KALA (Indonesia, 2007)

US PREMIERE

102 minutes, 35mm, in Bahasa Indonesia with English subtitles
Directed by: Joko Anwar
Starring: Fachry Albar, Ario Bayu, Shanty, Fahrani

Showtimes: TUE June 24, 7.00pm at the IFC Center [Buy Tickets];
THU June 26, 9:15pm at the IFC Center [Buy Tickets].
Note: "Buy Tickets" links will take you to the IFC Center website (for shows at IFC Center) and to Japan Society website (for shows at Japan Society). Tickets for each venue must be purchased separately

“Instead of going for the well-traveled (and safe) path of the horror genre, Joko cleverly -- and, I must say, boldly -- wraps his story in something that no Indonesian filmmaker has dared to attempt: a noir thriller. The result is a ground-breaking, intelligent and stylish mix of suspense, mythology and political allegory.” (Jakarta Post)

“...mashing up noir with horror, comedy, melodrama, and martial arts (think: Christopher Gans’ muddled Brotherhood of the Wolf, though KALA (Dead Time) is a much better movie). Despite the escapist, popcorn fun that’s central to its appeal, Anwar’s tongue-in-cheek thriller has interesting things to say about his socially conservative country.” (PopMatters)

“...DARK CITY as envisioned by Kiyoshi Kurosawa.” (Twitch)

“What if our nature is just like this?” a cop says, gazing over a gaggle of freshly burnt corpses, the products of a street corner lynching. That’s the question at the heart of Joko Anwar’s pitch black film noir that starts out as a paranoid conspiracy thriller but mutates into a mystical horror film set in an alternate history version of Indonesia where everyone sports a retro 50’s look and a black sedan full of sharp-suited government thugs waits around every gloomy corner. Food riots are breaking out, critics of the government have a habit of disappearing suddenly and the totalitarian state has its foot on the neck of its citizens. The atmosphere of menace and despair is a like a hand slowly closing around your throat until by the end of the film you almost can’t breathe.

Janus, a narcoleptic reporter, is in the middle of a nasty divorce and is about to lose his job because whenever the stress builds up he passes out. But those carbonized corpses burnt in the street turn out to be linked to a sprawling secret conspiracy to track down the treasure of the first President, an obscene bit of profiteering, engineered by the upper crust who want to stuff their pockets with gold while the country dies. Rumor has it that the First President’s Treasure is guarded by a ghost, and the high body count among those seeking it seems to support that theory, but the stack of decapitated corpses could just be the handiwork of a government death squad, too. All the clues are taking Janus down a bad road, but he can’t stop following them, one after the other, and things only get worse when a hard bitten cop named Eros starts following the same bloody trail.

“If you read the history of other countries, everything’s inventions, like electricity, the steam engine,” one character says. “But everything related to the history of this country is mystical.” And as the film itself slowly turns red, as if the print is being submerged in blood, soaking in the gore created by the awful grinding wheels of history, Joko Anwar’s film turns into a gruesome funhouse where every road leads back to some horrible spirit seeking revenge for past crimes. It’s the history of modern day Indonesia, turned into a sepia-toned hell house. It’s also one of the biggest blockbusters ever released in Indonesia, (made for a mere $600,000) and it is world’s apart from Joko Anwar’s first film, the light comedy and film festival favorite, JONJI’S PROMISE. Here, Indonesia’s most promising young director turns in a movie made of minor chords played on the piano, full of the anticipation of silent, swift violence lurking just around the corner.

Festivals/Awards
Pucheon International Fantastic Film Festival 2007: Closing Night Film
Asian Hot Shots Berlin 2008: Winner, “Best Feature Film.”