Chinese Stories in Contemporary Indonesian Film
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
! Recuperation and Fragmented Identity: Chinese Stories in Contemporary Indonesian Film Miaw Lee Teo A thesis in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of the Arts and Media Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences July 2018 ORIGINALITY STATEMENT ‘I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis. I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project's design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged.’ Signed .............. Date .............. COPYRIGHT STATEMENT ‘I hereby grant the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I retain all proprietary rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. I also authorise University Microfilms to use the 350 word abstract of my thesis in Dissertation Abstract International (this is applicable to doctoral theses only). I have either used no substantial portions of copyright material in my thesis or I have obtained permission to use copyright material; where permission has not been granted I have applied/will apply for a partial restriction of the digital copy of my thesis or dissertation.' Signed ........................... Date ........................... AUTHENTICITY STATEMENT ‘I certify that the Library deposit digital copy is a direct equivalent of the final officially approved version of my thesis. No emendation of content has occurred and if there are any minor variations in formatting, they are the result of the conversion to digital format.’ Signed ........................... Date ........................... Thesis/Dissertation Sheet ! ! ! Surname/Family Name : Teo Given Name/s : Miaw Lee Abbreviation for degree as give in the University calendar : Ph.D. Film Studies Faculty : Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences School : School of the Arts and Media Recuperation and Fragmented Identity: Chinese Stories in Contemporary Thesis Title : Indonesian Film Abstract 350 words maximum: (PLEASE TYPE) The year 1998 saw anti-Chinese sentiment and discrimination in Indonesia reach its peak. The resulting outbreaks of violence not only caused the deaths of hundreds of Indonesian Chinese, but also triggered the downfall of Suharto’s government and the dismantling of the New Order (1966-1998). After decades of suppression by successive regimes, ethnic Chinese public expression experienced a revival in the period of political reformation, the reformasi. The re- emergence of Chinese-themed films marks the rebirth of ethnic Chinese filmmaking after more than three decades of ethnic erasure and force assimilation. The lifting of the media regulations and the resurgence of Chinese identity in the reformasi era transformed the filmmaking scene in Indonesia, with a renewed focus on the stories of Chinese Indonesians. Inspired by the re-emergence of Chinese subjectivity and culture, Indonesian filmmakers, like Nia Dinata, Riri Riza and Nan Achnas turned their focus to Chinese-themed stories producing Ca-bau-kan (2002), Gie (2005) and The Photograph (2007) respectively. Central to this political transformation was the participation of ethnic Chinese filmmakers, like Edwin, in the Indonesian filmmaking scene. The young Indonesian filmmaker, who begun his career making short films, later produced his first feature, Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly (2008) and Postcards from the Zoo (2012). This thesis seeks to unpack the multifaceted meaning of ‘Chinese films’ and ‘Chineseness’ as represented in contemporary Indonesian cinema. It evaluates the hybrid experiences of the ethnic Chinese minority in Indonesia through cinematic stories, themes and narrative styles of feature-length films produced in the early 2000s by the three key indigenous filmmakers and also focuses on Edwin as a case study to highlight a very different approach compared to the Chinese-themed films by indigenous Indonesian filmmakers. He expresses his experience of being Chinese in Indonesia through personal experience and through the adoption of an ‘accented’ style. The thesis argues that where the indigenous filmmakers narrate Chinese stories from the outside, Edwin manages to approach the trauma, fragmentation, dislocatedness and hybridity of being Chinese in Indonesia in a style that emerges from the inside and as such closely approximates this experience. Declaration relating to disposition of project thesis/dissertation I hereby grant to the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or in part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I retain all property rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. I also authorise University Microfilms to use the 350 word abstract of my thesis in Dissertation Abstracts International (this is applicable to doctoral theses only). …………………………………………………………… ……………………………………..……………… ……….……………………...…….… Signature! Witness Signature! Date! The University recognises that there may be exceptional circumstances requiring restrictions on copying or conditions on use. Requests for restriction for a period of up to 2 years must be made in writing. Requests for a longer period of restriction may be considered in exceptional circumstances and require the approval of the Dean of Graduate Research.! FOR OFFICE USE ONLY Date of completion of requirements for Award: ! Table of Contents Page Originality Statement ii Copyright and Authenticity Statements iii Thesis/Dissertation Sheet iv Table of Contents v Acknowledgements viii Introduction 1 The Research Context, Aims and Justification 3 Literature Reviews 9 Methodology 19 Thesis Outline 21 Chapter 1: Recuperating Chinese Indonesian Film History 25 Cross-cultural Film Production in the Pre-war Period 28 Post-Independence to the Pre-New Order Period (1949-1960s) 46 Tracing the Chinese Diaspora in Indonesia 52 Early Migration of Ethnic Chinese and the Formation of Diasporic Identity 54 The Indonesian Chinese in the Colonial Era – Chinese Early settlement and the Formation of Peranakan Culture 55 Chinese Indonesian in the Independence Era (1949-1960s) 65 Chinese Indonesian under the Rule of Suharto and the New Order 67 The End of Suharto’s Era 70 The Reformasi 71 ! v! Chapter 2: The Re-Emergence of Chinese Stories in post-Suharto Indonesian Cinema 76 Ca-bau-kan (2002) 78 Flashbacks and the Family Guanxi link 83 From Family Guanxi to Non-family Guanxi 86 Gie (2005) 94 The Portrayal of Chinese-Indonesians in Gie 98 The Obscured Family Guanxi in Gie and the Representation of a Chinese Ethos 104 The Photograph (2007) 108 The Photograph and the Inscription of Chinese-Indonesian Stories 111 The Photograph as the Recollection of Homeland Memories 115 Quasi-Familial Guanxi 117 Chapter 3: Fragmentation and Displacement: Edwin’s Accented Film Practice 121 Edwin’s Biography: Identity and Self-Inscription 123 Edwin’s Accented Mode of Production 127 Edwin’s Short Films: Stylistic Innovation and the Fragmented Family 137 Chinese ‘Accents’ in Edwin’s films 147 Chapter 4: Speaking in Accents: Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly and the Inscription of Edwin’s Personal Experience 151 Disoriented Identity, Disjointed Family and the Fragmented Narrative: Towards an Accented Reading of Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly 156 Authorial Self-Inscription and Disoriented Identity 158 Exploring the Issue of Disjointed Family 172 ! vi! Fragmented Narrative 181 Chapter 5: Interstitial Filmmaking, Spatial Displacement and Quasi-Family Ties in Postcards from the Zoo (2012) 185 Edwin’s Interstitial Mode of Production 186 Reception 188 Accented Spatiality: A Dialectics of Displacement and Emplacement 191 Discontinuity and Edwin’s Fragmented Style 202 Quasi-Family Ties and the Idea of Home 204 Conclusion 209 References 216 Filmography 227 ! vii! Acknowledgments I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Michelle Langford, for her continuous support of my Ph.D. study, for her patience, motivation, and scholarly inputs. Her guidance and consistent encouragement helped me in all the time of writing this thesis. I would also like to thank my co-supervisor Haiqing Yu who has offered her expertise and constructive criticism in the process of my thesis writing. My appreciation is extended to Dr. Collin Chua, Dr. Meg Mumford, and Professor Dorothya Fabian, for their critical comments and suggestions during the review process at the University of New South Wales. This work would not have been possible without the financial support of the Skim Latihan Akademik IPTA (SLAI) from the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education.