Seribu Kunang-Kunang di Jakarta (2020) — A Creative Interpretation of Poetry Through Film
- Asi Dewiana Sandra Putri
- Ailsa Luthfia Indrasari Laksana Putri
Seribu Kunang-Kunang di Jakarta is an adaptation of a poem by Joko Pinurbo, brought to life as a short film directed by Anindya Erviana Madalina. The film follows a poet who encounters a young Chinese-Indonesian girl carrying the moon on a night in May 1998, a year that left a dark mark on Indonesian history, defined by the inhumane tragedy that targeted the Chinese-Indonesian community as victims of racial violence.
Every element of the poem is woven seamlessly into the film. Among the most striking examples is the presence of the young girl, a figure conjured from the director’s own interpretation of the poem and transformed into a metaphor in her own right. While Joko Pinurbo’s poem serves as the film’s primary inspiration, the director expands the narrative by introducing scenes that go beyond what the poem explicitly describes. This demonstrates how imaginative storytelling can flourish even within the boundaries of a source text.
Overall the film is fairly accessible, through certain metaphors may prove more challenging for some viewers to unpack, none more so than the symbolism of the fireflies, the very image at the heart of the film’s title.
Editor Arina Chuuriyyah Herawati
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