‘I hope I’m complex, not complicated’

Other movies in 2007 may have got more shrieks (from fear or embarrassment) or guffaws, but the evocative and very contemporary Tiga Hari Selamanya (Three Days Forever) left the most resounding impression after the noise died down. The steady hand behind the film’s success is director Riri Riza who, with producer Mira Lesmana, has created some of the most interesting, thoughtful Indonesian cinematic explorations in recent years (Petualangan Sherina, Eliana Eliana, Gie).  With his unruly mop of hair and glasses, the boyish-looking 37-year-old keeps a low profile but is not afraid to speak his mind, including on his New Order childhood, being one of the band and why he wishes he could play it for laughs..    

Your first memory...
Traveling with my father in small villages of South Sumatra, showing propaganda films for the New Order.  The government knew that film could be used as a vehicle to show the successes of the New Order regime, and my father happened to be a public official at the time.

Childhood ambition?
Like many Indonesian children in the 1970s, who were raised with the centralistic stereotype of a good person, I wanted to be a doctor or pilot. Because I was from a family with the means, I was directed to become a pilot, so it’s almost like being a director!

In high school I was ...
A drummer in a cover band. It was a pure LA, West Coast rock n’ roll band. High school was confusing for me because I was from a conservative Muslim family but I was introduced to a lot of pop culture influences, especially music.

I laugh at ...
The honesty of people to laugh at their own frailities.

And cry at ...
When I am misunderstood. And when I see children suffering, like in disaster areas.

I would never ...
Stop defending my work.

But do you second-guess yourself?
I often do, and I always consider things over and over again. That’s what Libras do. But time tells that they were good decisions.

My favorite movie is ...
Tokyo Story.

My favorite music is ...
Right now, Across the Universe by The Beatles. And I love almost all the songs on the new album by Naif.

The greatest influence in my life ...
Spike Lee, who showed me that film is identity, and the struggle for identity. It stays in my head. It’s not that I like all of his work, but all his movies consistently show his vision. As a filmmaker, I always absorb what is around me. And being a father is a big influence ...

I am proudest of ...
When I could believe in my vision of film, of what I wanted to make, and when I could actually make it. Making a film is an enormous challenge, starting from an idea on a piece of paper and then making it happen.

I always have with me ...
My cell phone and a book. The books are constantly changing but I almost never finish reading them. I just reflected on the fact that I have four novels in my bag and I haven’t finished any of them!

What does your hair say about you?
My hair is a reflection of my attitude toward life. That things can get so complicated in my life. There is a very slim difference between complex and complicated. Hopefully I’m closer to complex than complicated.

Friendship is ...
The most important thing. The sad thing is that we sometimes cannot get it.

The best piece of advice I ever received ...
Relax and everything will be OK. It was from the director of the movie Persepolis, Vincent Parronaud, who was here in Jakarta for Jiffest. I was talking about some of the things I was in the middle of, the things I was dealing with, and he told me that.  

I needed to hear that.

If I weren’t me, I would be ...
Steve Jobs, because he is a man who could make something beautiful, unique and somewhat eccentric and bring change to the world.

The unforgivable is ...
Betrayal, and backstabbing. I am a very forgiving person, but that is hard to imagine when I think about being stabbed in the back.

I wish I could invent ...
More beautiful songs about Indonesia. This country has created many people who have created beautiful songs about Indonesia, and I think  they make our lives better. Pieces of art and music are very powerful in a very simple way.

The talent I wish I had ...
To make people laugh. I wish I could be a good comedy director.

My three dream dinner guests ...
Mochtar Pabottingi, the Indonesian Institute of Sciences researcher who, like me, is Bugis-Makassar and an enjoyable person, unlike a lot of our people who are really annoying! (laughs). Also Thom Yorke from  Radiohead, and the third would be Spike. It’s going to be a boy’s club!

+ Bruce Emond

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