One of the fascinating angles here is the importance of comicbooks in Indonesian popular culture and how home-grown comic heroes made the transition to the bigscreen. Without getting bogged down in too much heavy theorizing, these discussions paint an engaging picture of how the patriotic war movies made by Usmar Ismail in the 1950s and the rise of Bond-style adventures (“Djakarta-Hong Kong-Macao,” 1968), comicbook-inspired superhero movies (“Rama Superman Indonesia,” 1974) and countless martial-arts epics in the ’60s and ’70s related to Indonesia’s emerging national identity, and its turbulent 1965 transition from the anti-imperialist era of founding leader Sukarno to the 31-year authoritarian rule of president Suharto.

Interestingly, some do not regard films made before 1950 as being part of Indonesian cinema. Interviewees ranging from film historians and cultural commentators to veteran filmmakers and actors role bring the role of action and escapist films from 1950 into intelligent focus. The dominant figure at this time was producer-director The Teng Chun, whose Cino Motion Pictures and Java Industrial Film companies cranked out a series of highly profitable Tarzan-inspired jungle adventures and fantasies based on Chinese mythology. Opening with the sobering news that half of all Indonesian feature films no longer exist, the documentary launches its chronological overview of action pics with footage from the mostly Dutch- and Chinese-financed films produced in the 1930s in what was then known as the Dutch East Indies. Appearing at well-timed intervals, the character works effectively as a candid commentator on highs and lows over the years.

This self-funded labor of love should enjoy a respectable fest run and popularity as an on-demand item following its world premiere at Busan.Ī worthy addition to the growing number of docus about exploitation movies from exotic places, such as “Machete Maidens Unleashed!” and “Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild Untold Story of Ozploitation,” “Garuda Power” is hosted by an onscreen narrator (Rudolf Puspa) who is presented as the living spirit of Indonesian action cinema. The fascinating history of Indonesian action cinema is examined in “ Garuda Power: The Spirit Within.” Tapping into subject matter that’s received little prior attention and framing it within the bigger picture of Indonesian culture and politics from the 1920s to the present day, first-time documaker Bastian Meiresonne has delivered an entertaining and illuminating essay that ought to delight geeks and satisfy general viewers.

Film indonesia jaka sembung