High expectations overwhelm 'Gie'

High expectations overwhelm 'Gie'

Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Gie; Drama, 2 hours 27 minutes. Starring Nicholas Saputra,
Jonathan Mulia, Sita Nursanti, Indra Birowo. Directed and written
by Riri Riza; A Miles Films production (Bahasa Indonesia). **1/2
(out of ****). Opening on July 14.

Gie was one of the most anticipated movies of the past year for a
few reasons, but mainly because the majority of local productions
have ranged from plain bad to abysmal, with very few exceptions.

Another reason is because the emerging contemporary film
scene, after it was crippled during the 1990s, has been dominated
by (bad) teen and horror flicks. So, a mature drama about an
uncompromising political activist who died young was expected to
bring some depth and a drop of inspiration to the scene.

Furthermore, the film was made by Riri Riza, the most
celebrated figure in the local industry, whose films, whether his
involvement was in direction or in producing (count Rumah
Ketujuh/Seventh House out), have been milestones for their
quality.

Recently, a local film observer and critic even accused the
Cannes film committee of cronyism, as the committee had picked a
not-so-stellar Singaporean film over Gie. The critic admitted he
had not seen the latter, but for the aforementioned reasons, he
thought it had to be a great film.

After watching the movie, however, it's clear that the people
at Cannes are not stupid.

This movie, sadly, falls flat due to its lack of focus, lame
screenplay and dialog, as well as its skin-deep approach to Gie's
character and Indonesian politics.

This is very unfortunate because Gie, or Soe Hok Gie, was a
legendary student activist whose sharp and critical writing has
been immortalized in several books.

Born in 1942 during World War II, Gie came into the spotlight
as a student at the University of Indonesia's School of
Literature, when he was actively involved in the 1960s student
movement against the Soekarno government.

A prolific contributor to several publications at that time,
Gie was daring, frank and unbending in his ideals; a quality
unmatched in his successors until today.

Leading a modest life, he once sent a lipstick and a mirror to
former fellow student activists who sold out later and became the
very legislators they used to criticize.

His idealistic approach, however, often left him isolated, but
he could not care less. An avid mountain climber, Gie died in
1969 while scaling Mount Semeru in East Java.

Riri Riza's film is the first to portray Gie's life.

It begins in Gie's teenage years, set in a Chinese-Indonesian
neighborhood. The film started out well and continued so for the
first half-hour, although the pace was too slow, and the audience
finds out the critical, idealistic and anxious character of the
young Gie (played quite well by newcomer Jonathan Mulia).

These traits are revealed in how he sticks up for the poor,
how he stood up for his best friend, Han, who was physically
abused by his family, and other scenes.

The excellent cinematography, the intricate setting with great
details promised that better things lay ahead over the next two
hours.

Unfortunately, it does not deliver. The characters are
portrayed in a superficial manner -- for example, Gie likes to
read, speak up, watch art films -- distancing the viewers instead
of letting us relate to him, let alone be inspired by him.

Gie is also overwrought by lame and preachy lines about
politics, which leaves the impression that the filmmaker does not
really have knowledge on this subject, but is hardly trying to
cover it up.

Perhaps Riri should have focused on, say, the friendship
between Gie and Han, the latter of whom was a victim of the
massacre of Communists, as he was a sympathizer of the Indonesian
Communist Party (PKI). Or maybe he could have focused on the
friendship between the activists, or Gie as a rare-breed activist
hailing from the Chinese-Indonesian community.

Instead of focusing on a specific theme or event, it appears
Riri was trying to tell too many things at once, that the movie
became a montage of events and is often confusing, not to mention
dull.

In a bid to humanize Gie, Riri also inserted some mushy
romance, which only made the characters even more flawed.

The actors are not damaging to the film, but are not really
convincing in their portrayals either, particularly Nicholas,
whose average work here only reminded of criticisms as to why a
Eurasian actor was picked to play a Chinese-Indonesian.

Even the thematic score and songs on the original soundtrack
are baffling. The already unimpressive music should have been
subtle, but instead it often drowns out the narration. And then
suddenly, a rock song blares on screen and (gasp!) it's Bob
Dylan's Like A Rolling Stone -- which is very much not in tune
with Gie's rigid portrayal and the tone of the film.

Nearing the end of the film, all we were waiting for was the
moment Gie dies. Which is, needless to say, really, really sad.