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'Fiksi.' best left a fictional tale after all
Once upon a time, there was a girl living in her own world
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Once upon a time, there was a girl living in her own world. Just as she was growing tired of her surroundings, she noticed a fellow being. She could not help being drawn to him and his world.
What she did not know was that later, she would fall into a whirlwind world of surreal characters; people she had never seen before.
As she nurtured her curiosity of the boy and the new individuals she met, she had no idea her presence would influence their lives or that her own destiny might be at great risk.
In the end, we, the readers, wonder if her journey is real or merely a dream.
The above story may sound familiar and some of us used to hear it as our bedtime story. The girl goes by the name of Alice and her story is called Alice in Wonderland, written by Lewis Carroll, published in 1865.
Less than two centuries later, the story has inspired a film director, Mouly Surya, and noted screenwriter Joko Anwar to make a film called Fiksi. (Fiction.), currently showing at local movie theaters.
The film will be yet another film inspired by the Carroll classic -- Wikipedia has listed more than 20 films inspired by the tale. But Fiksi. belongs to a smaller group: Indonesian films inspired by Western literature classics.
Some say directors who do this are daring in admitting to borrowing from the West, which is obviously the case of the late director Sjuman Djaja, who directed two films based on the work of famous Russian author Anton Chekhov. In 1973, he directed Si Mamad, based on Checkhov's Death of a Government Clerk, and in 1976 he made Pinangan, based on Checkhov's one-act play Marriage Proposal.
Where Sjuman Djaja borrowed characteristics of Chekov's protagonist Ivan Dmitritch Tchervyakov from Death of a Government, Fiksi. clearly plucks Alice straight from the book and the tale's events and characteristics are at the heart of the film's storyline.
Its leading character is Alisha, played by Ladya Cheryl, a spot-on allusion to Alice with her long hair and her girly dresses that strengthen her ing*nue look, while the book's White Rabbit character that sends her into the rabbit hole of surrealism is transformed into a struggling writer.
The writer's name is Bari, played by Donny Alamsyah. The character's name was also taken straight from the book.
Still, rabbits make cameo appearances as Alisha's toys in the feature, and the "rabbit hole" equivalent is an apartment in Pejompongan area of Central Jakarta, with its residents and their colorful personas substituting the rabbit hole's inhabitants.
Despite numerous references to a tale that many have strong associations with, Fiksi. remains a stoic fantasy that hardly moves or stirs our emotions.
The film and its makers cannot escape their own wonderment of the original story, thus what we see is a half-baked fib. The premise of the "other world" is presented by whimsical characters. Homosexual undertones and present social issues do not seam nicely with the film's premise.
Mild action scenes do not seem consistent with the film and are used to grab the attention of an impatient audience toward the end of the story.
One consolation for the disappointment of the film is its technical aspect. In this case, an original music score by Zeke from band Zeke and the Popo rightfully provides the necessary atmosphere to save many of the hollow scenes.
In comparison to Fiksi., Sjuman's two films based on Chekov's works were made almost perfectly. The original works were seamlessly integrated into our context, becoming beloved works we can relate to and, in turn, admire.
Fiksi. actually takes a step back, admiring the great work from afar, and plays around with the sole premise on a superficial level without great depth.
At least the film fulfills a wishful dream of being different from other local products currently being churned out to our mass market.
In a more appreciative manner, the film has already been selected for the prestigious Pusan International Film Festival in South Korea this September.
Time will tell whether the film will be a worthy competitor, given South Korea's reputation for its bedazzling storytelling.
What we can hope in the future is that more films based on literary works will get to the core of the story and tell it well.
Fiksi. is currently showing at 21 Cineplex cinemas nationwide.
