New local films create stimulating phenomenon

New local films create stimulating phenomenon

Joko E.H. Anwar, Contributor, Jakarta

Local multiplexes this year experienced an unusual but inspiring
phenomenon which has not been seen for more than a decade, with
posters of locally-made movies displayed side by side at cinemas
-- a thrilling sight for those wishing for the resurrection of
Indonesian movie industry.

Still, with only 13 releases of locally-made movies this year
and an uncertain system of production and distribution, it's too
early to say if the industry has already made a comeback.

But as the local movie business gains its first real momentum
after years of non-existence, it is not too early to call for a
celebration.

This year, Jakarta suddenly became the city of movies, and
it's such a relief that local movies do not follow the same
pattern that the sinetron (local TV dramas) have.

Of all 13 releases this year, we can find teen romance,
historical drama, horror, comedy, action, documentary and kids'
movies.

The local film scene opened spectacularly this year with teen
romance hit Ada Apa dengan Cinta? (What's Up with Love?) directed
by Rudi Sudjarwo. The film immediately catapulted its newcomer
lead, Nicholas Saputra, to stardom.

After years of watching pretentious movies which hide behind
the tag "art films", Ada Apa dengan Cinta? was a breath of fresh
air for the local movie scene with its well-written script and
competent technicality.

Ada Apa dengan Cinta? is certainly the winner this year with
praise from critics and seen by 2.5 million viewers nationwide.

The movie was released at almost the same time as Ca Bau Kan,
an almost epic-scale historical drama directed by Nia Dinata. For
the film, Nia earned the Best New Director award at the Asia
Pacific Film Festival for her quite daring feature debut which
250,000 moviegoers saw.

Two films by veteran director Slamet Rahardjo Djarot, Marsinah
and Telegram, only received lukewarm acclaim from critics and
were seen by about 12,500 and 10,500 viewers respectively.

All four of the above films were shot on celluloid with costs
of around Rp 5 billion (around US$550,000) each.

The other nine movies released this year were shot on digital
video then transferred to celluloid with budgets ranging between
Rp 800 million to Rp 1.5 billion.

The best of these shot-on-video features is Riri Riza's
Eliana, Eliana which received a lot of praise from critics here
and abroad.

Unfortunately, the impressively stylish movie, produced by the
same team which did Ada Apa dengan Cinta?, failed to attract
large audiences and was only watched by 16,000 moviegoers.

A supposedly kid movie, Bendera (The Flag), which is directed
by Nan Achnas who also did last year's art-house favorite Pasir
Berbisik (Whispering Sands) was simply dead on arrival.

Though beautifully shot (by cinematographer Yadi Sugandi who
is responsible for beautiful pictures in Pasir Berbisik), Bendera
is too joyless and dark for kids to like and too pretentious for
adults.

The same fate befell kid's movie Trio Penjelajah Dunia (Globe-
Totting Trio) which only lasted a week at local cinemas with only
about 1,000 viewers.

At the time where kids are already familiar with 3-D animation
movies such as Monsters, Inc., and Shrek, it is understandable
that they were not very enthusiastic to see old-fashioned puppets
featured in Trio Penjelajah Dunia.

Audiences again filled up the seats at local multiplexes
showing Indonesian movies when American Pie-inspired comedy 5
Sehat 4 Sempurna (Healthy Five, Perfect Four) hit the big screen.

Poorly-made with embarrassing jokes, the movie proved once
again that local movie audiences are still very undemanding about
the quality of their entertainment.

Horror movie Titik Hitam (The Black Spot) which is still being
shown at cinemas here also confirmed the trend.

With a weak plot (written by Ada Apa dengan Cinta?'s co-writer
Jujur Prananto) and technically unimpressive, people are,
nonetheless, still going to the theater, presumably to see the
few frightening scenes offered by the movie.

Figures about the movie's performance at the box office are
not yet available to the public.

However, it seems the film's producers are happy about the
figures, since they already are talking about a sequel.

Another horror flick Kafir (Unbeliever, heathen) is still
playing at local multiplexes. The corny, unintentionally
hilarious movie will remind viewers of a local horror flick from
the 80's. However in its dopiness, it is more entertaining than
Titik Hitam.

Yet another teen romance Andai Ia Tahu (If He Only Knew) and
Garin Nugroho's interracial romance Aku Ingin Menciummu Sekali
Saja (I Want to Kiss You Just Once) conclude the year's film
scene.

This year was also notable because, believe it or not, a
locally produced documentary was shown at multiplexes.

However, the documentary entitled Student Movement in
Indonesia (May 12, 1998 - Dec. 17, 1998) which captures the
student demonstrations before and after former ruler Soeharto
stepped down from power, failed to attract local viewers, but won
acclaim abroad.

The release, however, showed a good sign that the 21 group is
now being supportive toward local filmmakers. The group was once
accused of taking a big part in putting local film businesses
into hibernation for refusing to show them at their multiplexes.
But this could also become a boomerang for the still-born local
film industry since if there is no quality control applied to
movies shown to the public, moviegoers will lose faith in locally
produced movies. The situation could lead to people staying away
from all local movies and would certainly kill the industry once
again.

This year Jakarta also hosted a couple of interesting film
festivals like JiFFest and the French Film Festival -- which
unfortunately were held at roughly the same time, making it hard
for people to go and watch all of them. Gala premieres of locally
made movies have also become routine.

While several independent film festivals can take credit for
urging many filmmaker wannabes to start making movies using a
minimum of equipment, the festivals should also take the blame
for making the filmmakers think they can feed the public with any
crap they produce.

Our locally made movies are certainly still far behind other
Asian countries which already produce worldwide hits such as The
Eye and The Ring.

However, as new talents continue to emerge on the local film
scene, competition will increase and hopefully the quality of our
movies will also improve. Next year will certainly be very
interesting to see how our local film industry progresses. Let's
sit back and watch!