Exclusive Christine Hakim Raises National Spirit Through Her Tjoet Film Dhien
Christine Hakim (Photo: Savic Rabos, DI: Raga/VOI)

JAKARTA - Commemorating the National Awakening Day, May 20, 2021, Tjoet Nja' Dhien was re-screened in indonesian cinemas. The film, directed by Eros Djarot in 1988, has been restored to digital. As the lead, Christine Hakim welcomed the screening of the film.

Starting from Jakarta, the screening of one of the Indonesian lagendaris films is planned to also be screened in Surabaya, Semarang, Makassar, Medan and so on.

According to Christine, the film released in 1988, or 33 years ago, has now undergone a complete restoration in the Netherlands.  The celuloid tape format has been transformed into DCP, so the image is clearer and the color details are also sharper.

"Alhamdulillah. Not a single leaf fell to the earth without God's permission. And with God's permission, people can re-watch Tjoet Nja' Dien movies in theaters with good quality after restoration. It was an amazing favor that I should be grateful for. Hopefully it will provide benefits as well," said Christine Hakim when met VOI in cibubur area, May 6.

Christine Hakim (Photo: Savic Rabos, DI: Raga/VOI)

Christine's role in the restoration efforts of Tjoet Nya' Dhien's film turned out to be huge. The producer and director entrusted him with the restoration process in the Netherlands.

"Because after Mas Eros was no longer active in the film, Tjoet Nya' Dhien was handed over to me. There is our friend from the Netherlands who has a foundation offering us to restore his Tjoet' Dhien. Well why not? people want to be treated on the term. Of course we are very welcome," he said.

The cost of restoring celluloid films to digital is not cheap. It requires advanced laboratory precision and support. As an illustration, the film Lewat Djam Malam was restored in a film laboratory in Italy. It took about two years and cost around Rp1.5 billion for the film to be restored to digital.

So what about Tjoet Nya' Dhien? "Alhamdulilah, the cost of all sought friend foundations in the Netherlands. We are grateful that there is good news from the Dutch side and the laboratory received this film," cristine said.

The spirit of restoration of Tjoet Nya' Dhien shows that the film that won eight (8) Citra Cups did have high scores. "It turned out that his Tjoet film Dhien was valuable. Not only the commercial value, but there are values that exist in the film that are seen so willing to do restoration," he said.

Christine Hakim (Photo: Savic Rabos, DI: Raga/VOI)

Christine also admits her Tjoet film Dhien has a very strong self-worth for her personal and career. "This film is a meaningful memory of my life. Because honestly before I got involved to be his Tjoet' Dhien, I was 28 years old. Before that, as a teenager I had an identity crisis," she recalled.

Born from a mixed-culture family background, Christine always questions exactly where she came from. Growing up in Jakarta and having no homecoming, was also a source of questions about his identity.

"I like to envy if there are friends who tell me about going home. I don't have a village. Tjoet Nya' Dhien is the first step I stepped on to find my ancestors nanek. I was grateful for making a historical film, God then reconstructed my thoughts about who I was," he said.

Portraying a character who has truly lived in his day. The historical data is very minimal because Tjoet Nya' Dhien never wanted to cooperate with the Netherlands. So the written history exists only from a Dutch point of view.

"I don't think there's enough written history. Why women at that time was so strong religion as Muslims want to fight guerrilla, leave all the luxuries and enter the forest. This is what I want to dig deeper. Where should I dig? Dhien's descendants are no longer there," he said.

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Christine Hakim believes that even though she is gone, Dhien's spirit remains in god's power. "So, I have to consult who created His Tjoet' Dhien and me as well. I asked permission so that I could feel, think, understand, what felt by Tjoet Nya' Dhien," he said.

"I tahajud, wake up at night, and almost every night I do. So I got a great life lesson. At the same time my sacrifice as a servant of God," continued Christine Hakim.

Christine Hakim (Photo: Savic Rabos, DI: Raga/VOI)

Re-screening of Tjoet Nya' Dhien in theaters, according to Christine Hakim has a strategic function to evoke the spirit of national revival especially for the younger generation.

"Why is this movie important to them? Because of the benefits I feel, I want young people to be able to feel it too. I who do not understand history so understand how my ancestors fought for freedom with God's permission," he said.

Tjoet Nya' Dhien, continued Christine, is just one example of the struggle of heroes in Indonesia. "Tjoet Nya' Dhien and other heroes from Sabang to Merauke, how many ancestors who struggled to spend their souls, bodies, treasures, feelings, and souls so that posterity can live better with independence. It's important to know that we also know what kind of nation we are," he said.

Tjoet Nya' Dhien's film is a real rebuttal to our nation's stupid image as the image of the invaders wrote. "If we are a stupid nation can not make Borobudur. Even before the VOC came in there was already. We can know how many kingdoms and sultanates later merged into the Republic of Indonesia. That's a great God scenario," he said.

Christine Hakim (Photo: Savic Rabos, DI: Raga/VOI)

Talking about his Tjoet' Dhien history movie seems endless. The screening of the film in 1988 has made history with 8 citra trophies. In 1989 it became the first Indonesian film to be screened at the Cannes Film Festival.

A historical film that prints history, perhaps these words are most appropriate to pin down. "That's amazing. So it's not easy for a biopic like this to be screened at a film festival. But Tjoet Nya' Dhien was chosen," he recalled.

To adjust the duration, director Eras Djarot re-edited the meal for the screening at the Cannes Film Festival. "Which was screened in theaters in 1988 it was 2 hours 15 minutes. At the Cannes Film Festival it should be curated to 1 hour 48 minutes," he said. This new duration was then restored and re-aired in theaters today.

Christine was also present at the screening of Tjoet Nya' Dhien at the Cannes Film Festival. "All who have a big part to this film have gone to the Cannes Film Festival. Clearly this provides learning for us, how we make Indonesian films become ambassadors for their nation abroad," he explained.

Christine Hakim (Photo: Savic Rabos, DI: Raga/VOI)

Film, according to Christine, to be one way of introducing our history to young genarsi. "It's important we make historical films. Because it's like a trail for us. Do not in the life of the state, in living our beliefs aja we need to trace the trail. So that we know who we are," he explained.

"It's very dangerous if we don't know ourselves, then how can we have who we are? As children we must know our parents, our grandmothers, our ancestors. As a nation, how can we know our nation if we do not trace the history of Indonesian civilization. His approach can be various ways, one of which is through film," he said.

The woman, born on December 25, 1956, was grateful when the restoration of Tjoet Nya' Dhien was done with a lot of help that was obtained for free. "Joko Anwar gave the idea to make his re-poster. Viva Westi made its café for our base camp meeting. Yesterday also accompanied me to make Indonesian subtitles. The publication is also assisted by my journalist friend is very grateful," he said.

As if the universe is supporting, when the digital version of Tjoet Nya' Dhien is ready to be screened, xxi cinema network also gives as much space as possible for the screening of this film. "The spirit is exactly the same as it used to be when making this movie. It's all by God's permission. The involvement of friends who are not involved in the film, spontaneously and sincerely I am grateful," he explained.

Initially, the film Tjoet Nya' Dhien will be screened during the Eid holiday. However, it finally backed down one week after Eid al-Fitr. "This is not very fitting with the moment of national awakening commemoration. It's also important to excite audiences back to the cinema. Ideally, the audience can enjoy a movie that is not just entertainment," he said.


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