The year 2010 actually gave me very few options in local filmgoing experience. The lack of variety in terms of cinema I go to and the films themselves made the whole experience almost forgettable, had it not for these following films (arranged by the date of viewing):
1. Duo Kribo (Indonesia, 1977, directed by Eduard Pesta Sirait)
For the past three years, Kineforum has done excellent work in bringing filmgoers in town to revisit classic Indonesian films through its annual program of Indonesian Film Month.
The program is made in conjunction of National Cinema Day at March 30.
Little did I expect that on one Sunday afternoon (March 14, 2010), I would be sucked in to a psychedelic world of Indonesian classic rock of 1970s, arguably the finest point of the genre historical timeline.
The print bears traces of its recent treatment, which leaves out with purple-ish spots in some scenes. The storyline may be tad simple with no room for subtlety, let alone proper character development.
Yet everyone involved, including then young Achmad Albar and Ucok AKA Harahap, who also penned the film with Remy Sylado, seemed to be taken to the core world of rock-n-roll, and it is a good thing to make a highly ecstatic viewing.
I watched it in the old studio of Kineforum (139 seats) that was packed with audiences, leaving a few sat on the floor. The closest I could get to relive the experience of local classic rock in cinema!
(Image courtesy of www.akumassa.org)
2. Bangkok Traffic (Love) Story (Thailand, 2009, directed by Adisorn Trisirikasem)
What's the next bad thing when your laughter got disrupted by electrical failure? Why, it's laughing at a genuinely funny romantic comedy and got disrupted by electrical failure, of course!
I watched the film for the first time in Blitzmegaplex Grand Indonesia sometime in April 2010. All alone on Thursday evening, I enjoyed the film thoroughly from the get-go, as scenes and characters continue to charm us ... Until the big screen stopped playing the film immediately, house lights were turned on, and after a few minutes, the film started again.
Started at the minute the film had stopped? No.
Being screened in digital format, the film took its time to find the right minute, switched back and forth, eventually we settled at a few minutes before the stopped.
Did the film continue playing smoothly? No.
The cycle of the whole film playing again - then stopped - then house lights were turned on - the film being replayed happened for not less than 4 times. Eventually, instead of laughing, audiences remained cautious, anticipating the power failure. Imagine: watching a romantic comedy with a serious, stern, and smile-less face!
And it happened again. The entire screening was canceled.
Was I shocked? You bet.
It took me three weeks to finally return to the same cinema to watch the film, and boy! I was truly captivated and won over by the film's charm.
It made me laugh, cry, and as far as make-believe necessary in making a romantic comedy work, the film gives a prime example of how magic should be created on big screen. The wholesome package entices you all through the end, and it only made the film dearly placed in my memory for a long time to come.
(Image courtesy of www.enjoythaicinema.com)
3. Piranha (USA, 2010, directed by Alexandre Aja)
Remake of the 1978 film of the same name, the updated version won over the film buff in me by putting Richard Dreyfuss in the middle of a lake, ready to be the first victim of the mammal. Get it? And about the concept of putting the introductory scene of first killing prior to the title, get it? But what I did not expect is the hilarity of the film!
I watched this on Saturday night (August 28) with three friends, and we could not stop laughing, sometimes intentionally pointing at fake corpses, genital parts and other scenes. Too bad we watched it in an upscale cinema in a posh shopping mall (as the norm of how local filmgoing experience is commonly done here). If only we watched it on a drive-in cinema or in a public outdoor cinema, those scenes would definitely induce booing, clapping and cat-calling that indicate nothing but pure fun! Censorship cuts were maniacally excising as many nudity scenes as possible, which in the end was a joke on its own.
Truly fun and riotous, indeed!
(Image courtesy of www.moviecastlist.com)
4. Dawai 2 Asmara (Indonesia, 2010, directed by Endri Pelita, Asep Kusdinar)
This might be the most unpretentious filmgoing experience I have this year.
After 17 years of absence on big screen, not even cameo, the king of dangdut Rhoma Irama returns to the big screen with the formula he knows how: shameless plugs of over-the-top dangdut scenes, keeping the storyline simple, and leave the rest to average-to-mediocre filmmaking at its best. Don't even analyze the half-baked, supposedly pivotal love story here.
Still, that doesn't mean some scenes are hardly original: nobody does musical scene in Jakarta's airport yet, and Indonesian film buff might be in treat for trivia of Rhoma Irama's own filmography!
Gladly I chose the film as my first Lebaran film. Saw this two days prior to Lebaran holiday, a period known as holy grail of Indonesian box office receipts, the cinema I went to was relatively empty, with less than half capacity being filled in.
Still, that didn't deter me from smiling, laughing, even clapping at selected scenes where I can't think of words other than "camp" that is done with genuine faith to the material. You'll be left with nothing but respect to still-under-appreciated dangdut genre!
(Image courtesy of www.21cineplex.com)
5. Soul Kitchen (Germany, 2009, directed by Fatih Akin)
The name Fatih Akin and the genre comedy are two distant entities that we never thought they would come together. But when they do appear in one sentence, we don't expect that it's going to be a madcap comedy that leaves people rolling on the floor laughing so hard it hurts!
Especially one did not expect the roaring laughter to fill a festival venue. Watched this on Monday night (November 8, 2010) during Europe on Screen, I saw a rarity of Erasmus Huis (350 seats) being a full-house venue, despite being an auditorium without proper cinematic seating system. Yet, that did not stop audiences from bringing the house down with laughter, sometimes often commenting on scenes which I did not find annoying. Another rarity, indeed, as if it was a genuine open-air cinema experience (strange: I find the English translation of layar tancap has a less immediate accessible approach) that one does not get to experience in many international film festivals in the country. Yes, critical observation may find the film being, perhaps, the weakest link from Fatih's impressive dramatic filmography. But the light breeze of how the film unfolds seems to show how Fatih might be having a good time making the film, because we, the audiences, clearly have a rollicking good time watching it.
(Image courtesy of www.thefilmstage.com)
6. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall The Past Lives (Thailand, 2010, directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
"If I get to see the film *finally* on big screen, I'll cry!"
That's the statement I made to my friend at the desperate hour of getting the film here. Scheduled for screening at this year's JIFFest, we got the film quite at the last minute as we did not expect that either The Match Factory (the film's distributor) or in fact the director himself, Joe, had actually booked the film for the festival. Then there were the disastrous delays: from Cologne to Goa to Chiang Mai to Denver to finally Jakarta, it was a nightmare for me and my fellow JIFFest team in programming department, as the finally came after being late for a few days, and we switched to another shipping company.
The dramatic moment, indeed.
But such drama was predictably absent on big screen. I saw the film one day after the festival officially ended, as we put up a special screening for Friends of JIFFest on Monday (December 6, 2010). It was a surreal experience indeed. I have to confess that prior to the film, I only saw one film by Apichatpong on big screen, i.e. Tropical Malady. It was weird, challenging and unforgettable. The lack of narrative linear structure allows Joe to invite us in his meditative world, switching back and forth between dream and reality the way Christopher Nolan might not imagine.
Being a mystical and mythical film, watching it on the eve of Islamic New Year's holiday (often referred by Javanese as "Malam 1 Suro" that has been made into urban legends in films and literature works) heightens the otherworldly quality of the film. After all, Joe purely made a subtle horror with equally 'hidden' slapstick comedy approach, which all in all, has made the film strangely accessible to anyone dare enough to open their mind for a filmgoing experience unlike any others.
Thus, it completes the journey for this year.
(Image courtesy of www.tribute.ca)
But what about another films that leave me stunned and speechless?
Intentionally I avoid repeated entries for this year's listing.
Thus, come back tomorrow and the days after for Top 10 Films of 2010!
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