The sexploitation of 1990s cinema

Written by Elma Adisya | Read in Indonesian

The 80s-90s generation who grew up watching television must be familiar with the legendary films from Trio Warkop DKI (Dono, Kasino, Indro). At that time, their films had their own characteristics, such as crude humour mixed with vulgarity (slapstick) and sexy female characters.

Even though some of their films had unique storylines, one of the things that could attract the audience to come to the theatres in droves was the super click-baity and ambiguous film titles with “steamy” posters featuring seasoned actresses like Nurul Arifin, Sally Marcelina and Inneke Koesherawati with suggestive poses and costumes.

From several films that TFR observed, most of the films in the 90s from various genres openly displayed vulgar titles and pictures which were undoubtedly intended to stimulate the audience's lust.

Also read: “Bernafas dalam lumpur”: behind Indonesian soft porn movies in the 70s-80s

The title is more vulgar than the film?

We can see an interesting phenomenon from the films “Kenikmatan Tabu” starring legendary actress Kiki Fatmala and the action film “Gairah Membara” starring legendary action actor Barry Prima. “Kenikmatan Tabu” tells the story of the revenge of a girl named Rita (Kiki Fatmala) for the death of her mother who was killed by her mother's ex-husband.

Even though the film was about revenge, most of the plot contains steamy scenes that don't really affect the common thread of the conflict. The steamy scenes are 1-2 minutes long, which include close-ups of the actress' face while being “engrossed” or fondling scenes with slow motion effects. This is a stark contrast to the steamy films of the 70s, which packed these types of scenes symbolically and were supported by a well-built plot.

What about Barry Prima's action stories? Many of his films are action films with the mafia vs security forces theme; it seems that at that time, such stories were popular, especially among Hong Kong films. However, even though the genre is action and the film is full of shooting scenes, the title is still semi-vulgar while the poster sells the sensuality of the actress.

Exclusive cinema chains change movie-going behavior

Seeing the dynamics of Indonesian film plots in the 90s, the question often arises as to why sex is the main ingredient in most Indonesian cinemas. This turned out to be closely related to the multidimensional crisis in the Indonesian film industry at that time.

Unlike the Indonesian films of the 70s and 80s, the 90s can be called the era of the worst crisis for Indonesian cinema. A research by Eka Nada Shofa Alkhajar found that in 1992, Indonesian film production was badly pushed back in terms of numbers and there was a high number of cinemas that started to collapse tragically. There were two main factors and several other factors that caused the fall of the film industry at that time. First, the production side. Second, the distribution of films to cinemas throughout Indonesia.

In terms of film circulation, at that time there were other challenges faced by second-tier cinemas, one of which was the monopoly of the Cineplex 21 Group cinema chain owned by the Subentra Group (Sudwikatmono-Benny Suherman Putra). In his interview with TFR, Rizki Lazuardi, Program Advisor for the Berlinale Forum, explained that at that time, before cinema chains such as Studio 21 appeared, cinemas in Indonesia only focused on watching movies.

“At that time, cinemas were only for watching movies, some were specifically showing Indian films, some were showing only one type of film. Then, there were some who differentiate the class of the audience, from the sitting position and broadcast time. When the Cinema 21 (formerly Studio 21) network appeared, they presented a new experience, namely one-stop entertainment," said Rizki.

Studio 21 presented the one-stop entertainment concept by building a cinema next to a shopping centre. The cinema also has a game centre and food counter displaying popcorn machines in the front. In addition, the majority of American blockbuster films were screened at the Studio 21 cinema network.

“Because films were still made with celluloid tapes, the quantity was very limited. Automatically, when it was distributed, the priority was 21 cinemas, because distributors wanted the film to sell well. Also, what cinemas wanted were to show films that were sure to attract audiences," Rizki explained.

Production costs colonised creative idealism

Because of this, second-tier cinemas outside the 21 cinema chain, especially those operating in areas outside the capital, were completely unable to compete in terms of profit making. Why was profit so important? In addition to filling their purse, regional cinemas also bore the burden of the regional autonomy policy to pursue regional revenue targets (Law Number 8 of 1992 concerning Film).

Then, were Indonesian filmmakers affected too? Very much so. When first-tier cinemas prioritised Western blockbuster films to make money, in order to compete with these Western films, in Indonesia there was a speculative view from film producers in that era who did not want to gamble with uncertainty. They didn't want to make a film with an uncertain return, so they chose a foolproof formula, namely films with thick “sexploitation”.

Rizki also presented an example. Cited from Eric Sasono's book, the film “Gadis Metropolis” (1994) managed to attract 200 thousand viewers, while “Gairah Malam” (1993) was enjoyed by 265 thousand viewers. This proved the strong appeal of films that are full of sexploitation. On the contrary, “Plong (Naik Daun)” (1991), a comedy-drama film by Putu Wijaya, was only able to attract 8,400 viewers and “Si Kabayan Mencari Jodoh” (1994) only managed to attract 35,000 viewers.

“When these second-tier cinemas were unable to screen Western blockbuster films, they tended to look for films that were cheaper. These steamy films have proven to bring in the audience. Was there a large audience? Definitely. But in my opinion, at that time, the most important thing was low production costs.”

A new face in the world of cinema: Private TV station

The monopoly of high-class cinemas and the imbalance in film distribution are two of the many contributing factors to the torpidity of Indonesian cinema in the 90s. In the same research, Eka said the rapid development of private television stations in Indonesia at that time was also another big factor.

Since the issuance of the Decree of the Minister of Information No.111/1990, the television industry and business flourished after the emergence of TVRI in 1962. In 1987, RCTI was allowed broadcasts for the first time, followed by SCTV (1989), TPI (1991), ANTV (1993) and Indosiar (1994).

"TVRI had a golden screen programme that showed blockbuster films, so people in regional areas who had no access to cinemas could enjoy these films on television," said Rizki.

The presence of private television stations can be said to add colours - but also complexity - to the Indonesian film ecosystem. They present a variety of new forms of entertainment, one of which is soap operas. In that era, electronic cinema or soap operas were available at almost every television station, resulting in an ever-increasing need for the supply of local programmes.

Eka’s research showed that most of the film companies at that time chose to transform into a production house. Among them, which is now one of the largest production houses, is Tripar Multivision Plus owned by Raam Punjabi, formerly known as Parkit Film. The effect on the film industry is clear, that is, production houses have less incentive to produce quality films, because in the end, market demand determines the product in circulation.

As a result, for nearly ten years, the Indonesian film era was in comatose, struggling to develop due to various reasons, until finally, in the early 2000s, the industry began to enjoy a breath of fresh air. When Indonesia entered the Reformation period, Indonesian filmmakers' creativity emerged. The films began to break the mainstream formula of the previous era, and resulted in the birth of "Pasir Berbisik" by director Nan Achnas, "Ada Apa Dengan Cinta" by director Rudi Soedjarwo and "Ca-bau-kan" by director Nia Dinata. A new chapter in the Indonesian film industry arrived, replacing the dark pages of the previous decades.