No escape from Hollywood for local moviegoers

By Bruce Emond

JAKARTA (JP): Any discussion of the "local film scene" is a nebulous contradiction in terms, considering that the Indonesian movie industry has been on its last legs for most of this decade.

There were brief signs of life this year as the much-touted Fatahillah, a biopic about the Islamic founder of Jakarta, gained a spot in the city's plush movie theaters.

But all the gushing statements about Fatahillah heralding a revival in Indonesian big screen fortunes proved to hold as much water as the plots of locally produced television miniseries, the majority of which have defied all rational and feasibility quotients to gain loyal viewer followings.

Unrestrained melodrama, wooden acting to rival Ali MacGraw on her worst (best?) days and outlandish plots bearing no relation to reality -- the very failings cited by director Teguh Karya five years ago as contributing to the film industry's doldrums -- have made an overwhelmingly successful transition, thank you very much, to the small screen.

No surprises, then, that schmaltz and glitz dispatched by Tinseltown continued to play for the masses in movie theaters.

What Hollywood producers believe will play in Peoria -- formulaic sex and violence templates for box office success, or Demi striving once again to perfect her craft and show that an actress of substance is lurking beneath all that jiggling silicone -- are also assumed to pack them in at movie houses in Padang, Pekalongan or Palu.

Which is probably true. Unfortunately, this blinkered pursuit of the bottom line narrows the definition of what is acceptable, or deemed as such by the powers that be, for local audiences.

The sweeping, grandiose love story of The English Patient is given the nod of assent, but the more intimate, poignant tale of Secrets and Lies, which falls into that exclusionary category of "women's" picture, won't get bums in seats, to put it crudely, and didn't get the go-ahead for the trip.

Romeo and Juliet, taking Will's little tale and bringing it up to date -- sun-drenched California, Romeo popping an E or two to get him in the party spirit, a drag queen Mercurio teetering on his high heels -- also played locally, no doubt on the strength of pretty boy Leonard Di Caprio's teen appeal.

Yes, they kept the old language, but that's where Cliff Notes come in.

Teen

The teen market, of course, is not to be underestimated, or wasn't until the rupiah crisis cut into their families' largesse.

What else would account for the popularity of Tom Hanks' That Thing You Do, with luscious-lipped Liv Tyler mouthing off in the lightweight but feel-good pic about a teen band on the make.

That emotional minefield named Madonna landed her dream part and, surprisingly to many, turned out a convincing, finely tuned performance in Evita.

Cynics may have cruelly sniped that it was no stretch for our very own material girl to play the manipulative Argentine leader who used sex to get ahead, but then, what would they know?

But even Madonna's acting and the stunning Andrew Lloyd-Webber-Tim Rice soundtrack didn't convince all viewers, including the perplexed man sitting behind me at Senayan Plaza muttering "'kok nyanyi 'aja?" ("Why is there just singing?").

He could have spent his time trying to do some Lourdes- spotting as a pregnant Madonna tried to disguise her growing midriff behind strategically draped furs, bouquets and, that old standby, lounging behind a piano.

Divine Demi went through her acting machinations not once, but twice this year.

The woman who knew the meaning of girl power before the Spice Girls had donned their first bustiers stood firm and proud as she trod her way through her choice of film roles.

See Demi rough it in a trailer park, juggle child-rearing responsibilities (her very own daughter, Rumor) and maintain her personal integrity while showing off her amazingly buffed body -- "she can look like that on a diet of Cheetos and diet coke" a companion exclaimed -- in a sleazy Florida strip joint (Stripper).

Then she did her own stint in the army as GI Jane, which included spouting off expletives, shaving her gorgeous locks right there for viewer consumption and, once again, revealing just how toned a 36-year-old woman with four children can look if she gets paid US$12 million a picture.

She didn't belt out her rendition of I am Woman, but you half expected her to.

Apart from Bound, a S and M foray into lesbian sex notable mainly for the frank treatment by Gina Gershon and Jennifer Tilly, another women-centered movie was the popular First Wives Club.

Granted, a trio of middle-aged women exacting revenge on deadbeat husbands may not conform to feminist treatises on real gains in equality. Likewise, Diane Keaton going through the same old routine of lah-dee-dah airhead dating back to Annie Hall is an acquired taste.

But sleek, witty Goldie Hawn was right on as the falling star trying to hang onto fading youth under the surgeon's knife and the preservative qualities of alcohol.

Creatures

Creature features -- in which strange life forms threaten to lay waste to the earth -- got their contemporary take in Men in Black, with Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones battling marauding aliens wanting a piece of the American pie. Hats off to the special effects team, Jones' understated performance and a thankless but witty turn by Linda Fiorentino as the film's token female interest.

At the end of the year, the nature-strikes-back schlock plot device was utilized once again in Mimic. Ants, bees, sharks, rats and nearly every other member of the animal kingdom have been done to death, but cockroaches? Not your garden variety roach, mind you, but ones which assume anthromorphic qualities in outwitting their squeamish human foes.

The film also pointed to the lack of screen presence of Mira Sorvino.

In contrast to a film heavyweight like Hawn, Sorvino looks like she should be leading a glee club meeting. She may have won an Academy Award for Mighty Aphrodite but she suffers the same problem as Marisa Tomei, unable to single-handedly carry a film without the additional muscle of big name stars.

Other big budget, big name Hollywood imports at the end of the year included The Game, with Michael Douglas in an all style, little substance diversion; Bruce Willis in The Jackal, which lacked the teeth of its inspiration, The Day of the Jackal, from 25 years ago; and The Peacemaker, in which George Clooney teamed with Nicole Kidman to fight terrorists and prove once and for all that he is in the major acting leagues.

For those wanting something off celluloid's beaten track, the only options were intermittent film festivals (ones from the Middle East early in the year and France this month were particularly noteworthy), or investment in a laser disc player.

Otherwise, it was Hobson's, or rather Hollywood's, choice on local movie screens.