Habibie & Ainun

Faozan Rizal's 2012 Indonesian film tells the relationship between the country's third president, B. J. Habibie, and his wife Ainun, adapted from Habibie's own book. The dream of an aeronautical engineer working in Germany to unite Indonesia through aviation and his marriage form the film's two parallel lines, and the story reaches into the political transition after 1998. It was an extraordinary commercial success in Indonesia and set off a wave of biographical films there. Reza Rahadian's impersonation of Habibie is technically impressive. The political section, though, is extremely soft: the relationship with the Suharto regime, East Timor and the contested decisions of Habibie's brief presidency are barely opened. The film chooses to be a love story and pushes politics into the background. Who it's for: viewers interested in popular Indonesian cinema and love stories drawn from real lives. Who it's not for: anyone wanting a critical view of political history, or who will find the melodrama excessive.