Social Change and Conflicting Values

SOCIAL CHANGES AND CONFLICTING VALUES

Movie Title : Nagabonar jadi dua (Nagabonar and son)

Starring : Deddy Mizwar, Tora Sudiro, and Wulan Guritno.

This is the second sequel of a successful movie about Nagabonar. The fist one was released in 1986. The second sequel is a comedy movie which describes social change and conflicting values in Indonesian society.

Nagabonar (Deddy Mizwar) was a commander of freedom fighters who lived in North Sumatra. During the revolution he led a guerilla unit that fought the Dutch colonial army. His wife died when she gave birth to his fifth son – Bonaga (Tora Sudiro). Then after the World War II he lived in his hometown and made a living by managing his plantation.

Many years after the revolution Bonaga became a successful businessman who lived in Jakarta. He had a good education in England. One day he wanted to sell his palm plantation to Japanese investor who wanted to build a resort.

Bonaga came home and asked his father to go to Jakarta. So Nagabonar went to Jakarta with his beloved son. Nagabonar was an uneducated man who lived in old lifestyle and suddenly he had to face the modern life in Jakarta. This situation is exploited to create many funny scenes. Deddy Mizwar was successful to imitate the local dialect of North Sumatra. He really became a man from Batak ethnic group.

When Bonaga conveyed his intention to sell their plantation Nagabonar was really mad. He left his son and went around Jakarta with a simple public transportation. When he realized that it was the Japanese who would buy his land he was shocked. He was very sad because in the plantation there is a family tomb where his mother, wife and younger brother were buried.

Then he came to see the place where the Indonesian independence was proclaimed in August 1945. He gave tribute to Sukarno, the first President and Hatta, the Vice President of Indonesia. He saluted the statue of general Sudirman, the commander of Indonesian armed forces during the revolution. I believe that these scenes are symbol that he questioned the values of nationalism. Where is it now? Where is the ideal of the founding fathers?

Meanwhile Monita, a successful independent career woman who loved Bonaga, had a better idea to convince Nagabonar. In Bonaga’s office she explained clearly about the plan. One of the plans is to build a park for the tomb, so it will be well managed and looks better.

But still it was very hard for him to accept the plan. He wandered everywhere in Jakarta with a driver. He saw that Jakartans were sarcastic, egoistic, immoral and ignorance besides their economic success.

By the end of the story Nagabonar was sick. Thinking about the issue was very hard for him. Bonaga could only regret his actions.

The movie clearly depicts the social change in Indonesia today and also the conflicting values among generations. The generation of Nagabonar who grew during Indonesian revolution was obsessed with nationalism while Bonaga’s generation was obsessed by capitalism. Consequently Indonesian youth has no respect to old values. Family tomb means nothing to them. Money, profit, wealth are key values for them.