Late last Sunday evening I was browsing Netflix for a good film to watch when, to my surprise, I found a screen adaptation of one of my favourite novels: Indonesian writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer’s Bumi Manusia [This Earth of Mankind], which I first read around 34 years ago. The first book in a … [Read more...]
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Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash review – masterful send up of 80s action flicks
August 4, 2022
Combining adrenaline-pumping violence and a torrid love affair this is a homage to, and a subversion of, classic Indonesian cinema. P ulpy yet swooningly romantic, Edwin’s entertaining thriller has perhaps the coolest film title in recent years; it also won the Golden Leopard at last year’s … [Read more...]
Dian Sastrowardoyo, Putri Marino To Star In Netflix Indonesian Original Series ‘Gadis Kretek’
July 16, 2022
Netflix has revealed cast for upcoming Indonesian original series Gadis Kretek, including award-winning actresses Dian Sastrowardoyo and Putri Marino. The historical drama, produced by Indonesia’s Base Entertainment, will also star popular actors Ario Bayu and Arya Saloka. It will be directed … [Read more...]
Netflix movie review: Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash – Indonesian director Edwin’s funny, profound black-comedy action drama
April 9, 2022
An impotent thug and a beautiful bodyguard make for an unlikely romantic pairing in Vengeance is Mine, All Others Pay Cash, a genre-bending adaptation of Eka Kurniawan’s bestselling novel of the same name from writer-director Edwin. Set in the 1980s, at the height of Indonesia’s ultra-macho … [Read more...]
Indonesian Director Edwin Talks Sex, Violence and Dictatorship in ‘Vengeance Is Mine’
August 7, 2021
The latest film from the South-Asian auteur, which premieres at the Locarno Film Festival, is both a tribute to and a subversion of the ultra-violent revenge movies that he grew up on in Indonesia in the 1980s and 1990s. Edwin has a knack for a catchy title. The first short from the Indonesian … [Read more...]