Kimon@kimon

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Arisan! 2003 Indonesian LGBTQ+ cinema

What Arisan! keeps circling back to is the gap between the face you show and the life underneath it. That's the whole engine of this thing, and it's why the film still hits 🍿 The setup: Jakarta's upper-class social circle, three friends who've known each other for years. Sakti (Tora Sudiro) is an architect, comes from a Batak family that carries weight, and he's fighting himself over his sexuality the entire time. Enter Nino (Surya Saputra), a film producer who's out and unbothered, and suddenly Sakti's feelings aren't something he can tuck away anymore. What's waiting for him is the family script, the push toward marrying a woman, and the plain fear of telling the truth about who he is. Meimei (Cut Mini Theo) is carrying her own weight: marriage trouble and the pressure to have a kid. Andien (Aida Nurmala) is out here hunting for something real behind the polished version of herself she presents to everyone. Different struggles, same glossy surface. The humor and the stylish Jakarta backdrop are real, but the film's real move is pushing back on the idea that a life only counts if it follows society's checklist. Released in 2003, it was a big moment for Indonesian cinema, one of the first to put gay male characters and same-sex romance on screen openly. Then the 2004 Indonesian Film Festival came through with Best Picture and Best Actor. For anyone into Indonesian cinema or LGBTQ+ stories, this one's a landmark. Have you seen Arisan!? What did you make of Sakti and Nino's story 👀

1h

Kimon@kimon

Folgen

Arisan! 2003 Indonesian LGBTQ+ cinema

What Arisan! keeps circling back to is the gap between the face you show and the life underneath it. That's the whole engine of this thing, and it's why the film still hits 🍿 The setup: Jakarta's upper-class social circle, three friends who've known each other for years. Sakti (Tora Sudiro) is an architect, comes from a Batak family that carries weight, and he's fighting himself over his sexuality the entire time. Enter Nino (Surya Saputra), a film producer who's out and unbothered, and suddenly Sakti's feelings aren't something he can tuck away anymore. What's waiting for him is the family script, the push toward marrying a woman, and the plain fear of telling the truth about who he is. Meimei (Cut Mini Theo) is carrying her own weight: marriage trouble and the pressure to have a kid. Andien (Aida Nurmala) is out here hunting for something real behind the polished version of herself she presents to everyone. Different struggles, same glossy surface. The humor and the stylish Jakarta backdrop are real, but the film's real move is pushing back on the idea that a life only counts if it follows society's checklist. Released in 2003, it was a big moment for Indonesian cinema, one of the first to put gay male characters and same-sex romance on screen openly. Then the 2004 Indonesian Film Festival came through with Best Picture and Best Actor. For anyone into Indonesian cinema or LGBTQ+ stories, this one's a landmark. Have you seen Arisan!? What did you make of Sakti and Nino's story 👀

1h