Memories of My Body (Indonesian: Kucumbu Tubuh Indahku) is a 2018 Indonesian Javanese-language coming-of-age drama film directed by Garin Nugroho and produced by Ifa Isfansyah. The film tells the story of a dancer in the Lengger tradition, revolving around his introduction to it and finding his self-identity. The plot is loosely based on dancer Rianto's life; Rianto also stars in the film. The ensemble cast is Muhammad Khan, Sujiwo Tejo, Teuku Rifnu Wikana, Randy Pangalila, and Endah Laras.
It premiered internationally before in Indonesia. During its theatrical release, the film's team experienced obstacles from the general public such as two Change.org petitions wanting the film to be cancelled due to a perception that the film promoted morals inconsistent with Indonesia's common culture, namely LGBT elements, which became the reason of positive reviews by critics and portions of the general public. The film was banned in Padang, Palembang, Pekanbaru, Depok, Garut, Pontianak, and Kubu Raya. Nugroho took offence to the controversy. The film was the Indonesian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards.
Plot
Memories of My Body main character's name, Wahyu Juno, is derived from the name Arjuna, the strong, divine protagonist of the epic poem Mahabharata. Nicknamed Juno, he lives in a village in Banyumas Regency, where a person's body is regarded as the archive of their life, carrying education, emotion, and trauma as they go on with their life. The local lengger dance, which involves men cross-dressing, is derived from "leng", meaning "hole" (a reference to the vagina), and "ger", meaning "comb" (a reference to the penis); thus, the word highlights the masculinity and femininity within humans.
In the 1980s, young Juno's father leaves him inexplicably. Out of admiration, he begins learning lengger from a dance teacher; he also begins his sexual exploration. He witnesses the teacher killing the student Jok for having sex with his wife. Upon his father's request, Juno's aunt Atmo takes him. She learns that he can detect chickens' fertility by inserting his finger into the genitals, much to her vexation. He is punished by a teacher for spreading odor, and is asked to write an apology with a chalk in his mouth, to which he writes "MOM."Indonesian: IBU. A dance teacher rescues and teaches him lengger. Noticing that Juno wants to touch her cleavage, missing his mother, she allows him, and the villagers take her to police, citing pedophilia. Exhausted, Atmo gives Juno to his uncle.
As an adult, Juno works for his clothing store, able to measure a person's body with his senses. One day, a boxer orders a traditional wedding costume. He requests that Juno demonstrate how to wear it. When the man accidentally bleeds his chest with a safety pin, he sucks it, and Juno realizes he is gay. As the eldest of a plethora of siblings, the man never gets to spend time with himself or cuddle with his mother, exacerbated by poverty. In a fit of closeness, they kiss. The man loses a boxing match, thus not being able to garner money for his wedding and the boss of a controlling enemy, whose fixer separates him and Juno. The next day, Juno's uncle reveals that his father left due to trauma upon a river nearby his house, where his family was slaughtered out of slander that he was involved in the 30 September Movement. After his uncle dies, Juno moves to Jati village to be costume designer of a lengger group.
Anticipating the election, a regent candidate is advised by shaman Pesisiran to find a mate that will spiritually allow him to win. Juno, the mate, rejects the instruction. A warok blocks his plan to reconcile with the regent (who is furious that the reog group cancelled further political dances) by choosing Juno as his gemblak (male lover), noticing a close connection; Juno accepts, and they bond. The regent's wife hires fixers to kick Juno and the lengger group out of the village, worrying that a photo of the regent and Juno holding hands may cause the majority, homophobic villagers to not vote for him. A relative confronts the wife for abuse of power, saying that she will be lonely. The group absconds before the fixers arrive. Juno hitchhikes and smiles, now out of the closet.
Cast Muhammad Khan as Juno Raditya Evandra as little Juno Rianto as The Dancer Sujiwo Tejo as the Lengger instructor Teuku Rifnu Wikana as the regent Randy Pangalila as the boxer Whani Dharmawan as the warok Endah Laras as Juno's aunt Dwi Windarti as the dance teacher
Production
Memories of My Body is the 19th film made by Garin Nugroho. Pre-production took two months, principal photography took two weeks, and post-production took another two months. Nugroho claims the film is his fastest film to be produced. He also said that part of the script is loosely based on the life of Rianto, a dancer native to Banyumas who now stays in Japan. Nugroho has known Rianto since 2015 and has worked with him to make a short film called Mangir based on a fable of the same name by Pramoedya Ananta Toer, a writer known for his historic novel This Earth of Mankind. They also worked together in making a choreography titled "Medium". As their friendship goes on, Nugroho gets a full picture of Rianto's life and decided to make the film. Despite that, the film is not fully inspired by him; some elements are based on Nugroho's life. When told about the film, Rianto is reported to be surprised; he then enters the project. Rianto also became the choreographer for several cast members, including Muhammad Khan. Nugroho also stayed in the same room with Rianto throughout principal photography; they chatted about Khan's role every night.
Translating the title Kucumbu Tubuh Indahku (lit. I Make Out with My Beautiful Body) to English took a considerably long time, as there are many challenges in translating such a poetic title to an understandable English title. Producer Ifa Isfansyah had 10 titles to choose from; one of them was Through the Hole (Indonesian: Lewat Lubang). Eventually, they settled with Memories of My Body (Indonesian: Ingatan-ingatan Akan Tubuhku).
Themes According to CNN Indonesia, Memories of My Body reflects the diverse Indonesian society with its xenophobic attitudes causing hardships in life for those who are different. The main character has a marginalized sexual orientation and lives in a passive society, which later leads to difficulty in communicating. When he decides to express his feelings through dancing in a local tribe, it still fails to convince society to be accepting. CNN Indonesia favorably contrasts the movie's perceived realism with La La Land, which is criticized as being set in an overly utopian society.
The film was also said to be a criticism of egotistical politicians. In reality, there are indeed minority groups being oppressed instead of getting equal rights. In Indonesia, various cultures have been disowned as they were perceived as "Communist, occult, or rebelling against religion."
Release Memories of my Body premiered at the 75th Venice International Film Festival in 2018; Other international screenings include the 2018 Three Continents Festival in Nantes, France, as well as Teatro Farnese in Rome, Italy, from 23 to 26 May 2019; the screening in Rome was part of the 70th anniversary celebration of Indonesia's diplomatic relationship with Italy. It also screened at the Holland Festival from 11 to 12 June 2018, as well as the nearby IFFR in 2019. Other festivals screening the film included the Busan International, Hong Kong Lesbian & Gay, Göteborg, Guadalajara International, Vilnius International, Locarno, Frameline, Singapore International, and Tel Aviv International LGBT Film Festival. It also screened at the Oldham Theater, Singapore, on 10 January 2020.
Locally in Indonesia, the film premiered at the 2018 Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival on 13 December. It was then theatrically released on 18 April 2019 along with two other Indonesian films, Pocong the Origin and Rumput Tetangga, after a one-month delay in release schedules. Due to its taboo topic, the film was only screened in 40 theaters in Indonesia, with each theater playing it between one and three times a day. Film Indonesia recorded that the film got 8,082 unique viewers in just a week.
There were two versions of the film distributed by the Indonesian Film Censorship Board (LSF). The first version is an edited version of it that is rated and passed censor on 13 December 2018. The second version in unedited one rated that passed censor on 23 January 2019; nowhere but at the Plaza Indonesia Film Festival on 16 February is the unedited version screened. The head of the LSF, Ahmad Yani Basuki, had personal considerations that allowed the film to be qualified for release, and he refused to believe that the LSF's article on the film may indirectly promote LGBT. Ahmad stated that the film contains morals that can be taught for a mature individual; he sees the depiction of the masculine character cross-dressing and acting feminine tolerable by the general public. Adrian Jonathan Pasaribu of publication Cinema Poetica says that the film is worthy of screening all across Indonesia, reminding the public that the LSF is not responsible for territorial screenings. Adrian says that there are no elements of the film that could convert youth to LGBT.
The film does not screen in typical theatres initially but in film festivals instead, because it does not prioritize money and the box office. Ifa says that the film might not be regularly released due to the general public's inability to prioritize a film's art instead of its elements. The film needed to be screened at a large festival; thus, it was released at the Venice International Film Festival.
From 12 to 17 December 2019, Memories of My Body rescreened itself in three CGV Cinema theaters in Jakarta.
Critical response
The film received positive response by the general public and the media. Other than regarding its LGBT elements, it is also praised for its historical references to the 1980s. Endro Priherdityo of CNN Indonesia praised Nugroho in his efforts to tell a wider story than just a casual dancer but also discrimination towards a culture, also marking it as Nugroho's best film. Media Indonesia also praised him for bringing light to the issue of gender discrimination. The IFDC praised it for glorifying and encouraging freedom of speech in such taboo topic. A writer of The Jakarta Post noted it as one of the best films made after the New Order. A German critic called Memories of My Body "an alienating-looking artificiality." Another critic, after watching the film in Venice, wrote that Nugroho "takes a path in full line with this artistic syncretism, adding cinema as a meta-artistic structure that encompasses all the arts." In the film, according to them, "sexuality is intertwined with art, with the infinite possibility of the arts." Other than calling it a "striking poetic imagery out of the socially and sexually conscious material and strikes a delicate balance between his trademark aesthetics," The Hollywood Reporter wrote:While the pic thrives on its socially charged script and its cast's nuanced performances — especially Evandra's depiction of the protagonist as a confused boy and Khan's turn as the older Juno — Nugroho also benefits from Teoh Gay Hian's emotive camerawork and the period details of Ong Hari Wahyu's production design. At once evoking the gritty realities of agrarian Indonesia while also celebrating the richness of its folk culture, Memories of My Body offers a complex picture of the conflicting social and historical traumas concealed within the bodies and minds of marginalized, oppressed social groups in a nominally secular country.
Controversy