Have you ever heard of the term cinematherapy? Recently, this method has become quite popular for raising someone's motivation because it is relatively easy and can be done at any time. When doing cinematherapy, you need to take a moment to distance yourself from devices that may be triggering your stress.
When your mind temporarily takes a break from the tiredness of routine, the images in the film will bring a sense of calm. The voices of the characters, the setting atmosphere, and the storyline slowly take you away from reality. It all felt quite enjoyable and liberating. As a result, it can inspire you to be more creative in the future.
What needs to be underlined is that the success of cinematherapy is also determined by the title of the film you choose. Currently, there are many inspirations that can stimulate your creativity, such as the following examples.
This film, starring Nicholas Saputra, is inspired by the true story of Soe Hok Gie, an activist of Chinese descent who was vocal about injustice. The film Gie is set during the transition from the Old Order to the New Order. The critical and idealistic side of his thinking began to be widely displayed when he was a student majoring in History, University of Indonesia. At that time, he diligently wrote down his thoughts on politics, culture and the Indonesian economy in notes.
Even though he is known to be critical, as a student Gie has the motto "Books, Parties and Love." Therefore, apart from books, he also sees a lot of the world through films and nature.
Towards the end of the film Gie, you will be taken to see Gie's climbing journey to the highest peak in Java, Mahameru. On this trip, Gie finally truly experienced what he often said, "The best fate is not being born, the second is being born but dying young, and the most unlucky is old age. That's how it feels. Happy are those who die young.”
Are you curious about Gie's exploits? You can watch the full story on Disney Plus and Vidio.
What if the planned vacation suddenly turns out to be full of challenges and unexpected things? The film Kulari to the Beach will take you on an adventure through the beautiful nature of Indonesia from Java to East Nusa Tenggara. The variety of Indonesian culinary delights displayed also makes this film feel like a real road trip.
During the journey, you will be presented with the story of a pair of cousins, Sam and Happy, who initially did not get along. Sam, with a high adventurous spirit, is a cheerful child whose hobby is surfing. Meanwhile, Happy is a little urban girl who is a little arrogant and can't be separated from social media. The opposing characters of the two make them often argue. In fact, Happy disappeared when they almost arrived at Sam's desired destination.
Even though it is filled with nuances of conflict between two children, this film, which was released in 2018, presents quite intriguing comedy. You can watch the complete story of Kulari to the Beach on Netflix.
This 2015 Oscar-winning film tells the story of a music student, Andrew (19), who dreams of becoming a world jazz drummer and his meeting with killer lecturer, Terence Fletcher at the best music school. During class, Andrew hit the drum incorrectly on several notes. This made Fletcher angry, even to the point of cursing, slapping and throwing things at Andrew. At first Andrew cried when he received his teacher's treatment.
Even so, Andrew's obsession with wanting to become the main drummer was too strong. He continued to train to the point of injuring himself. Even after the accident he experienced, he still insisted on coming to appear in a competition as a way to prove himself. However, there he lost and was finally expelled from the best music school where he studied.
How do you think Andrew can rise from adversity to achieve his dreams? You can watch the story on Netflix.
Adapted from a novel by Laksmi Pamuntjak with the same title, the theme of this film is Indonesian cuisine which is expressed in a storyline that focuses on friendship and social issues. Aruna's (Dian Sastrowardoyo) journey exploring Indonesian culinary delights began when she was assigned to investigate a bird flu outbreak in a number of areas.
Aruna's adventure is even more exciting because she is accompanied by two of her friends, Bono (Nicholas Saputra) who is a chef and Nad (Hannah Al Rashid) who is a culinary critic. They consider that each food has its own philosophy. In their first destination city, Surabaya, they met Faris (Oka Antara), who was Aruna's former colleague. He has a different opinion about food which is only considered to fill the stomach.
Conflict began to arise when Aruna discovered a discrepancy between head office and field data. So, how is Aruna's investigation going? Watch the full story of Aruna tasting Indonesian culinary delights on Netflix.
This documentary film, produced by Nicholas Saputra, tells the story of seven figures in seven provinces of Indonesia who are struggling to stop the impact of climate change. They maintain Indonesia's natural balance by relying on their respective religious values, beliefs and culture.
Starting from Bali, the story of how they save electricity usage during Nyepi seems to have an effect on reducing daily emissions in Bali. The story then continues to West Kalimantan to Papua. Watch the various ways regional figures care for Indonesia's nature in full on Netflix.
So, those are five films that you can use as cinematherapy. From nature, culinary, hobbies, everyone has their own story. If you look deeper, there is philosophy and inspiration hidden in it. So, which film will you watch first?