Monday, October 10, 2016

A Land Overflowing with Milk And Honey: Sastradarma's Description of Batavia, 1867–1869

A Land Overflowing with Milk And Honey: Sastradarma's Description of Batavia, 1867–1869: (2006). A Land Overflowing with Milk And Honey: Sastradarma's Description of Batavia, 1867–1869. Indonesia and the Malay World: Vol. 34, No. 98, pp. 109-115. doi: 10.1080/13639810600652550

Thursday, October 6, 2016

Peter O'Brien is Back! Here's the Trailer

Peter O'Brien, the cool guy in The Intruder (Pembalasan Rambu, 1986),  The Stabilizer  [Segi Tiga Emas, 1986], Forceful Impact (1987), is BACK!

I just saw a trailer of Malaysian movie, Hanyut (U-Wei Haji Saari' 2016) on FB, and i found his name. I asked Hassan Abd Muthalib whether Peter is the same person as the one who acted as Rambu. And he confirmed it.

The film is an adaptation of a novel by Joseph Conrad, "Almayer's Folly".  Other movie stars in the movie include Diana Danielle, Sofia Jane, Adi Putra, and two Indonesian actors, El-Manik and Alex Komang. The film will be screened in Malaysian theaters starting 24 November.

Peter O'Brien is one of the cult icon of "Crazy Indonesia". His films include Double Crosser   [Membakar Lingkaran Api, 1989], Jungle Heat  [Rimba Panas, 1988], Lethal Hunter aka American Hunter [Pemburu Berdarah Dingin, 1990],  Triple Cross aka Angel of Fury (Pertempuran Segi Tiga, 1990), and Time Game (1998).

Hanyut is not an exploitation film, let alone "Crazy Indonesia" film. But, still, the return of Rambu, i mean Peter O'Brien, is the best news I've heard this morning. And the director is one of important filmmakers in Malaysia! 

Here's the trailer:



The interview with the director on why the film will be screened in Indonesia first:



Correction:
apologizes. somebody just told me that the actor playing in Hanyut is not the same with the one from Pembalasan Rambu. I thought it was just the case of misspelling (O'brien and O'Brian), apparently they are two different people. apologizes.

Monday, October 3, 2016

Tiga Menguak Usmar: Tulisan popular di Rolling Stone Indonesia

Mengulas tiga film legendaris Usmar Ismail, yang dikenal sebagai "Bapak Film Indonesia",  yang hingga kini masih jarang disaksikan publik, yaitu "Lagi-Lagi Krisis" (1955), "Big Village" (1969), dan "Ananda" (1970).
Tulisan ini hendak mengemukakan sisi lain dari Usmar, yang dengan tajam mengobservasi dan bahkan menguliti tema lain: fenomena urbanisasi dan globalisasi yang dialami oleh manusia Indonesia.
Ketiga film yang diulas menunjukkan kekayaan sudut berbeda khazanah pemikiran dan karya Usmar.

Dua film terakhirnya, bagi saya, bisa dikategorikan sebagai Prostitution Genre, seperti yang dirumuskan Krishna Sen. Artinya, satu kotak dengan "Bernafas dalam Lumpur" (1970) dan "Bumi Makin Panas" (1973).