Maruli

15 years after its release, I finally get to see what to my knowledge is the only english-speaking film that tells the story of Indonesia circa the 1965 revolution.

A very young Gibson is convincing as the inexperienced but ambitious reported determined to make his mark in telling the story of Sukarno's last moments in power. Equally brilliant is Sigourney Weaver, and yet one feels that this film did not give her the opportunity to show her true calibre.

The one who ultimately steals the show, then, is Linda Hunt, playing the enigmatic and passionate Billy, who understands the true psyche of Indonesia better than any of the other foreign characters in this story.

When Billy solemnly expresses his disappointment to Guy, proclaiming, "I created you", it evoked images of Weir's latest masterpiece, The Truman Show, where Christof has fashioned the persona of Truman Burbank for his TV spectacle. Perhaps a running theme in Peter Weir's work? Must check out...

I marvelled at the authenticity of the setting. It certainly looked like Jakarta. The faces, the atmosphere, the buildings, and yet, those scenes were shot in the Philippines, with mainly Filipino actors! Just goes to show the similarity among Indonesia and the Philippines.

I see now why this film was never made available in Indonesia (to my knowledge). The last few moments of the film show the stark reality of communist executions by Soeharto's new military regime, horrifying pictures of mere pawns being slaughtered... and the parting message from a self-confessed PKI member:"Am I stupid for wanting to change my country's condition?" is one of the best lines in this film.

One thing must be said of this film: it provokes an extreme opinion from its viewers. Glancing at the voting distribution here on imdb, there is an inverted normal distribution: people either totally love it (10), or absolutely hate it (1). Why?

This movie uncovers the whole debate concerning Stone's Natural Born Killers all over again... is Araki trying to launch a hard-edged statement towards today's Generation X trash youth? but if so, isn't he feeding the very appetite that he is so cynically portraying? Does he then become guilty of the same sins he is (literally!) fleshing out on screen?

People who love this movie solely because it bravely (or pathetically, depending on your point of view) dares show graphic acts of a disturbing nature are probably not too far off from resembling some of the characters in this movie themselves.

People who hate this movie because it seemed like a pointless, plotless, and tasteless sorry excuse for depicting some of the most gross acts of sex and violence allowable on film are probably missing the whole point that Araki is trying to make. So, is there a common ground between these two polars?

If we try to give him the benefit of the doubt, we would try to say that Araki is indeed trying to get a message across, that message being that today's Gen X culture could lead to such a 'doomsday'-ish scenario, hence the title. But yet, my opinion is that he has been caught up in the very trap that he is trying to expose: the over-explicit, in-your-face, and often pretentious so-called-art that his characters aspire to.

Restraint is often the most powerful weapon of storytelling. And sadly, Araki has failed to acknowledge that in this movie. The fact that he belabors the 'clever' bits of the movie to such a ridiculous point, i.e. the sheer repetitiveness of the plot, that 666 gag, seems to undermine the intelligence of his audience. It's like knocking our head over and over again to make us realize the hurt.

Therefore, in that respect, I think he has failed.

Having said that, some qualities can still be salvaged out of this movie. The multi-colour visuals and the not-so-obvious puns are interesting, to say the least, and the ultimate fate of the three central characters at the end of the movie seems to portray something deeper than what is at hand. Perhaps Jordan's incessant inquiries of the meaning of mankind's existence showed that he had the most depth of all...