The Year of Living Vicariously2005
Introduction
Body of Work
Amir Muhammad intertwines two documentary genres: that of the 'making of', and that of political reportage. This film was largely shot on the sets of Riri Riza's Gie, and brings out the political machinations in the 60s in Indonesia. Gie is based on the life of activist Soe Hok Gie, a key figure in the student movement. Muhammad uses split screens, candid interviews and the atmosphere around the making of the film to show the attitudes, the concerns and the politics that drive Indonesia. The shots belong to a time when Indonesians had their first direct Presidential elections, but it is the politics of today's Indonesia that really gets people talking. The director lives vicariously through them, working out a sociological and creative problem by considering their lived history. Likewise, the Indonesians he interviews appear to experience their own political past as a vicarious experience, whether or not they are involved in the making of Gie. The result is a clever, informative and entertaining documentary.