EN | ID

Yang Muda Yang Bercinta

1977 :: Drama ::

(8.5/10)  (3)  

Producer
Director
Writer
Cast, , , ,
Colour Color
Main language Indonesia

Synopsis

(title translation: Young and in Love)

A rare film that was censored for many years, the story featured protesting university students in the process of self-discovery. Sony, a university student and a poet, does not have a job yet and is dependent on his father, an honest retired civil servant, and is also dependent on his uncle who is rich through illegal means. The difference between his uncle’s wealth and that of his friends, compared to his simple personal surroundings and that of his girlfriend, Titiek, is a source on anguish for Sony. His protests take the form of poems. The whole film is filled with incidents of his protests and rebellious behaviour. Yet he commits the very fault that he has been protesting about, when he wants to buy a driver’s license, after his uncle gives him a scooter. Sony finally has to face the consequence of his action. When his girlfriend becomes pregnant, he runs away to contemplate his problem. And in the end, he decides to face reality with a mature attitude.

Note

Even though it passed censorship on 15 April 1978, after 18 minutes were cut, the film was banned from release on May 1978 under the Kodam Jaya legal jurisdiction because it is considered to have elements of propaganda, agitation, and incitement, especially for the young generation.

The censorship lasted a long time until it was taken up at the Kopkamtib level. On September 1993, the film was finally released in Jakarta.

“In (Suharto’s) New Order, any mention of class relations is regarded as somewhat misguided, even subversive. In official language the term ‘class contradictions’, common in pre-1965 political discourse, has been displaced by expressions like ‘social difference.’ The word ‘class’ rarely used, is always excised by the censors. In Young and in Love, made in 1977, the hero’s comment: ‘I’m not getting stuck into your Dad as an individual. I’m attacking a symptom. I’m attacking a class,’ was deleted by the censors.” – From the book, Indonesian Cinema: Framing the New Order, by Krishna Sen. (Zed Books, 1994).

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