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Pramoedya’s big name piques interest in latest local movies
On screen: A visitor looks at a Bumi Manusia (This Earth of Mankind) movie poster at a cinema in Jakarta
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n screen: A visitor looks at a Bumi Manusia (This Earth of Mankind) movie poster at a cinema in Jakarta. The movie, which is an adaptation of Pramoedya Ananta Toer’s novel, is being shown in cinemas across the country.(JP/Syelanita)
Pramoedya Ananta Toer is perhaps Indonesia’s most venerated writer, with a slew of titles, awards and even Nobel Prize nominations under his name.
While his books are well established in Indonesia’s collective consciousness, this August could very well be described as the month of Pramoedya, with the release of two movie adaptations of his two titles — Bumi Manusia (This Earth of Mankind) directed by Hanung Bramantyo and Perburuan (The Fugitive) by Richard Oh.
Produced by Falcon Pictures, the two adaptations saw simultaneous premieres in Surabaya, East Java, earlier this month, before hitting theaters nationwide on Aug. 15.
As of Aug. 22, Bumi Manusia had drawn in a respectable 411,216 viewers, while Perburuan attracted 15,861 viewers, according to filmindonesia.or.id.
Falcon Pictures producer HB Naveen previously told The Jakarta Post he was aiming at 3 million viewers for Bumi Manusia and 700,000 for Perburuan.
Cinemagoers flocked to theaters for different reasons — if not for the hype and controversy surrounding the films, then to see the A-lister actors involved.
One viewer, Rani, readily admitted her interest in Bumi Manusia, the first of Pramoedya’s Buru tetralogy, was piqued by lead actor Iqbaal Ramadhan in his role of Minke.
“I’m not really familiar with the books, but I saw Iqbaal’s acting in the Dilan movies and I’m curious to see his performance in a period romance,” the 17-year-old said, adding rather bashfully that Iqbaal was the sole reason she had bought a ticket.
Rani’s reason is not as far-fetched as it sounds, as the Dilan movies — adapted from a series of teen romance novels of the same titles — are currently some of the most successful films in recent years.
Both Dilan movies topped the viewer charts for Indonesian films in the years in which they were released. Dilan 1990, released in 2018, saw more than 6.3 million viewers. Its sequel, Dilan 1991, released in February this year, brought in 5.2 million viewers.
Bumi Manusia is set during the colonial era in the late 19th century. Young Javanese royal Minke attends an elite Dutch school and finds himself in love with Annelies, the daughter of a concubine to a Dutch man.
Meanwhile, Perburuan is set at the tail end of World War II. A young Indonesian platoon commander Hardo takes on the guise of a beggar to escape from the Japanese after a botched nationalist army revolt.
Hanung previously said he made sure the cast of Bumi Manusia was not overwhelmed by the scale of the literary masterpiece and focused instead on the character’s pains. Pramoedya’s daughter Astuti Ananta Toer had given her blessings for the projects and attended the double premiere.
Some had expressed doubt over the adaptations’ sincerity and ability to live up to the author’s reputation.
Adrian said that when news broke that Bumi Manusia and Perburuan would be receiving movie adaptations, many of his friends decried the decision as a blatant cash grab.
“Truthfully I don’t really care about the reasons behind the adaptation. When I heard that it was Pramoedya’s books, I knew I had to read them first to better understand the story,” the 23-year-old said.
After stepping out of a screening of Perburuan, Adrian said he did not mind the movie, noting that it was “the middle of the road” for him.
“I think it’s obviously going to be a different experience between reading and watching. For me, I like the book better because I can imagine and interpret the story and the characters better, whereas with the movie you have a set actor and script,” Adrian said.
Perburuan, directed by Richard Oh, who is well-known in the indie scene for directing Koper (2006), Melancholy is a Movement (2015) and Terpana (2016), stars teen heartthrob Adipati Dolken in the lead role of Hardo.
Another viewer, Bagas, 25, was unimpressed with Bumi Manusia, though he chalked up its shortcomings to the visuals rather than the plot.
“Maybe it’s just me, but the costuming and the set felt very much like a made-for-TV movie. I don’t expect everything to be historically accurate, but at three hours it just gets tiring to look at,” he said.
However, Bagas did extend his praise to the studio for taking a chance at recreating works by an author of Pramoedya’s caliber.
“You have to give them props for taking on the titles. There’s a lot of people who have high expectations for original material from such an influential author.”
