Why Bukaan 8 Should Not Be A Short-Lived Rom-Com Movie?

Why Bukaan 8 Should Not Be A Short-Lived Rom-Com Movie? Here’s the Reasons…

This year has been a blessing to the film industry of Indonesia so far, since we haven’t seen horror-erotic movies on our cinemas. However, it’s sad to see a relatively good local movie only got a small screen time compared to some Hollywood blockbuster junks. In 2017, one of the movie that should not be gotten rid too fast is “Bukaan 8”, a romantic comedy movie produced by Visinema Pictures and Chanex Ridhall. It was directed by a young and innovative filmmaker, Angga Dwimas Sasongko. While the script was written in collaboration with Salman Aristo, who has been involved in many scriptwriting projects in Indonesian movies. With a story centered around two main casts, Chicco Jerikho who acts as Alam and Lala Karmela who acts as Mia, we have compiled six reasons on why this movie is an underrated gem.

First up, the theme of the movie is very simple, which is about family. This theme is suitable for us who love a light yet impressive stories. Usually, movies with family-themed stories tend to have a stronger emotional and sentimental bond with the viewers, including Buka’an 8. The film shows the dynamic between a pair of newlywed and their extended families. Secondly, both main casts, Alam and Mia show a great chemistry as a couple. The interaction between them seem natural and not forced. We would not be surprised if these two were actually dating in real life (even though they are not). Reason number three is the plot that this film has which is beautifully crafted. Telling the story of a husband and a wife who are waiting for the birth of their firstborn baby, it’s fun to watch the struggle of Alam to prove that he is a responsible husband. The plot is built neatly until the tension reaches its climax. The audience are eager to see the story unfolds scenes after scenes. The dialogue is also easy to digest and relatable to those who watch, although there is an unnecessary joke slipped in between a serious scene.

The fourth reason is the involvement of indirect discussion about the current political, social, and cultural issues in our country. Through Alam, who is portrayed as an aspiring writer and a social media personality who is always vocal in voicing out his political opinion, the director displays the trending topic in Indonesia’s politics implicitly. Alam as a carefree personality often times expresses his opinion blatantly and affects his life and work as well. In this case, we could relate easily to his character since nowadays people often find trouble over their freedom of speech in the internet. Besides that, the director also inserts a little social-politic education in this movie through the introduction of capitalism, proletariat, and marhaenism (pro-farmer politics). Alam as an anti-capitalism persona, is a self-proclaimed idealist who has to face the harsh reality that he also needs money through any work available. The sense of survival really hits home as the character has to face difficult situations.

The fifth is “Bukaan 8” manages to portray the exact dynamic of an Indonesian family. Mia’s family which have thick Sundanese culture, bring almost all of their family members for Mia’s childbirth. A phenomenon often found in our country and sometimes make us miss the figure of our relatives. The sixth and last reason that, it is Angga Dwimas Sasongko’s first venture in making romantic comedy and we should appreciate his effort. For your information, the story that inspires him to make this movie was based on his own personal experience of having his firstborn child. At the end of the movie, the cast and crew’s own family are shown and it makes the experience of watching this movie more personal. Too bad that this movie isn’t available on our nearest theaters anymore. But fret not, because we still love it!

Writer: Indra Jaya Wangsa/Editor: Novita Widia