Step inside 'Being John Malkovich' for alternative fun

Step inside 'Being John Malkovich' for alternative fun

By Hartoyo Pratiknyo

JAKARTA (JP): Those who subscribe to the credo that suspension
of disbelief is a major element of the filmmaker's art should
make it a point to see Being John Malkovich, which will be shown
Sunday, Nov. 5, at the Djakarta Theater. One of 117 entries in
the ongoing Jakarta International Film Festival (JiFFest), the
film is easily one of the weirdest and most impossible movies
made in recent years.

Graig Schwartz (John Cusack), a down-on-his-luck puppeteer
scanning the newspapers for a job, lands himself a position as a
filing clerk in an office located on the 7 1/2th floor of a
Central New York building. Reporting for work, he steps into the
elevator where a kind lady is luckily on hand to help him stop it
between the 7th and 8th floor and to pry open the door with a
crowbar.

Craig finds himself in the corridor of an office with ceilings
so low that everybody must walk around stooped ("to keep the
overhead low").

Even at this point it should be clear to the viewer that the
story about to unfold will bear as little semblance to reality as
Alice in Wonderland.

But the madness begins in earnest when Craig discovers hidden
behind one of the filing cabinets in his office a little door,
which opens onto a sort of portal that leads directly into the
brain of John Malkovich, one of America's most popular actors,
allowing one to see the world through his eyes. After about 15
minutes, the ride ends and the visitor -- or traveler -- is
dumped at the side of a New Jersey turnpike.

Craig initially keeps the discovery to himself, but he becomes
attracted to Maxine, a sexy fellow office worker played superbly
by Catherine Keener, and to get closer to her he lets her in on
the secret. Together they set up a company -- appropriately
called J.M. Inc. -- to allow ordinary people to experience what
it is like to be John Malkovich, even if just for 15 minutes, for
US$200 a trip.

One can imagine the many consequences involved if all this
were possible. What if someone could actually enter someone's
body and see and experience all the things the "host" is
experiencing? How would it affect his or her life? What if
someone else could control our mind and body the way a puppeteer
controls his puppets? What if a man enters a women's brain or
vice versa?

Absurd complications abound. Things start getting rather
complex when Craig's wife Lotte becomes addicted to being John
Malkovich and lets herself, as Malkovich, be seduced by Maxine.
In another hilarious moment in the film, lunatics dwell in
Malkovich's head as he is busy studying Shakespeare and starts
acting crazily.

However, all that's good must come to an end. Malkovich
discovers that something funny is going on in his head and begins
investigating. He discovers the secret of the portal, and to see
what everyone is seeing and experiencing while they are being
him, he forces his way into the portal and takes the trip
himself. He enters his brain and gets into one of the most absurd
situations someone can encounter. He lands in a room filled with
Malkoviches in which the only dialog consists of the words
"Malkovich, Malkovich ... Malkovich".

The craziest thing about the whole absurd plot is that it
works. One may not exactly be led to suspend one's disbelief, yet
one can easily accept the possibility that such a change of
persona -- and not necessarily by the means such as the film
suggests -- might just be possible, and to ponder the
consequences. On the one hand this is due to the splendid acting
by everyone involved, and on the other to Jonze's witty
direction.

The film's ending feels a little bit artificial, but the
comedy is never crude or slapstick. Not bad for the first feature
film by a man known mostly for his prize-winning commercials and
clever MTV music videos.

Saturday's film list:

Surat untuk Bidadari, 4:55 p.m., The Thin Blue Line, 7:05
p.m., Aguire or The Wrath of God, 9:15 p.m., at TIM 1.

Petualangan Sherina, 5:35 p.m., Nang Nak, 7:45 p.m., Long
Night Journey into the Day, 9:45 p.m., TIM 2. Cyclo, 1 p.m.,
Taxandria, 3:15 p.m., Hana Bi, 5:30 p.m., Eating Air, 7:45 p.m.,
Plaza Senayan theater.

Ratcatcher, 5:30 p.m., Not One Less, 7:45 p.m., High Fidelity,
10 p.m., Jakarta theater.

Invitation to a Wedding, 5 p.m., Punitive Damage, 7:15 p.m.,
Under Suspicion, 9:30 p.m., PPHUI, Pusat Perfilman Usmar Ismail,
Jl. H.R. Rasuna Said, Kav. 22, South Jakarta, phone 5268458).

For more information, call JiFFest office at 9238364.