MASKED MONKEY -The Evolution of Darwin's Theory -1080p HD Short official Trailler
Channel: Ismail Fahmi Lubis
Date: 2014-01-11

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The Evolution of Darwin's Theory - MASKED MONKEY

SYNOPSIS

THE EVOLUTION OF DARWIN'S THEORY does not attempt to prove the theory that man originates from monkey. This film explores more on the similarities between the two species. How similar are men and monkeys?

This documentary chose to dig deeper into the lives involved in a monkey puppet-show. For the show, the puppeteers train their monkeys to act and behave like men. Similarly, men are train by the environment and society on how to behave. While monkeys are controlled and made use by the puppeteers, the puppeteers are also controlled by their boss.

FIRMAN is envious of his friend, BEBEK, because their boss, SARINAH, buys a new monkey for Bebek. Firman complains that his monkey, KOMENG, does not take his order anymore and can not perform as it should. When Komeng acts up and performs badly, it reflects on his income.

Unlike Firman, Bebek cares a lot for his monkey, TEMON. As a result, the monkey is easy to train, performs beautifully to his orders, and he has no problem in his payment to Sarinah. When Firman sees this, he asks Sarinah for a new monkey. However, Sarinah does not care for any excuses and demands the same payment as always, not a penny less.

Sarinah treats Firman as badly as Firman treats Komeng. Sarinah treats Bebek as good as Bebek treats Temon. In many ways, men and monkeys are not much different.

Problems need to be solved. Firman has to find a way to keep up with his payment or he will be sacked. At the end he decides that Komeng is incorrigible and that he will perform as the monkey-show without a monkey, but with a monkey-suit instead.

Sarinah finally admits that Komeng is incorrigible. To solve this monkey-problem, she decides to call for help from a moslem scholar. The scholar says his prayers and blesses the monkey with holy water, with belief that it will be 'cured'.

MR. SUWANDI, a friend of Bebek, takes a different approach and initiative with his monkey. He decides to set his monkey free in the forest, not knowing for sure whether this will this solve the monkey's problem, because it might not survive in the wilderness.

DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT

I got the idea to make this documentary from the monkey puppet-show which often performs in front of my house. I observed that the whole show reflects human nature.

In these shows, the monkeys are trained to show human behavior. Riding a bike, wearing a mask, playing with guns, even praying. Behavior that is natural for human, but not for monkeys. The monkeys are forced to perform so that the puppeteers can get money out of the show.

I am moved by the injustice covered in these shows. The monkeys being slaved by men. It reminded me of the olden days, when men slaved over their fellow kind. As I explored further into the lives of the monkeys and their puppeteers, I discovered that the monkeys and their puppeteers share similar fate.

The monkeys were taken out of their natural habitat and put into cages. In time, they adjust to their new environment. Similar effect can be seen in modern men when they move from rural areas to the big cities. To survive in a city as big as Jakarta, everybody has to work hard, in any way possible. This way of life has caused many people to resolve into corruption, jealousy, greed and cruelty. This documentary proves these thesis.

The film was shot with single shot cinema style. This particular style of capturing moving image was popularized by Leonard Retel Helmrich with his trilogy, in which I was involved. Single shot cinema is a way to record in long takes to capture a scene continuously, from beginning to end. With the support of a steady wing, the camera is able to follow the movement of an object dynamically yet smoothly,even when I need to switch angles.

By using this camera technique and the available light, the characters in my film were not disturbed by the camera. They can freely react to their surrounding without being camera-conscious. This film was made without narration nor interviews. I only direct the camera, not the objects.

I deliberately did not use tripod for any of the shots, not even to capture the city landscape. I decided to do so in order to show the character of the vibrant city of Jakarta. I wanted to show that the city and the cameraman share the same breath.
Dir Bio
Ismail Fahmi Lubish (Director & Cinematographer) studied in Jakarta Arts Institute from 1993-1999, majored in Directing. He worked on several TV soaps from 1994-1996. In 1998, he decided to focus on documentary film making. He worked with world-renowned documentary filmmaker, Leonard Retel Helmrich, as his Cinematographer ("Stand Van de zon", "Stand van De Man", "Stand Van de Sterren", "Flight from Heaven" & "Promised Paradise"). He also worked as the cinematographer for Cathy Hankel in "The Burning Season", "Show Me The Magic", "Rise of The Eco Warriors".