Before you come at me with your pitchforks! Read this first.
I absolutely adore this move, i really do. I think the moral of the story and the overall bold concept is what makes it to what it is today. But... It's not particularly special. A bit overrated in my opinion.
If you ask me about the production quality or the directing: It's really good. It holds up and it's what makes this movie enjoyable but it has these 3 problems that's plauge me from the start.
This movie has 3 main problems that i'll bring up: 1. Tone. This movie has a hard time choosing its tone. In the middle of the movie, i have no idea if it's either a serious movie or a drama comedy movie. I know the jokes are supposed to lift up the sorrowness of the movie but it's used so many times that it just feels like some scenes that should've been serious could've been done better. It feels like the story is 50/50 either serious or unserious which makes the payoff/climax feels off.
To tell you my point, let me give you a reference from Juno. Before you scream at me that i can't compare this to Juno because Juno is a movie made from the west and it's unfair. That's the point, we need to have a progress in Indonesia's film industry.
From the start, the movie tone is set to be unserious/comedic. It's consistent throughout the whole film but when the tone changes in some of the dramatic scenes, it feels so much more impactful because of how sparingly the movie uses dark moments in the movie.
2. Conflict: This movie feels like watching an old man aging. It feels like there's no conflict because the ending is inevitable (Dara will have her baby in the end, we know that). It's not interesting to tell you the truth.
The only conflict that has potential but falls flat on its face is the conflict with Dara's Aunt also wanting to have the baby. If only from the start of the 2nd act they established the conflict. The audience will be more hooked than ever.
If that conflict is applied, the questions that pops up in the viewers head is not just,"What happens next?" but also "Will Dara and Bima keep thier baby or will their Aunt have it". I believe that'll make a much more interesting conflict than just watching them waiting for Dara to have their labour.
3.Portrayal of the message: I've written 8 spec screenplays and if there's one thing i have a hard time with and what people seems to complain about is: My character isn't suffering enough.
If you let the characters finish conflict easy, the movie won't be so impactful. I believe that this movie feels like i gave the wrong impression/didn't pull it's punches enough for how real teen pregnancy is portrayed. I mean, here's the message that i get out of it if i was just a untrained viewer:
"Teenage pregnancy gives you all sorts of problem that could've been prevented early if they hadn't done it but it's ok as long as your family can support you in the future"
It doesn't really tell you that much. I mean, if both family were poor, that'll make the conflict much more intense.
If i were to write the screenplay, i would make absolutely give Dara and Bima hell in the 1st and second act. I'd make the sequences like this in fact:
1. After their parents finds out that she's pregnant, the school expells them both 2. In the middle of the movie, because Bima isn't doing any job and the Bima's family cannot afford to pay for both of them, they have to move out on their own. All this is happening while they're having a back and forth with Dara's Aunt wanting the baby 3. In the 3rd act of the movie, Dara and Bima's given a choice by Dara's parents that if they hand over the baby to the Aunt. Each of them can go back to their lives, Dara can go to Korea and Bima can go back to his absolutely dull live (Yes, i have a problem with Bima being a super passive character).
That'll make the stakes feel more compelling. I don't know about you, but i'd prefer to watch it like this.
I think that's all i have in my mind right now. Don't get me wrong, i love this movie, i really do but we need to be honest with ourselves and give it constructive criticism or we'll just be viewers who'll see rare good 'movies' in the future instead of 'groundbreaking' movies coming from Indonesia's Film Industry
I absolutely adore this move, i really do. I think the moral of the story and the overall bold concept is what makes it to what it is today. But... It's not particularly special. A bit overrated in my opinion.
If you ask me about the production quality or the directing: It's really good. It holds up and it's what makes this movie enjoyable but it has these 3 problems that's plauge me from the start.
This movie has 3 main problems that i'll bring up: 1. Tone. This movie has a hard time choosing its tone. In the middle of the movie, i have no idea if it's either a serious movie or a drama comedy movie. I know the jokes are supposed to lift up the sorrowness of the movie but it's used so many times that it just feels like some scenes that should've been serious could've been done better. It feels like the story is 50/50 either serious or unserious which makes the payoff/climax feels off.
To tell you my point, let me give you a reference from Juno. Before you scream at me that i can't compare this to Juno because Juno is a movie made from the west and it's unfair. That's the point, we need to have a progress in Indonesia's film industry.
From the start, the movie tone is set to be unserious/comedic. It's consistent throughout the whole film but when the tone changes in some of the dramatic scenes, it feels so much more impactful because of how sparingly the movie uses dark moments in the movie.
2. Conflict: This movie feels like watching an old man aging. It feels like there's no conflict because the ending is inevitable (Dara will have her baby in the end, we know that). It's not interesting to tell you the truth.
The only conflict that has potential but falls flat on its face is the conflict with Dara's Aunt also wanting to have the baby. If only from the start of the 2nd act they established the conflict. The audience will be more hooked than ever.
If that conflict is applied, the questions that pops up in the viewers head is not just,"What happens next?" but also "Will Dara and Bima keep thier baby or will their Aunt have it". I believe that'll make a much more interesting conflict than just watching them waiting for Dara to have their labour.
3.Portrayal of the message: I've written 8 spec screenplays and if there's one thing i have a hard time with and what people seems to complain about is: My character isn't suffering enough.
If you let the characters finish conflict easy, the movie won't be so impactful. I believe that this movie feels like i gave the wrong impression/didn't pull it's punches enough for how real teen pregnancy is portrayed. I mean, here's the message that i get out of it if i was just a untrained viewer:
"Teenage pregnancy gives you all sorts of problem that could've been prevented early if they hadn't done it but it's ok as long as your family can support you in the future"
It doesn't really tell you that much. I mean, if both family were poor, that'll make the conflict much more intense.
If i were to write the screenplay, i would make absolutely give Dara and Bima hell in the 1st and second act. I'd make the sequences like this in fact:
1. After their parents finds out that she's pregnant, the school expells them both 2. In the middle of the movie, because Bima isn't doing any job and the Bima's family cannot afford to pay for both of them, they have to move out on their own. All this is happening while they're having a back and forth with Dara's Aunt wanting the baby 3. In the 3rd act of the movie, Dara and Bima's given a choice by Dara's parents that if they hand over the baby to the Aunt. Each of them can go back to their lives, Dara can go to Korea and Bima can go back to his absolutely dull live (Yes, i have a problem with Bima being a super passive character).
That'll make the stakes feel more compelling. I don't know about you, but i'd prefer to watch it like this.
I think that's all i have in my mind right now. Don't get me wrong, i love this movie, i really do but we need to be honest with ourselves and give it constructive criticism or we'll just be viewers who'll see rare good 'movies' in the future instead of 'groundbreaking' movies coming from Indonesia's Film Industry
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