The Cultural Traffic of Classic Indonesian Exploitation Cinema Ekky Imanjaya Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of East Anglia School of Art, Media and American Studies December 2016 © This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with the author and that use of any information derived there from must be in accordance with current UK Copyright Law. In addition, any quotation or extract must include full attribution. 1 Abstract Classic Indonesian exploitation films (originally produced, distributed, and exhibited in the New Order’s Indonesia from 1979 to 1995) are commonly negligible in both national and transnational cinema contexts, in the discourses of film criticism, journalism, and studies. Nonetheless, in the 2000s, there has been a global interest in re-circulating and consuming this kind of films. The films are internationally considered as “cult movies” and celebrated by global fans. This thesis will focus on the cultural traffic of the films, from late 1970s to early 2010s, from Indonesia to other countries. By analyzing the global flows of the films I will argue that despite the marginal status of the films, classic Indonesian exploitation films become the center of a taste battle among a variety of interest groups and agencies. The process will include challenging the official history of Indonesian cinema by investigating the framework of cultural traffic as well as politics of taste, and highlighting the significance of exploitation and B-films, paving the way into some findings that recommend accommodating the movies in serious discourses on cinema, nationally and globally. Furthermore, regarding the film traffic, the films became both the significant arenas and the objects of tensions arising from various politics of taste involving several agencies like the State and its cultural elites, local film producers, local film distributors/exhibitors, local audiences, transnational distributors, and global fans. In the bigger picture, the thesis also analyzes how international dynamics of political, economic, social, and cultural transformation of trashy films have formed and impacted the ambience of national and global film cultures, including critically encountering the Western-centric concept of Cult cinema. In establishing the arguments, with archival-led research and a critical historical approach, I will explore various fields of film studies, containing policy studies, distribution/exhibition culture, film reception and spectatorship, and global online fandom. 2 Table of content Abstract…………………………………………..……………………………………...…2 Table of Content ……...………………………….....…………………….…………...….3 Introduction……….……………………………………………….…………………..….8 The Politics of Global Flows and the Disjunctive Scapes…………………..……12 Discourses on New Order’s Indonesian Cinema History. ...………………..……15 Institutions of New Order cinema………………….…………………..…18 Film Nasional and Cultural Elites…………………..………………….…21 Discussion on Trashy Movies in Indonesian Cinema Scholarship..……...23 Key Concepts: Cult Movies, Exploitation Films, B-grade Cinema.………..….....29 Cult Movies, Fan Culture, and Distribution Culture……………….……….....….33 Politics of Tastes and Legitimate Culture………………………….….……....….36 Methodology…………………………………...……………………….…….…...38 Research Questions and Methods……….…………………………...........39 Data Collection and Selection...……………………………..…....42 Approaches and Position…………………………………….……..……..46 Structure……………………………………………………………………..…....49 Conclusion……………………………….…………………………….……...….51 Section One : Cultural Traffic and the Origin of Classic Indonesian Exploitation Cinema.…………………………………………………….……..........….53 Chapter 1: New Order’s Paradoxical Policies: The Dynamics of Film Production and Politics of Tastes in Indonesia’s New Order Regime….………..….54 3 Theories on Film Censorship………………………………………….……….…56 From “the Old Order” to the New Order……………………………………...…57 Early Years of New Order : Resurrection Years………………………….……...59 The 1970s: “The Rise of Trashy Movies”……………………………….………63 The 1980s: The Golden Era of Classic Exploitation Cinema…………….…...….71 The 1990s: The Fall of Classic Exploitation Cinema …………………….....…..74 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………….….78 Chapter 2: The Subculture of Layar Tancap: Exploitation movies, Traveling Cinema, and Rural Audiences in Indonesia….………………………………….….…81 Theories on Rural Cinema and Traveling Cinema…………………………....….81 Layar Tancap Shows as Non Theatrical Cinema…..……………….…….84 The Subculture of Western Midnight Movies…………………….…………..…..85 The Politics and History of Layar Tancap.…………..………………..……….…..…86 On Rural Audiences in Indonesia’s New Order era………………………..….…89 Framing Layar Tancap……………………….……………………………..………..….90 Layar Tancap as Counterculture…………….………………………………..…..93 Layar tancap Audience and Their Politics of Tastes..………………………..…..95 Layar tancap Owners’ misconduct…………………..…………………..…….…96 Conclusion……………………………………………..……………………...….97 Chapter 3: Prokjatap Prosar and Other Film Exportations: On Global Distribution of Classic Indonesian Exploitation Movies………………………………………......100 Pre-1982 Film Exportation…………………………….………………….....…102 4 The Significance of Prokjatap Prosar……………………..……………………..…..106 Sharp Criticism and Official Justification ……………………………………...114 The Global Influence of Prokjatap Prosar …………………………………….117 Conclusion……………………………………………….…………….……..…122 Section Two : Cultural Traffic and Film Mediation……………………….……..…125 Chapter 4 Tromatized: The Political Economy of Redubbing in Troma Team’s Ferocious Female Freedom Fighters………………………………………….…….....126 On Troma Team’s Identity………...……………………………………..…...…129 FFFF as a Troma Film……………...…………………….…………….…..……131 “Tromatized”…………………………………………………………………….132 The Redubbing of FFFF…………………..….…………...………………….….135 Conclusion…………………………………...……………………………….….142 Chapter 5 : Indonesian Classic Exploitation Cinema and Digital Distribution: The Cases of Mondo Macabro and VideoASia’s Tales of Voodoo…….…………….143 Discourses on Cult Digital Distribution…………………………………..…..…144 Two Modes of Distributions…………………………………………….145 Reworks of the Distributors and Their Importance……………….….…146 Fans as Collectors ………………………………………….………..….147 The Case of Mondo Macabro: Chaperone Model of Archiving, and Its Implications…………………………………………………………..…147 Frame/Preserve the Tastes: Rework as Chaperone Model…………..….148 Bonus Special Features………………………………………………....149 5 The Repurpose by Mondo Macabro…………………………...………..150 Online Promotion………………………………………….……150 The DVD covers………………………………………………...151 (Re)Dubbing…………………………………………………….152 Trailers……………………………………………….……....….153 Fans’ Critical Responses…………………………………….……….....153 The Case of VideoAsia’s Tales of Voodoo: Double Bill, Commercial Bootlegging, and Plagiarism………………………………………………...….154 The DVD Covers………………………………………...………..….…156 Sources and Copyrights…………………………………..……..............159 Fans’ criticism…………………………………..…………….……...…160 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………...….163 Section Three: Cultural Traffic and Film Reception…………………………..........165 Chapter 6 Moral Panic and Reception of Classic Indonesian Exploitation Films: The Case of Lady Terminator………………………………..…………………….….166 Moral Panic vs. Blockbuster Spectators …………………………………….…169 Moral Panic in pre-1989 Indonesia ………………………………………….…172 The Case of Lady Terminator…………………………………………………….…...174 The Other Side of “Public” …………………………………………..……...…177 The Tip of the Iceberg ………………………………………………...…..........179 Conclusion ………………………………………………… …………..............182 Chapter 7: “Crazy Indonesia”: Politics of Tastes and Niche Criticism by Global Cult Fans Towards Classic Indonesian Exploitation Cinema………………….….184 6 Niche Criticism as Fans Texts………………………………………… ……….186 Defining “Crazy Indonesia”………………………………………………….....187 Specific Sub-Genres of Indonesian Films …………………………………..….193 Discriminating Other New Order films…….…………………….……….…… 195 Discriminating Post-New Order Indonesian Films ……………….……………197 Hunting Non-Recirculated Films: Rarities and Exclusivity..…….……………200 Conclusion…………………………………………………….…….………….202 Conclusion………………………………………………………………….….……….205 Cultural Traffic and the New History of Indonesian Cinema …..….….……….208 Cultural Traffic and the Indonesian Context of Cult Cinema……………….….208 Cultural Traffic and the Origin of Classic Indonesian Exploitation Cinema……………………………………..……………....…...….211 Cultural Traffic and Film Mediation……………………….……………………215 Cultural Traffic and Film Reception………………………….………………....218 Further Study………………………………………………..…………………..221 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………222 List of Tables and Figures………………………………………………………....……224 List of Transnational Classic Indonesian Exploitation Films…………………….…....225 List of Foreign actors in New Order’s Indonesian B Movies……………………...…..228 List of Policies……………………………………………………………………….….230 Acknowledgement…………………….…………………………………………….......233 List of Acronyms……………………….………………………………………..……..237 Bibliography ……………………………………………………………………….…...240 Filmography …………………………………………………………………………....267 7 Introduction1 It’s like KILL BILL- but with oodles of sex. This combination of Asian black magic and Western-style shoot ‘em up is one of the key cult movies of the ‘80s. Even the jaded patrons of 42nd Street were shocked to see how the lustful Lady T dispatched her male victims! (Promotional material from the DVD back cover of Lady Terminator (1988), recircu lated in the 2000s By Mondo Macabro). In the 2000s, there has been an international interest