'Govt has neglected moviemakers for too long'
'Govt has neglected moviemakers for too long'
Yuki Aditya, 25, is currently working as a freelance writer after
recently graduating with an economics degree from a state
university. He claims to be an avid filmgoer, and enjoys
collecting rare films.
I personally think that Indonesian films generally still lack
the quality that would make them both artistic and memorable,
except for Arisan, which I found satisfying. I find a lot of
films that simply rely on slapstick methods and good-looking
actors to sell them.
Despite the fact that the industry is trying to reestablish
itself, most of the films fail to generate a good kind of stir
because of the standard, predictable plots, and thus remain far
below the bar set by those produced in the 1970s and 1980s.
Most current movies also focus more on the high-class people
and tend to ridicule people with weight problems, relatively ugly
looks, or with sexual orientations out of the mainstream, despite
the reality that all of those types of people have a lot of good
things about them to be explored.
As for the government, they have neglected this creative
industry for too long. They should return a large portion of the
taxes and revenues they get from the film industry, such as by
subsidizing production costs, providing soft loans to producers
or financing more local film festivals.
Sinta Satriana, 25, works as a journalist with a foreign
newswire. She regularly goes to the movies and attends film
festivals. She lives with her colleagues in Jakarta.
In terms of quantity, we should be pretty content with the
ever emerging and increasing number of films released, especially
after the 1990 period where big-screen films were hard to find.
The public response has also been swelling, which is good to
push directors and producers to maximize efforts to come up with
quality films.
There are films that try to push for a breakthrough, in terms
of ideas, like Virgin but somehow turn out tacky although I do
respect the effort.
When it comes to acting, there are still very few who can make
it real and blow you away. Actors from the old era are still the
best, even when they were young back then. We should have more
contests in acting or scripwriting, and also film festivals to
seek the untapped talent of the young generation.
As far as I see, the government has done nothing much toward
the film industry that we can be proud of. I always think that
what little we have now is mainly because of the film activists
who are striving to bring back the good times of the film
industry.
Dyan Galuh Dwihardani, 20, a sociology major at The University of
Indonesia. She lives in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta.
I usually go to the movie theater with three to six student
friends on weekdays around 5 p.m. Watching a local movie is quite
enjoyable. Overall, the performance of Indonesian movies are fair
enough nowadays.
As for the actors and actresses, I think they are talented
enough. Some of them are relatively new in the industry, but
already show a good quality of performance.
For instance, the Arisan! movie. I liked all the main and
supporting stars. The story runs smoothly and the setting is
quite good. It tells about young adults not teenagers.
I hope that film producers will produce more movies that carry
good moral messages rather than just love stories.
I Wayan Westra, 27, an employee of a local bank on Jalan
Sudirman, Central Jakarta. He lives in Pinang Ranti, East
Jakarta.
Three to four times a month I watch movies in the theater with
my partner. I would rather watch movies in the theater than at
home on DVD.
I think Indonesian movies started improve following the
release of Ada Apa Dengan Cinta. It now continues to get better.
I think the performance of actors and actresses is adequate.
Most of the stories are good enough, like Banyu Biru. Some,
however, are boring.
I like Banyu Biru and Ada Apa Dengan Cinta movies particularly
because of star Dian Sastrowardoyo. However, I don't like the
movie titled Beth. I found it disgusting. --The Jakarta Post