''Lentera Merah'' (English translation: ''Red Lantern'') is a 2006 Indonesian horror film directed by
Hanung Bramantyo
Setiawan Hanung Bramantyo (born 1 October 1975) is an Indonesian director known for his films ranging from teen romances to religious dramas.
After becoming interested in theatre as a child, Bramantyo made his directorial debut with the 1998 sho ...
.
Plot
An employee of ''Lentera Merah'', the campus newspaper of the
University of Indonesia
The University of Indonesia (UI; ) is a public university in Depok, West Java and Salemba, Jakarta, Indonesia. It is one of the oldest tertiary-level educational institutions in Indonesia (known as the Dutch East Indies when UI was established) ...
, is found dead in the office with the number 65 written in blood by his body. In the meantime, five students compete for a position at the publication: Risa Priliyanti (Laudya Cynthia Bella), Riki (Tesadesrada Ryza), Lia (Beauty Oehmke), Muti (Auxilia Paramitha) and Yoga (Zainal Arifin).
As part of their entrance test, they must cover supposedly haunted portions of the university campus. Another ''Lentera Merah'' staff member, Wulan (Firrina Sinatrya) is found
hanged
Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...
in the library. The rector forbids the test after these murders are known, but chief editor Iqbal (Dimas Beck) insists that the five students go through the initiation rites to show their mettle as journalists. Lia and Risa go with staff photographer Bayu (Saputra).
After several more staff members are killed, it is discovered that Risa is in fact the ghost of a former ''Lentera Merah'' staff member who was killed in 1965 after being accused of being a communist sympathiser; her body was later buried under the floor of one of the buildings. They realise that Risa is killing them because they are related to the staff members who killed her. Iqbal's father, a ''Lentera Merah'' staff member in 1965, comes to the campus to warn his son. As the remaining students leave to find Risa's body and give it a proper burial, Risa appears and strangles Iqbal's father. Having found closure, she vanishes.
Cast
*
Laudya Chintya Bella as Risa
* Tesadesrada Riza as Riki
* Beauty Oehmke as Lia
* Auxilia Paramitha as Muti
* Zainal Ariffin as Yoga
* Firrina Sinatrya as Wulan
* Dimas Beck as Iqbal
* Saputra as Bayu
Production
''Lentera Merah'' had a screenplay by
Gina S. Noer. According to Evi Mariani of ''
The Jakarta Post
''The Jakarta Post'' is a daily English-language newspaper in Indonesia. The paper is owned by PT Bina Media Tenggara and based in the nation's capital, Jakarta.
''The Jakarta Post'' started as a collaboration between four Indonesian media ...
'', the title is reminiscent of
Soe Hok Gie
Soe Hok Gie (17 December 1942 – 16 December 1969) was a Chinese Indonesian activist who opposed the successive dictatorships of Presidents Sukarno and Suharto.
Overview
Soe was an ethnic Chinese Roman Catholic, the fourth of five childr ...
's history of the
Indonesian Communist Party
The Communist Party of Indonesia ( Indonesian: ''Partai Komunis Indonesia'', PKI) was a communist party in the Dutch East Indies and later Indonesia. It was the largest non-ruling communist party in the world before its violent disbandment in ...
, ''Di Bawah Lentera Merah'' (''Beneath the Red Lantern'').
''Lentera Merah'' was directed by
Hanung Bramantyo
Setiawan Hanung Bramantyo (born 1 October 1975) is an Indonesian director known for his films ranging from teen romances to religious dramas.
After becoming interested in theatre as a child, Bramantyo made his directorial debut with the 1998 sho ...
, a
Yogyakarta
Yogyakarta is the capital city of the Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by Hamengkubuwono, a monarchy, Yogyakarta is regarded as an importan ...
-born director educated in
Muhammadiyah
Muhammadiyah (), officially Muhammadiyah Society () is a major Islamic non-governmental organization in Indonesia.A. Jalil HamidTackle the rising cost of living longer New Straits Times, 30 October 2016. Accessed 1 November 2016. The organization ...
schools in Yogyakarta. As his birthday fell the day after the anniversary of the
30 September Movement
The Thirtieth of September Movement (, also known as G30S, and by the syllabic abbreviation Gestapu for ''Gerakan September Tiga Puluh'', Thirtieth of September Movement, also unofficially called Gestok, for ''Gerakan Satu Oktober'', or Fir ...
, suspected to have been led by communists, Bramantyo had long been interested in communism. His first short film, ''Tlutur'', dealt with the party. For ''Lentera Merah'', Bramantyo focused on the horror aspects of the story, showing only a ghost of a communist party member. He was dismissive of the results, saying that "like
Musashi who once fought with only one hand, I
ade the filmhalf-heartedly," Although most of Bramantyo's films were to the
political right
Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property, ...
, ''Lentera Merah'' was to the
left
Left may refer to:
Music
* ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006
* ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016
* ''Left'' (Helmet album), 2023
* "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996
Direction
* Left (direction), the relativ ...
.
The film had a low budget but spent
Rp. 15-20 million (US$2,000-2,500) for the make-up of one actor.
Release and reception
''Lentera Merah'' was released in mid-May 2006, a period where Indonesian theatres were filled with local horror films. It was viewed by 300,000 persons.
A write-up in
''Tempo'' magazine called the film's historical research weak, and found that as a whole the combination of history and horror did not work well.
Awards
''Lentera Merah'' was nominated for two Citra Awards at the 2006
Indonesian Film Festival
The Indonesian Film Festival ( Indonesian: Festival Film Indonesia, 'FFI') is an annual awards ceremony organised by the Indonesian Film Board and the Ministry of Culture to celebrate cinematic achievements in the Indonesian film industry. Dur ...
but did not win any.
References
Bibliography
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External links
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{{Hanung Bramantyo
2006 films
2006 horror films
2000s Indonesian-language films
Indonesian slasher films
Films directed by Hanung Bramantyo
Films set in Indonesia