Question Mark

Question Mark (2011)

?

Is It Important That We Are Different?

In a story of interconnected lives, three families of different religious faiths navigate conflicting beliefs, hardships, and other struggles.

Date of release
2011-04-07
TMDB
5.6 / 10 (11)
Runtime
1h 42m
Genres
Drama
Director
Hanung Bramantyo

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Filmed in: Indonesia

? is a 2011 Indonesian drama film directed by Hanung Bramantyo. It stars Revalina Sayuthi Temat, Reza Rahadian, Agus Kuncoro, Endhita, Rio Dewanto, and Hengky Sulaeman. The film focuses around Indonesia's religious pluralism, which often results in conflict between different beliefs, represented in a plot that revolves around the interactions of three families, one Buddhist, one Muslim, and one Catholic. After undergoing numerous hardships and the deaths of several family members in religious violence, they are reconciled.

Production

? was directed by Hanung Bramantyo, who is of mixed Chinese-Javanese descent. He decided to direct a pluralist-themed film based on his own experiences as a mixed-race child. He chose the title ? to avoid protests upon the film's release, saying that if it had been named Liberalism or Pluralism there would be protests by opponents of those ideologies, and that he could not think of a better title.

Fearing that the theme of pluralism would be taken as a "battle cry", some investors abandoned their commitments; Bramantyo was also unable to find support from mainstream studios. Before screening the film for the Indonesian Film Censor Board, several scenes were cut, including one in which a pig's head was displayed in the window of Sun's restaurant; other scenes that raised commentary were kept, although trimmed.

Mahaka Pictures, owned by the same group as the predominantly Muslim Republika, co-produced the film with Dapur Film. The director of Mahaka Pictures, Erick Thohir, stated that his company had assisted with production because he "was disturbed by the fact that Indonesian films have declined in quality".

Mulyo Hadi Purnomo, based in Semarang, was tasked with casting the minor roles. Bramantyo contacted the main cast members directly. Agus Kuncoro, who had acted in Sang Pencerah and was known for playing in Islamic-themed films, agreed to play Surya in ? immediately after reading the script.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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