AMERICAN GANGSTER

(Universal Pictures)
Runtime: 158 min

With a corny title, American Gangster should live up to its premises, blood, violence, a bit about existensialism, greed, bad cop doing honest stuff and a “normal” ending.

Gangster, the word which rhymes better if it puts on the same sentence with some director from New York, got a Ridley Scott treatment, packed with period detail and violent energy once Martin Scorsese had but with less profanity than GoodFellas.

Before I watch it I presume that this film will pay homage to The Untouchables, Serpico, The Godfather even some Harlem crime drama, but there was no homage at all, it was a pure gangster story with the spirit of those film.

Ridley brings two heavyweights contender, Denzel and Russel. It’s just like seeing Ali vs Frazier, with Denzel throws enough punch to nab him a nomination and outshine Russel.

Denzel play nasty, he kicks, punch and shoot anyone on his way, while Russel is not a nice cop who reminds you of Serpico, his marriage has fallen apart and refusing to take a million dollar made him notrious among his peers.

This is the real story of Frank Lucas, a heroin smuggler who defies all gravity while everyone was sucked in to Vietnam war, even the authority consider him above the mafia. Frank went to South Asia, distributes the new blue magic and made a shitload of fortune out of it. This is the embodiment of the American Dream: the corporate way of lie, kill, cheat and success as killer instinct. Everything went well, until Richie Roberts (Russel Crowe) spot him on Ali-Frazier night. After all only an intoxicated Paris Hilton wouldn’t notice a man with an overrated mink coat that sits at the front row.

What follow is the cat and mouse game with the climax where both of the heavyweight contender finaly share the same screen and throws acting punches that will make you gasp. If you like to glorify crime, this is the perfect flick.

CHANTS OF LOTUS (Perempuan Punya Cerita)

(Kalyana Shira Films)
Runtime: 109 min

In the land where most local movies are about shallow pursuits, this film stands out to make a bold statement on woman’s right.

Basically it is a four in one film, made by four Indonesian female directors (Nia Dinata, Upi, Lasja F. Susatyo, and Fatimah T. Rony) consisted of four heartbreaking stories, Cerita Pulau, Cerita Yogya, Cerita Cibinong and Cerita Jakarta.

Here you got the real story of four Indonesian woman in the verge of madness, a midwife who got a breast cancer but conducting abortion on a raped girl in a tiny island (kudos to Rachel Maryam acting as an autistic girl), Safina, a highschool girl and her sex experiment accompanied by her peers loose (and irresponsible) attitude on sex, charged by bootleg porn DVDs, a single mother who works as a janitor for a dangdut pub in Cibinong (rural area) and trapped in child trafficking scheme. In this segment most of the dialogs were in Sundanese (with Indonesian subtitle), kudos for Shanty and Sarah Sechan and the last segment about a young mother in Jakarta who have to face the reality that she got AIDS from her drug addict husband and try to keep her daughter.

Shot in HD, the picture was not as bright as 35 mm, but that is not a big problem. Bitter reality and diversity of Indonesia’s daily life depicted convincingly, from the dark room of a dangdut pub to the clean look on Jakarta’s life, the story packs enough punch in a country where most films are shallow in terms of theme.

Surely the women (and me) were distraught seeing how so many women in this country were mistreated because of the ongoing poverty and the lack of access to good education. This is a major eye opener, with abortion and child trafficking theme told in a dramatic way. Sadly, the censorship board censors some scenes abruptly, disturbing the unity of the film. I think the film should be seen uncensored, since it will make the message bolder.

The most potent segment was from the last one, Laksmi an HIV + infected mother who have to survive from her disease and child costudy battle with her in-laws. How Laksmi has to let her daughter being taken away and silently watch the rain pours on a bus window left a deafening silence. That sort of scene has been re do and re shoot by many Indonesian films, a scene where the main characters feels mellow and stare blankly at the bus window, but this one is totally different. Given the powerful backstory, the viewers were left with the deafening sound of silence seeing Laksmi continue her fight with AIDS.

In Indonesian cinemas starting from 17 January 2008. Don't miss it!

Photo by Syamsul Hadi, taken from Kalyana Shira Films Press Kit CD, resized to fit internet bandwith.

THE NAMESAKE

I never felt like an immigrant, so I have to work hard understanding this film and I have never seen any of Mira Nair’s film, until this one. With a poetic title, I expect nothing much although I am pleased that this got to be a unique Indian cinema where no characters suddenly burst out from a scene to dance and sing, thus the story aren’t as boring as the usual Indian film.

The visual style is appealing, from the crowded street in India to the shaven and clean looks of New York streets and the wonder of Taj Mahal. Since this film was taken from a book, I expect many things botched out, and my expectation on this is fulfilled. Many gaps left, makes me have to imagine what happened in between those gaps.

I never heard the name Irrfan Khan, but Tabu is quite famous for Bollywood movie goers in Indonesia, she is beautiful and talented, while Kal Penn is more famous for "Harold & Kumar" which the sequel for that film due to be released this April.

Spanning a quarter of century, the story is moving too fast (the make up on Tabu is not very convincing), concerning the fate of a Bengali family who moved to New York and has to adjust themselves to the new situation, the kid, Nikhil/Gogol (Not the name of some Russian General in James Bond films) has problems with his names.

So this is the problem, where culture and values clashes and how this Indian family, especially Gogol, have to face that obstacle. The search for a good name in this film becomes a lyrical metaphor for the character's own struggle to assert his identity. I guess it tells the story of American Dream, on how immigrants have the dreams in the new country, while the kids grow up to be a different person and the cultures merge each other.

I am curious on how this film will be accepted in India, since it has short duration plus nobody sings and biref nudity, will it capture the heart and soul of non immigrant Indian? Or will it be banned? Since in India, Indian movies are forbid to show on-screen kiss.

LIONS FOR LAMBS

“I am never afraid of an army of Lions led into battle by a Lamb. I fear more the army of Lambs who have a Lion to lead them”

-Alexander the Great-

I was reluctant to watch this film, since the reviews aren’t as expected. But the hot topic of U.S. politics attracts me. Too bad the Tom Cruise factor gave this film a bad distraction, surely it will draws attention but in the other hand it will also attracts girls who has a serious distate for political movies like this. With three interconnected stories, the one with the senator (Meryl Streep act very impressively here) and A lecturer with his student and two buddies trapped in Afghanistan, the political weigh was enormous since this film was made on ideas, not characters.

This film is a snapshot of 2007; it confines the anger and frustation of some Americans regarding their tiresome war against terrorism. Had someone watch this film 20 years later, it would have a different review. It’s not a simple tale of good and bad, this is a search of which one is good and which one is bad, and this film gives substantial amount to the grey areas.

Tête-à-tête between Jasper Irving (Tom Cruise), a hawkish Republican Senator with acerbic journalist Janine Roth (Meryl Streep) was appealing, although a bit jaded and sounded like an audio version of New York Times editorial. But the segment with Robert Redford and his student is very interesting, on how Robert say that the ignorant will have to pay the price of their ignorance.

Ignorance among university students, that sounds very familiar to me. As an ex university student myself I found this ignorant phenomena very close. Sure the students are the the one who makes the change in this country but huge amount of them are ignorant of everything in this world, all the care is how to get good grades, nice job and hefty amount of porn downloads plus a new PS3 or XBOX 360, nobody give a fuck about change and stuff these days. Do they read books? Rarely. As a country with 220++ million people, we only publish 15.000 book titles per year.

But they are proudly calling themselves an agent of change. Which agent of change who hails Transformers as the best film of all time?

Sordidly, most students here (in Indonesia) will buy Jasper Irving’s rhetoric instead of Janine’s and huge amount of anti war jargon in this film will not appeal moviegoers in Indonesia since most are unfamiliar with thick Americanism in this film. As far as I know this film only lasted two weeks at the cinemas with few copies, and as expected, less people watch this film, even with subtitles.

THE KITE RUNNER

"For you, a thousand times over."

(Paramount Vantage)

Directed by: Marc Forster

Marc Forster has broken my heart twice, from Finding Neverland to this one, an honest tale about cowardice, betrayal and redemption especially when it involves a traumatic event during one’s childhood that will continue to haunt them to the rest of their lives. The kite fighting scene was beautiful, remind me of my own childhood when I use to play kite myself, although Indonesian plays a different kite than the Afghan in this film.

I haven’t read the book and watch this film without any foreknowledge at all and I found this film to be amazing, the child actors are natural and by setting this in pre-9/11 Afghanistan, the production provides the viewer with a gut-level perspective of how repressive the Taliban was.

The film begins in the era before the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Childhood friends Amir (Zekeria Ebrahimi) and Hassan (Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada) are inseparable good friends despite their class differences - Amir is the son of a wealthy landowner and Hassan is the son of a servant. Such things matter little to the boys. They both are skilled in kite playing, in a scene depicting pre Soviet invasion of Afghanistan where the roads are colourful (which is changed into a desolate place as the Taliban reign), the kite fighting in the sky was depicted very convincing and plays a major role in this film. Then a terrible thing happened to Hassan and Amir, cowardly cannot do anything to save Hassan. Feeling guilty, Amir tries to redeem his sin badly. But the Soviet invasion changes their life.

Fast forward to 20 years later, Amir (Khalid Abdalla) is an author living in California with his wife, Soraya (Atossa Leoni). He receives a call from an old friend, Rahim Kahn (Shaun Toub), who urges him to return to Afghanistan. Amir is initially reluctant but eventually agrees. What he learns when he arrives not only shakes his belief but gives him a way to make good again.

The last part where Amir visit Afghanistan were very haunting, long gone those vibrant colours from the streets, even the trees in his former house were cut down. The Taliban are also worse, and one of them is from Amir’s past. The pic is authentic, given that most of its player is from Middle Eastern descent, so it gives a convincing nature. The song Supplication by Sami Yusuf add a beautiful end for the lack of moving (or sentimental) music score. Somehow this film lingers on my conciousness.

If only those Transformers fanatics able to watch this simple story, they would realize that Optimus Prime jaw dropping actions are more stupid than anything on this world and although I lived in a different culture than this film, I can root for the universal feeling of guilt and redemption.

ATONEMENT

“A clever, ambitious, compassionate picture”

The sound of typewriter can be very haunting, used as percussion in this tragic love story; it encapsulates the emotion of the film itself.

Atonement felt like a structurally soft version of Rashomon or Snake Eyes where several same events being seen from different point of view, giving the viewer, a better look on the story. Joe Wright's interpretation of Ian McEwan's Atonement is well paced, taking Keira Knightley from his previous film, Pride and Prejudice, a more cheerful film than this one.

Like the Booker Prize winning novel, pic goes directly to a hot summer’s day in rural southeast England, 1935. As Briony Tallis (Ronan) witness an ordeal between her sister and Robbie Turner (McAvoy), the housekeeper’s son, who’s been raised almost as part of the family but is forever several social notches below them. This meeting is seen from an upstairs window by Briony, who thinks she sees Robbie mistreating her sister.

Shocked by the ordeal and confused child-adult emotions that are only clarified much later in a small flashback which reminds you of Memento’s Christopher Nolan, Briony turns against Robbie. Hardly aware of the consequences, she slanders Robbie for a crime he didn’t commit. What follows is a tragic outcome of one person’s slander.

The flashback and changing of point of view were stylistic techniques used in the novel including metafiction and psychological realism. Cut to several years later, Robbie is now a soldier and Cecilia a nurse, torn apart by war, will their love survive? Or will Briony redeem herself, realizing how grave her false accusation was?

I guess Briony wasn’t wrong at all, after all she was only 13 back then, and those domino effect events (which goes because the invisible hand of fate shows up) wouldn’t be fueled more had Robbie didn’t recklessly type indecent mail to Cecilia. Perhaps the notion that the invisible hands of fate, combined by misinterpretation of facts, is as haunting as the guilt itself.

I like is the cinematic approach, the warm summers during the first half and the stunning one-take uninterruptible evacuation scene at Dunkirk which will make Martin Scorsese jealous. Keira speaks English beautifully, with a grace just like what she did in Pride and Prejudice. This got to be one of the year's best films, although I’m an Indonesian and doesn’t even share the same cultural heritage with this film but the message is universal, how lies and deceit can be very destructive. My favourite best picture nominee.

ATONEMENT

(Focus Film)

Directed by: Joe Wright

Runtime: 123 min

FOURTEEN RADICAL WAYS TO IMPROVE CINEMATIC EXPERIENCE IN INDONESIA

Going and watching movies in Indonesia can be very painful, unlike any other country where no 5 year old can watch Saw IV, here, as long as you got the cash, anybody admitted.

1. Strict ban of cellphone, use cellphone signal jammers which neutralize all cellphone signal inside the theatre, it cost much but worth buying. Announce on the screen that handphone signals are neutralized.
2. Stop the film the moment somebody turning on their cell to find out why they had no signal at all...
3. ….have a high resolution CCTV inside the theatre directed at the viewers and zoom in at the culprit who talks or turning the cellphone, stop the ongoing film, display his obnoxious confused face at the screen. Put a title on the picture: PUBLIC ENEMY
4. ….announce via speaker that if the culprit keep doing the same thing during the film, ten Russel Crowe look alike will hush them.
5. ..if there's no Russel Crowe look alike available, hire Jason Statham look alike
6. Ban babies, children, ghosts, pets, senior citizen with weak heart and obnoxious teenagers to watch R Rated flick
7. Electronic polling booth located outside the exit entrance with button ranging from one to five, viewers can insert their ticket piece inside the machine and vote once, one ticket for one vote. Display the end result under the posters everyday.
8. ..if the end result shows that the film suck, the viewers can bring the piece of their ticket and demand 50% refund. The refund was paid by the filmmaker.
9. Dry clean the seats, especially those on the back row.
10. Play the film until the end, do not cut the credit title
11. Unless of natural disaster or mugging, do not make the viewers wait for the 5th reel to come and try to entertain them during intermission with Backstreet Boys's ”I want it that way”
12. Better subtitles with smaller fonts, or for me, no subtitles at all
13. Better treatment of the film, I hate to see the image of Jessica Alba’s two-piece bikini getting a pararel vertical scratch.
14. A clean toilet....