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Chronicle of memories wrapped in ‘The Science of Fictions’
The globetrotting film has arrived home.
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T
he thing about history is that, yes, it belongs to the victors, but there are also many sides of the story. And as the past comes with many versions – whether unverified truths or repeated lies – sometimes it turns into fiction.
Yosep Anggi Noen’s The Science of Fictions – the international title for Hiruk Pikuk si al-Kisah – explores this theme.
After premiering in the Concorso Internazionale category of the 72nd Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland late last year and traveling to 15 other international film festivals, the film was finally released in Indonesia on Dec. 10.
It has received positive reviews and a special mention as a Best Film nominee at Locarno. The film was also nominated for many awards at the 2020 Indonesian Film Festival (FFI), with leading actor Gunawan Maryanto winning Best Actor.
The cast includes theater artist Yudi Ahmad Tajudin, who was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the 2020 FFI, Lukman Sardi, Ecky Lamoh, Rusini, Asmara Abigail, Alex Suhendra and Marissa Anita.
Produced by Angka Fortuna Sinema, KawanKawan Media and Limaenam Films, the movie was one of the first screened in theaters since their reopening in October after some pandemic restrictions were eased.
The film, written by the director, chronicles his personal – if not shared – memories and traumas of historical events.
It starts with an unfortunate day in the 1960s when protagonist Siman stumbles upon a foreign film crew shooting a moon landing in the Parangkusumo sand dunes in Bantul, Yogyakarta, near his home.
He is speechless and his inability to share his story in words is made up for by his own reenactment of the moon landing. He decorates his home to resemble the space shuttle’s control capsule and moves slowly as if in a space suit in a weightless environment.
Malaysian cinematographer Teoh Gay Hian blended black and white flashbacks with colorful contemporary scenes, giving each moment its own hue, which helps the viewers tell whether an era has ended or has just begun.
Anggi, the director, said the film was shot using nearly every type of camera available – HD camcorders, Handycams, GoPro action cameras, slow-motion cameras and drone cameras – each for specific reasons.
“The film is about a person who moves indolently, so we discussed how the camera could capture that, hence we used many variations, and also, throughout the film, we chronicled the history of the camera itself, from the 16 millimeter vintage camera to the smartphone camera.
“I put that in there to show the transformation of audiovisual technology, which everyone can now access close to their body and which has become more personal,” he said in a virtual press conference on Dec. 11.
In the past, he said, motion pictures could only be produced by the wealthy and powerful, and as a consequence, only authorities or the government had control over historical “evidence”.
“Today, everyone is writing their own history. The next challenge will be to verify whose records are really real. But we discussed these seemingly brain-wracking concepts through light conversations and jokes,” Anggi said.
The resulting film is a 106-minute quirky black comedy that is not so cryptic as to allow the viewers to spontaneously make guesses about the characters, the scenes and the stories it wishes to share and starts a conversation about the nation’s history. (ste)
