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LP
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ELE 038LP
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The award-winning film Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash (2021) is romantic drama set in a working-class neighborhood of Indonesia's West Java. Although the story was set in the 1980s, the film's music director Dave Lumenta didn't want to use music from that period. He didn't want to automatically go with dangdut, the musical genre, a mix of Malay, Indian and modern pop music, the music of choice for majority Indonesia's working class. He simply didn't want the film to be stuck in the time setting and the social class. The film's scoring is richer, inspired not only by dangdut, but also by rock. In order for his imagination to be free of that time and social context, he decided to make music that was based on the film's characters. Lumenta was interested in vulnerability, because it's something the audience finds in the main character Ajo Kawir, an impotent who is unable to have an erection. Iteung, on the other hand, is someone who is very liberal in terms of her sexuality, but she also struggles with a traumatic past. The film successfully portrays the clash of these two characters. And from identifying these two characters, the composer creates a melody or leitmotif that represents each character. The use of analogue instruments is consistent with the film's spirit, which is shot using analogue camera. Lumenta created the music using acoustic instruments, such as the recorder, along with other sounds from an analogue synthesizer. The sound produced may not be perfect, similar to the grainy quality of an analogue film. But it is precisely due to that imperfection that the eyes and ears are compelled to watch and listen actively; listeners must squint to catch something more perfect, or listen closely to filter out imperfections in the sound. Consuming art created with analogue tools requires a different method of listening, watching, and working process.
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