Slamet wants to bring Marsinah back from the grave

Slamet wants to bring Marsinah back from the grave

By Gotot Prakosa

JAKARTA (JP): With his latest film Telegram just released in
Europe and the United States, film director Slamet Rahardjo is
now working on another film called Marsinah.

This is a film about Marsinah, a young female factory worker
who became a heroine when she was tortured and murdered by a
tyrannical power.

Gunawan Mohamad, a noted cultural activist, said that Marsinah
was a clear but painful symbol of human rights violation. She was
found dead in a hamlet in Nganjuk, East Java, and her mutilated
body showed that human rights were not a mere topic of discussion
or an imported commodity that only important people can lay their
hands on. The place where Marsinah was killed at the age of 23
was not a field of soft turf.

Slamet Raharjo is interested in turning Marsinah's tragic
story into celluloid while the real story itself is still tightly
wrapped in mystery, just like many other similar stories related
to human rights violations which are much talked about in
Indonesia and in the international arena.

Marsinah, a high school graduate, and some fellow workers on
May, 1993 went on strike at the watch-making factory PT Catur
Putra Surya, in Porong, Sidoardjo, where they worked. They
demanded a raise in their daily wage from Rp 1,700 to Rp 2,250
which is the government stipulated minimum wage. The management
granted the demand for the raise. However, Marsinah, was
abducted, locked and tortured. An iron rod and a wooden stick
were driven into her genitalia. Her body was dumped in a area
close to her birth place in Nganjuk, Yogyakarta.

Marsinah was proclaimed the worker's heroine. On Dec. 10,
1993, she posthumously received the Yap Thiam Hien human rights
award in Jakarta.

Slamet, a prolific film maker, in cooperation with Gusti
Randa, who is the producer of the film, is now shooting the film
in Yogyakarta.

"The film is being shot in Yogyakarta because most of the
people who were involved in Marsinah's life are still living,"
Slamet said.

His also wants to make this film into a poem of sorts,
something that even a layman can understand. To him Marsinah was
an ordinary person leading an ordinary life.

Slamet reconstructed Marsinah's life with the help of a
Yogyakarta-based theatrical group. Masinah is played by
Margarita, a student of the theatrical department of the Jakarta
Arts Institute who was once cast in a short film titled Hati Hati
Malam Malam (Be Careful At Night) which was a success at the
recent JiFFest 2000.

Born in Serang on Jan. 21, 1949, Slamet entered the film world
when he joined Teguh Karya's Teater Populer. In 1971 he was cast
for the first time in Teguh's film titled Wajah Seorang Laki-Laki
(Face of a Man). After having acted in a number of Teguh's films,
Slamet, in 1979, directed his first film Rembulan dan Matahari
(The Moon and the Sun).

Many thought that Slamet would follow Teguh's footsteps in
terms of film directing. Slamet, however, differs from his
teacher. He explores his culture in greater profundity than his
teacher. Many did not quite make head or tail of the
cinematographic plot of his maiden film, which, unlike most
feature films at the time, did not assume a linear format. He
attempted to portray, in his own way, the philosophical
significance of a Javanese. The result was a personal expression
not many people could comprehend. Many agree, however, with this
film, the novice film maker has positioned himself as an "art"
film maker.

In the 1980 Indonesian Film Festival, the film won several
citations but was a flop in the market. So Slamet tried to depart
from the style of his first film and also attempted to fathom the
wishes of the market with his later films such as Semerah
Bibirnya, Seputih Hatinya (As Red as Her Lips, As White as Her
Heart, 1981), Kembang Kertas (Paper Flower, 1983) and Kodrat
(Destiny, 1985). Although some of his later films won a number of
citations, they were not commercially successful, evidence that
the market is indeed difficult to guess.

In 1986 Slamet made an art film titled Ponirah Terpidana
(Convicted Ponirah), which was imbued with traditional and
contemporary elements. To foreign observers, the final part of
the film, a scene in a red-light district in Jakarta, damages
Slamet's solid vision. Slamet had intentionally inserted this
scene to present life in urban Jakarta, his place of residence.

Slamet has always told his colleagues that he considered D.
Djayakusuma his teacher because it was through him that he got
his traditional footing on which to make films. This footing is
apparent every time he makes a film with a traditional setting.
When he makes a film, he always tries to associate it with his
environment and he seems to be in control of his creative space.
Slamet turns small visual and audio elements which may escape
other people's notice into charm and strength in his films.

His most laudable film among film critics, at home and abroad,
is Langitku Rumahku (My Sky My Home, 1990). His brother Eros
Djarot of Ekapraya Film, produced this film. With this film,
Slamet, Eros and their colleagues had to confront the national
film company, PT Perfin, as they felt that its distribution was
being obstructed. Ekapraya was regarded as opposition because
they opposed the government-sanctioned monopoly of film
distribution. They lost the legal battle.

But Slamet kept on making films. He accepted a project to make
an Omnibus film titled Southern Wind (1992) which was a
combination of a number of short films. It was financed by NHK
and is a combination of the works of four directors from
Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Japan.

'Correspondence film'

He also got an offer from film director Kohei Oguri to make a
"correspondence film", a film comprising the works of Oguri and
Slamet. Oguri made a film based on his interpretation of Slamet's
maiden work, Rembulan, while Slamet did the same with Oguri's
Sungai Berlumpur (Muddy River). The combined film is just like a
piece of letter beginning with "How are you, how are you
faring" ..... and so on, in a visual form, certainly.

Slamet has tried to explore cinematography. On the one hand,
the exploration strengthened his commitment to films and on the
other he provided an alternative to the national films which have
become stagnant.

Slamet's career has also developed socially. He is now
accepted in various film circles. He was appointed member of the
National Film Council and when the film council was replaced by
the National Film Advisory Board, Slamet was elected chairman of
a commission. He has also been elected chairman of the
Association of Film and Television Workers, a position he has
assumed until now.

Slamet has also cashed in on the TV boom. He made short TV
series such as Soero Boeldog (1993) , Tajuk (Editorial, 1995)
which was on journalism and Oh, Ibu dan Ayah ( Oh, Mama and Papa,
1997) on population control.

His latest full-length feature film Telegram (1998) is based
on Putu Wijaya's novel of the same title.

Slamet always tries to face challenges. He believes that every
problem has a solution and each time he makes a film there will
be different problems.

The emergence of young filmmakers such as Mira Lesmana, who is
associated with I-Sinema and one who is resolved in making
independent films, do not in the least discourage Slamet. He has
increasingly shown himself to be a film maker with class and
quality that even his peers, let alone the younger generation,
find it difficult to be on a par with.