ManDove
Produced and Directed by Jim De Sève and Kian Tjong. 1049 Films. 2012. 65 minutes. Indonesian and English with English subtitles.

Study areas: perkutut, Indonesian culture, modern Indonesia, Javanese culture, ancient Javanese bird worship, male dominated societies, Muslim Indonesia, Southeast Asian song bird competitions, animism, post General Suharto Indonesia, zebra doves, hobbies of middle-class Indonesia 

Only male perkutut, or zebra doves, sing. And in the very male world of Muslim Indonesia only men raise these sweetly singing birds, that are worth more than their weight in gold. ManDove (sub-titled Real Men Need Doves) introduces the west to the popular Southeast Asian practice of breeding and raising valuable song birds, often Zebra doves, for lucrative competition. Focusing on four Indonesian perkutut farm owners and competitors De Sève and Tjong walk us gently into a world of the men who devote their days and resources to every aspect of their song birds' care.

We are taught by one of the men, Prince Prabukusumo, that in Javanese philosophy a man achieves perfection in life by possessing five things: a wife, a house, a dagger, a horse and a bird, preferably a perkutut or zebra dove. The men in ManDove, who share their homes and time with us, have achieved this perfect life. They, and the filmmakers, show us a peaceful, tolerant, middle-class, and a humorous side of Indonesia and Islam that are seldom shown in American media.

The filmmakers brilliantly take a low profile, but not an invisible, position in this documentary. We see the subjects reacting very uninhibitedly to the presence of the camera and the filmmakers. These pure and funny moments create for the audience a greater sense of our being there, and more realism than if De Sève and Tjong had feigned complete distance. We witness: feelings of uncertainty, “The camera might shoot lasers at my dove,” fleeting thoughts of fame, “[I am] Starring in a bird film,” and playful and insightful criticisms of America, “Americans should come here and buy birds, not just go to war.” 

ManDove opens with the sights and sounds of a multi-generational family of birdcage makers whose children, even female children, are being taught the skill and precision needed to create the lavishly decorated cages that perkutut compete in. The film continues by focusing on four main subjects, each of whom breeds, raises, and enters into competition their lovingly cared for perkutut. The men's tenderness with their doves is inspirational and challenges stereotypical ideas of male inability to nurture. We see the breeders' simple everyday care of their birds in their bathing and feeding, and their extraordinary concern and tenderness when they whisper and sing to their cherished doves, and hire dovesitters to do the same.

The practice of breeding, raising and competing perkutut is a rich man's hobby. Whether buying wild birds, or breeding and raising chicks, the costs are impressive. There are endless expenses: outdoor space for the health and comfort of the birds, practical and competition cages, food and health care, and if entering competition, there are travel expenses, including a hotel room for your birds, and entry fees.   

The men’s, and Indonesian society's, appreciation for the pure and lilting sounds of these birds is mesmerizing. The men themselves can imitate the various perkutut sounds, while popular Indonesian culture honors this fascination with songs. In competition, the mastery of the judges, who can distinguish the tone, melody, timber and volume of one individual bird amongst hundreds, all singing at the same time, is an unimaginable talent. It reminds me of the great classical music conductor, Leopold Stokowski, who I once witnessed single out a sour note played by one violinist in a full orchestra. Western music scales are vastly different from Javanese music scales; this, and the ancient Javanese animistic feelings towards birds, partially explains why this unusual hobby of men is so popular through out Southeast Asia. It is unlikely that Americans would ever appreciate so grandly, the art of the zebra dove's song. 

ManDove rounds out its exploration into the practice of perkutut competition, and the culture of honoring these sacred birds, with a montage of cultural and religious references to them in Javanese and Indonesian art, architecture, dance and music. ManDove is a gorgeous, respectful and funny film, that shows us a part of ancient Javanese culture that has been folded naturally into modern Indonesian culture. The film presents a unique (to Western eyes) slice of Indonesian (and Southeast Asian) life that humanizes a people and a nation.  

ManDove is highly teachable at all grade levels including university. The visual beauty of the film, and the openness and humor of the subjects will hold even younger students' attention. Indonesian, Javanese and Islamic ways of life, values, and cultural references are presented throughout the film in a natural and forthright manner. ManDove wiselyhas no interpretive narration from De Sève and Tjong, and therefore viewers and students are free to synthesize and analyze the material themselves, making their own connections, forming their own conclusions, and providing their own insights.

Constance Rodgers has taught film theory and video production in New York City public high schools for 15 years. She is a film editor: Private Romeo, Enjoy Better, Tying the Knot, The Beauty Brothers. Her solo show, The Bombshell and the Diplomat, has been performed at NYC's Dixon Place. Her on-line theatre reviews can be read at Usher Nonsense.

 

 

 

Last Updated: October 21, 2013