Autobiography Review, Dark Film For Pononton Swimming

Autobiography

JAKARTA - The Autobiography film is one of the most anticipated films this week. Dark but full of meaning, that's enough to describe scene by scene in the suspense thriller film directed by Makbul Mubarak entitled Autobiography.

In the debut of the long film, Makbul not only presented interesting and tense stories, but also implied messages that could be an reflection for anyone who watches them.

Autobiography tells the story of a young man named Rakib (Kevin Ardilova) who works as a single household administrator in an empty house owned by Purna (Arswendy Bening Swara), a retired general whose family has served for centuries in a rural area in Indonesia. Meanwhile, Rakib's biological father, played by Rukman Rosadi, is said to have been detained in prison.

One day, Purna returns to the house alone to start the regent's election campaign. Instantly, Rakib became very attached to the man.

Not only being a household administrator, Rakib also took on the role of assistant Purna and accompanied Purna wherever she went. In fact, the closeness of Rakib and Purna is often seen like a father and son, especially Purna often teaches Rakib many things ranging from playing chess to shooting birds.

At one time, Purna's election poster was found damaged. Seeing that, Rakib rushed to track down the culprit. Unfortunately, his efforts apparently triggered an increasing chain of violence.

Produced by KawanKawan Media, Autobiography has received many awards both from national and international festivals. On the national stage, the film won the highest Golden Hanoman Award at the 2022 Jogja-Netpac Asian Film Festival.

Meanwhile, in the international arena, Autobiography received several awards including The International Critics Prize for Best Film in Orizzonti from the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) Venice Film Festival 2022, Grand Prize Winner-TOKYO FILMeX International Film Festival 2022, Best Screenplay-Asia Pacific Screen Awards 2022, Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival 2022, Stockholm International Film Festival 2022, and many more.

A bold story

Quoted from ANTARA, Autobiography has a very bold story. In the film, Rakib is an assistant who always serves Purna well. He always obeyed and did not dare to fight what Purna said and ordered, even when he felt something was wrong.

Through Purna and Rakib, Makbul seems to be trying to describe a big understanding that regulates people's lives in a regime, but in lighter packaging.

The relationship between the employer and the household administrator was chosen by Makbul so that the story is closer to the audience from various circles, so that the message he wants to convey can be digested properly.

For Makbul, Autobiography is a very personal film. He admitted that the film originated from the fears he felt as a child.

"This is a matter of understanding that is the basis of an agency and how it affects great history in Indonesia, and in that regime I was born. So this film is very personal to me. This film is inspired by my experiences and fears of my childhood," said Makbul during a press conference in Jakarta., Tuesday, January 17th.

It's not just a matter of who has a higher position and who has a lower position, in the film Purna and Rakib also seem to insinuate the assumptions that often appear in society: however, young people should not fight the older ones.

"This is not only a matter of'matures and assistants' but also about the previous generation and the current generation. So indeed I try to take pictures of many things using a simple two-person relationship," said Makbul.

"This film invites us to see the little things around us and what we missed at that moment. So, this film invites us to see something big through small binoculars," he continued.

The danger of Autobiography's power clearly shows what the dangers of power are when in the wrong hands. Power is very likely to be used to do whatever it wants, without thinking about the values, customs, norms, and even the safety of others.

Purna, who from the outside is seen as the most respected figure, apparently has another side that anyone never expected -- maybe even by someone closest to him.

Rakib, never thought that his efforts to bring the perpetrator who vandalized the Purna campaign poster to the old man would lead to the most terrible thing in his life.

However, because he felt tied up, Rakib could not do anything. He continued to obey Purna. In fact, when he decided to leave the house, he could not do it because he had lost his independence.

Not only losing independence over actions and thoughts, he also even lost independence over his own body, which was shown in the scene where Rakib only resigned when Purna washed him.

"I want to talk about how power is so scary when it comes to body level, because that body is our last humanitarian stronghold. I myself as a director am very afraid to exploit the body of my own actor. So when filming, all monitors are turned off," said Makbul.

Not all lessons inherited are good Autobiography also shows that not all lessons inherited are good so we cannot swallow raw.

In the film, Purna teaches Rakib many things. Not only teaching playing chess and shooting birds, Purna also taught Rakib about the magic of the word " sorry" which was able to turn anger into a gift.

Rakib apparently adhered to the lesson of " sorry". It was also what made him persistent to meet the perpetrator who vandalized Purna's poster and persuaded him to apologize to the man.

When the perpetrator looked very scared, Rakib calmed him down with the same sentence that Purna had conveyed to him. However, Rakib forgot that the prizes could also feel'sad' and 'terrible'.

Not only Rakib who missed that not all the lessons were good. It's completely the same. He didn't realize that what he had taught Rakib could backfire for him in the future. Purna also doesn't seem to realize that when he taught Rakib, he actually made his autobiography within the young man.

"Rakib and Purna's relationship is like a reflection of each other. There is a person from the previous generation, who is trying to write his autobiography and pass something on to the younger generation, and this young generation has learned a lot from the previous generation until he realizes that not all these lessons must be swallowed up raw," said Makbul.