Movie Review Layar (2023)

 

Layar | 2023 | 1h 10m
Genre: Drama | Country: Indonesia
Director: Ifa Isfansyah | Writers: Ahmad Aditya, Ifa Isfansyah
Cast: Siti Fauziah, Adi Marsono, Resti Praditaningtyas
IMDb: 8.7
My Rate: 6/10

Marni, with her determination and love for film, along with her former colleagues, struggle to revive the cinema where they previously worked.

Warning:

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Synopsis of Layar:

Marni (Siti Fauziah) has to accept being fired from her job as a ticket seller at Merapi Cinema. The small cinema, which shows some old films with not-so-advanced equipment, has to close due to the impact of the pandemic. Marni returns to her hometown to continue her life.

Marni's love for film began with her father's death. Curiosity about her father's hobby of watching films led her to work at the cinema after previously only being a viewer and film enthusiast. Marni is confused because she feels she has no skills in other fields.

Marni meets her neighbor who previously worked as a writer for a newspaper, who now works as a content creator. This gives Marni an idea to revive Merapi Cinema with the help of her colleagues at Merapi. Although this isn't easy, because Marni has to compete with the cinema owner who is going to sell the building.

Their struggle shows a glimmer of hope when a producer is interested in holding a film premiere at the cinema. They work hard to raise money to get their cinema operational before the producer comes to do a survey. Besides selling food online, they also sell some old posters that are stored at the cinema.

Will they succeed in reviving the cinema?

 

Review of Layar:

Layar has a pretty interesting idea about the impact of the pandemic on the business sector, namely cinemas. During the pandemic, many activities that involve many people were stopped. One of them, cinemas, was also affected by the pandemic. Surely many small cinemas had to close due to lack of income.

This pretty good idea, however, loses a little bit of its consistency with logic due to several facts revealed in the film. There's one scene where they try to get people to watch the drive-in cinema they're going to hold, one of the residents says that if they're only watching old films, it's better to watch them on TV and they don't have to spend money. This scene makes sense and could also be one of the reasons why Merapi Cinema couldn't survive, because they only show old films.

There are many factors that should make more sense regarding the reasons why the cinema closed, namely the equipment that still uses old equipment, the films shown are not new films, and the building and location are no longer suitable. However, it seems like these are ignored and only focus on the cinema closing due to the pandemic. The characters' efforts also ignore these facts, even though these facts could be processed better.

Inconsistency and contrast are also seen in the film when the pedicab driver and cake seller say that their biggest source of income comes from the cinema. While according to the cinema owner, they have been experiencing losses for a long time, indicating that not many people actually come to watch films. This becomes something inconsistent in the storyline.

Another inconsistency is seen in the presentation of the timeline. The pandemic happened in 2019, which is a modern time. However, the color tone used shows an old-fashioned color tone. The vehicle used by the famous producer also looks like an old vehicle. So this seems inconsistent.

Another illogical thing is when the residents gather to donate their savings just to help reopen the cinema. A businessman comes and is willing to become an investor, which seems impossible. As a businessman, he should be able to calculate the profit and loss of investing, not just because of 'memories'.

This film has the potential to be developed better. In addition, the scenes should be presented with a better flow. Many scenes and dialogues don't flow because they are too focused on conveying the 'idealism' message from the story writer.

#spoiler. The ending also feels unsatisfying, after the cinema reopens, there is no change that shows that the cinema is back in operation and becomes 'successful'. It would be better if it showed how the cinema became better, such as the audience filling the cinema again or something else. To show that they have successfully revived the cinema and impacted the surrounding community.

The acting of the actors, most of whom are theater actors, is still a little stiff. The same goes for the dialogue and the way the dialogue is delivered. There are still many actors who haven't let go of their acting style on stage, such as exaggerated expressions that are unnatural.

Overall, this film is quite interesting to watch and has the potential to become better in the future.

 

Memorable Scene:

Marni's lie to her colleagues about the film premiere plan at the cinema is revealed. Her colleagues are very disappointed in her. At that moment, Marni, feeling sad, expresses her feelings about her shattered dream. Interestingly, in the conversation between Marni and Wati, Wati says that it's not just Marni's dream that's shattered, but also her colleague's dream.

In this scene, we see how the character of Marni feels the need to support all of her own ambitions and dreams. Yet, the struggle doesn't have to be done alone as long as there are colleagues who also share the same dream. It's important to be able to share so that the goal of that dream can be realized.

 

Memorable Dialogue:

"How much does it cost to pay for a piece of evidence of a memory?"

 

Ending:

Happy Ending

 

Recommendation:

Okay to watch

 

(Aluna)