How military calls the shots in Indonesian cinema
How military calls the shots in Indonesian cinema
Film, Ideologi dan Militer: Hegemoni Militer dalam Sinema
Indonesia (Film, Ideology and the Military: The Military Hegemony
in Indonesian Cinema); By Budi Irawanto; Media Pressindo-Yogyakarta,
October 1999; xxiv + 221 pages.
JAKARTA (JP): Civilian-military relations have experienced
changes during Indonesia's short history. Civil supremacy
occurred only once, when a stab was taken at a democratic system
from 1945 to 1955, a period which is continually referred to when
people talk about attempts to make democracy a reality.
What ensued was that the military moved through every order of
governance, from domination to hegemony. A historian from Gadjah
Mada University, Suhartono, noted the military began to realize
it was a peculiar group different from the rest of society when a
professional Indonesian armed forces was founded. The seeds of
military domination strengthened due to the acknowledgement of
the military's achievements in the area of national defense and
security. The role intensified and became excessive in the
Soeharto era, with military power penetrating into every corner
of everyday life.
The rise of Abdurrahman Wahid and Megawati Soekarnoputri to
political ascendancy in the relatively democratic elections last
year has compelled the military to take a somewhat equal position
to civilians. Nonetheless, militarism and military regimentation
have not vanished. It is shown, at least, by the many posts
available for military members in the Cabinet and legislature,
and the use of nonbudgetary funds for its operation. It is,
perhaps, a reasonable consequence of the political transformation
originating after the previous authoritarian regime. We still
have to wait for the results of civilian-military interaction in
determining the rules of their social and political practice in
this transitional stage.
Budi Irawanto makes an interesting attempt to explore the
military hegemony in Indonesian cinema. His book starts from the
assumption that politics is not the only way by which power is
retained. The other way is the arts, because everything artistic
is always political. Power needs monuments, museums, statues,
state cemeteries and various icons to arouse collective imaginary
in the glory of power.
The author chooses film as the main topic because it
"influences society and it is more sensitive to the culture of
society than monographs written by historians". On that account,
he agrees with Karl Heider (1991) that films provide important
clues to understand present-day views of the past. Enam Jam di
Yogya (Six Hours in Yogya, 1951), Janur Kuning (The Yellow
Coconut Leaf, 1979), and Serangan Fajar (The Dawn Attack, 1981)
are the films reviewed in the book. Each film deals with
Indonesia's struggle for independence.
The first film was directed by Usmar Ismail in cooperation
with the National Film Committee (PERFINI). It was produced when
the country was consolidating itself, and when the military and
civilian groups were beginning to drift apart. It was the time
when the military was establishing itself as an institution with
its own interests. PT Metro 77 and PT Karya Mandiri produced
Janur Kuning; it was directed by Alam Rengga Surawijaya.
Arifin C. Noer directed Serangan Fajar in 1981 at the
recommendation of the State Film Production Center (PPFN) of
which Brig. Gen. G. Dwipayana was the chairman of the body as
well as a private assistant to then president Soeharto.
The latter two films are interesting because the period from
1970 to 1980 was when Soeharto completed his bid to fortify his
political power. Military dominance in all social and political
fields became insurmountable, with civilians systematically
marginalized. The military kept the people under its thumb by
placing military personnel in sociopolitical institutions and
other bodies controlling economic sectors. Film was another
approach to bolster its unconquerable supremacy over the civilian
sector.
It seems that Irawanto is unsatisfied with deductive reasoning
usually employed in the content analysis method, using instead
the semiotics approach. His view is based on the concept of
Graeme Turner that film is unlike other media because it is not
merely a representation or even a record of reality, but it
constructs and represents reality via codes, conventions, myths
and ideologies of its own culture in unique signification
practices.
The three films represent the superiority of the armed
struggle during the Indonesian Revolution from 1945 to 1949 but
they also suggest an attempt to undermine the peaceful diplomacy
of the civilian struggle. Underlying Irawanto's argument is the
conclusion that Indonesian cinema is not merely a form of
entertainment but also a tool to preserve the military hegemony
in the country. As Eros Djarot notes in his foreword, the book is
a pathfinder for anyone to investigate the intricate design of
civilian-military relations in Indonesia.