but those who seek daring films should not miss
this as it is about a young woman with a sexual identity crisis.
As in the previous year, film theaters here screened several
critically-acclaimed films which include Gladiator, The American
Beauty, The Green Mile, The Insider, and Erin Brockovich.
Film theaters also delivered pure, enjoyable Hollywood entries
such as Stuart Little, written by M. Night Shamalan before he
made The Sixth Sense; the Jet Li-starred Romeo Must Die; another
Jim Carrey vehicle Me, Myself & Irene; Shanghai Noon; Shaft; and
Charlie's Angels.
Children got a lot of family films this year which include
Road to El Dorado, Titan A.E., Dinosaur, The Tigger Movie,
Chicken Run, The Grinch, 102 Dalmatians, and MVP.
Horror movie lovers got several films such as the underrated A
Stir of Echoes, Scream 3, Halloween H20, What Lies Beneath, House
on the Haunted Hill, and Tim Burton's dark fantasy Sleepy Hollow.
Some much-anticipated films turned out to be disappointments
but they were still enjoyed by an undemanding audience. They
include Nicolas Cage's action vehicle Gone in 60 Seconds, The X-
men, Mission Impossible 2, and Autumn in New York.
Some good films which were sadly ignored by many here include
The Mighty, Frequency, Boiler Room, Road Trip, Bring It On, and
Judas Kiss.
There were not too many bad flicks shown this year compared to
previous years. We still got two Dolph Lundgren films but the
rest of the cheap entries such as Teacher's Pet, Komodo, and They
Nest were not that bad.
Let's hope this trend of showing good films at theaters here
will continue next year.