The films of Asrul Sani from 1966 to 1983: a new art for a new mankind

Abstract

Why an Indonesian poet and short story writer like Asrul Sani became a film writer and director, and how his work expressed himself and his society in changing times, were the first questions stimulating this research. He claimed that art could be an "engineer of the soul" in a modernising society. Educated in both the Dutch and nationalist Taman Siswa sytems, he travelled overseas to study Western drama and film, and to perform the haj. He wrote extensively on cultural issues and became a cultural bureaucrat. Though his output is diverse, there are some continuous strands in his thinking and methods. His film work invites analysis for its weaving of Muslim and Western strands into the Indonesianising of a technological art form, and as proof of the sincerity of cultural manifestos he declared at times of political strain. Research by others into Indonesian film has explored the history of government policies, narrative style and conventions of genre and characterisation. Examining four films as examples of four different genres, in the context of Sani's other work, allows discovery of the complex creativity of an exemplar who desired "a new art for a new mankind". Choosing a set period permits discovery of the context from which films can be interpreted. Some Third World film theories and postcolonial literary theory are used to test these discoveries. Sani's work examines the leadership role of intellectuals, artists and religious scholars and the place of the masses. It expresses Islamic doctrine and convictions and translates them into patterns of moral code and legitimisation of the socio-political environment. Sani seeks too to encourage dynamism and spiritual rearmament. Sometimes his images are complex and his techniques can be read at several levels. His personal vision often dims, his commitment to film as poetry and as "a thorny conscience" falters, but some sense of hope remains.