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!