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Dead Time: Kala (2007)
A Breakthrough of Indonesian Movies!
When I first heard about the movie being made, I don't believe any Indonesian filmmakers will be able to do it. Once upon a time, in a city where Apocalypse is drawing near (quite similar with Jakarta situation at present), five men was burned to death near a market. The story then leads us to the investigation by local Detective, Eros, and a narcoleptic reporter, Janus, who will soon realize that they're involved in big government conspiracy and some mystical Javanese myths about the rise of Queen of Justice. Wow! It's like JFK meets The Mummy.
Joko Anwar took the risk and made it. The result : HE DID IT! Simple as that! The city looks genuine and well-polished, the camera work is astounding (Noir style), the characters are strong and believable, and the story...OH MY GOD! How he combined several genres into a movie is an absolute perfection. I cannot stop watching! And Joko gives an unusual twist at the ending, a genre twist! There are indeed several drawbacks, but all is technical because of the budget. But still, it is a magnificent movie.
Joko Anwar worked very hard to create a new standard for Indonesian Movie and he accomplished that. Now, I only pity him because in his next movie, he has to work even harder. Otherwise, I'll be very disappointed.
Warai no daigaku (2004)
A good comedy about writing a comedy
Writing comedy is hard, especially, if you have to face an authoritarian, ex-soldier censor officer who never laughed all his life and was proud of it. That's the premise of this extraordinary movie which is set in Japan during WWII. It is originally a play, so we can hope for tons and tons of witty dialogs between the young playwright and the censor officer. The former is struggling to get approval of his next comedy script while the latter is determined to close down all theater performances in the city, simply because "
it is inappropriate to get a few laughs during this time of war
" Then, suddenly, the movie turns into a lesson of how to write a good comedy as the censor officer keeps criticizing the script and demands changing. There are lots of warm and funny moments, but toward the ending, it suddenly becomes tense and heartbreaking. It almost becomes a tragedy. The whole movie is basically played by those two characters. Other characters can easily be extras. The setting is very minimalist as nearly 80 percent of the movie is located inside the interrogation room. The message we can get from this movie is that there is always comedy inside anybody's life, whether you want it or not. It is no use denying it. Just as it is no use denying not to like this incredible movie once you see it.
Batoru rowaiaru (2000)
metaphor
Most of my friend dislikes the movie because there's too much violence and there's no way in million years that any government would do such a thing to their kids. It's just too gory and illogical, they say. Well, if you look at it that way, then I don't blame you. But if you look at it in a different way, like I do and many of you who really likes the movie, then I'll bet you would think that this is an excellent, groundbreaking movie.
The whole movie is a metaphor. That's it. A metaphor of what? Well, it can be anything, depends on your backgrounds. And that's why the movie is very intelligent.
Anybody ever read "The Long Walk" by Stephen King? It's about a bunch of teenage kids who have to walk until there's only one winner, or, like Battle Royale, one survivor. Somehow there are similarities between the novel and the movie. Both of them do not make any sense unless you look at it as a metaphor.
Battle Royale is banned in several countries because of the graphic violence by children. But to me, Battle Royale is one of the most anti-violence movie there is. It's a movie that "slaps" people on the face. And I like to be "slapped" by a movie. Don't anyone?