Through Djam Malam-Usmar Ismail In The Film Criterion Collection Restoration Project With Martin Scorsese

Via Djam Malam (Source: Twitter / @ Criterion)

JAKARTA - Through Djam Malam, a classic Indonesian film by Usmar Ismail is curated as one of the 2020 Criterion Collection. This means that the 1954 film will be restored. There's Martin Scorsese behind this project.

In a restoration project called Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project, Scorsese collaborated with the Criterion Collection. Quoting information from the official Twitter @Criterion, Lewat Djam Malam will be included in the third edition of this project, which reportedly will be available in September.

Steeped in the moody atmospherics and simmering psychological tension of film noir, the clear-eyed postcolonial tragedy AFTER THE CURFEW (1954) from trailblazing auteur Usmar Ismail paints a dark-edged portrait of a country no longer at war but still fighting for its soul. pic.twitter.com/SSilVP9Pwo

- Criterion Collection (@Criterion) June 15, 2020

With this, the film which has the international title After The Curfew officially becomes the first Indonesian film to be touched by the restoration of the Criterion Collection. However, there is no news yet whether the Criterion Collection version of Lewat Djam Malam can be enjoyed in Indonesia.

Currently, the Criterion Collection only accommodates shipping services to Canada and the United States. What is clear is that later on, Via Djam Malam will be available for home viewing.

In the film industry, the company from the United States (US) has established a great reputation as a home video label that specializes in licensing classic and legendary films. The Criterion Collection is highly standardized in curation. Just look at the name Scorsese who acts as a curator in one of the projects they are on.

Through Djam Malam

Starring AN Alcaff (Iskandar) and Netty Herawaty (Norma), Lewat Djam Malam is one of the greatest legends the Indonesian nation has ever spawned. Through this film, Usmar Ismail's name soared as a pioneer of Indonesian cinema.

Tells the story of a former soldier who has difficulty adjusting to the lifestyle of civil society in the post-colonial era, Usmar Ismail and Arsul Sani, who act as scriptwriters, present nuances of psychological drama or neo-noir in the development of classification of film genres.

Usmar Ismail's collaboration with the Citra award-winning writer is fragrant. Its greatness is immovable. And this is not the first restoration for Lewat Djam Malam.

In 2012, this film was restored and screened around international film events, such as the London Film Festival to the Cannes Film Festival which is also widely known as the 'World Classic Cinema Entry'.

In the Martin Scorcese's World Cinema Project project, Lewat Djam Malam stands alongside other Scorsese curated titles. There was Lucia, a 1968 film from Cuba, Dos Monjes (1934) from Mexico, Soleil O (1970) from France, to Downpour (1972) from Iran.