Ada Apa dengan Indonesian Movies?

Ada Apa dengan Indonesian Movies?

It's a long weekend for me--Monday is a public holiday here. As usual I have tons of things to do over the next three days.

I've been so busy that I haven't watched a movie for over a month. The last one that I watched was T3: Rise of the Machines. It's been a long time too since I've watched a good local Indonesian movie. Last year I thoroughly enjoyed Ada Apa Dengan Cinta and Eliana, Eliana.

Ada Apa Dengan Cinta is a teenage love story but it's pacing, cinematography, soundtrack and acting are so well done that I think Malaysian film-makers can learn a lot from it. This is what a regular, run-of-the-mill commercial movie should look like. The movie was also released in the Malaysian market early part of this year and was quite a hit, from what I read in the press.

Its chief attraction are its two beautiful stars: the delectable Dian Sastrowardoyo and the dashing Nicholas Saputra. I also watched Dian Sastro in the Christine Hakim-produced movie, Pasir Berbisik. This movie is even much more impressive in terms of cinematography and acting--Dian Sastro gave a performance deserving of a standing ovation. The movie also won a lot of awards in the international circuit.

Eliana Eliana was equally astounding. Though the cinematography looks poor because it was actually an experimental work shot with an amateur video camera, director Riri Riza was able to convey so much using such a limited canvas. It takes the viewer over one night in Jakarta together with a mother and daughter as they wandered through the "pojok-pojok kelam" (dark corners) of Jakarta in search of a missing friend, in the process, thrashing out their differences and bitterness against each other.

The movie made me a great fan of Rachel Maryam who played the title lead. I actually went to watch the movie three times last year---all at different theatres!

Not sure if I have time to watch a movie this weekend. I have a lunch appointment with Ibu Titi later. Maybe I'll check out the movie theatres after that. I love my weekends in Jakarta.