The Gathering!

a fresh & clever movie, finally some good screen adaptation on the wealthy indonesian pop culture life style, this movie is in some way light on the outside but heavy on the inside has an entertaining & intelligent shape all in one, a wake up call for the indonesian film and especially soap opera industry that the theme of entertainment for the people is rising to a higher level of standards.

what amazed me is this film still taste & feel ( in a ethical philosophical way) indonesian not abducted like janji jony which doesn't taste indonesian, so the concept of arisan is indonesianized of American not the other way around, which in the day ahead creates its own special tone for the indonesian movies industry, that point i think deserves a respect

bravo.., Ms nia dinata you have done an exiting breakthrough trough your innovative well crafted quality movie, that i hope will stimulate the birth of another high creativity & intellect movies in the near future, salute.....

"No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world"

• john keating, death poet society

Witty,fresh,very daily style... Represented some indonesian life style....in some spots....But two thumbs up for this first gay themed with kissing scene.Especially if we think about muslim majority people.Two thumbs up for Director Nia Dinata and Tora Sudiro who played as gay man, Good work you guys

Exiting times in Indonesia! two Indonesian films defeate the 3rd movie in 'The Matrix' Trilogy. But the one that everyone's eyes are at is 'Arisan!'. 3 Close friends live a normal life, that is, at first look. After a while we see them strugle with unhappiness in different forms. Meimei hears from her Doctor that she won't be able to become pregnant and sees her husband run away. Andien's husband slept with someone else, and Sakti -who is gay- is afraid that his mother or best friend Meimei might find out that he is.

Well, she finds out, but in a way he never imagined she would.

This film is the first BIG HIT in Indonesia where it is all about 'coming out'. Sakti and Nino will learn that in modern Indonesia, being gay is as normal as in other countries (far from the reality, but common in some areas of Indonesia).

Screaming girls in the cinema when Sakti and Nino first kiss. No sensor in Indosia, and that is surprising!!

Over all, this film is not only good because it doesn't show any stereo type Indonesian gays (mostly transsexuals or overacting feminate gays), but two people like everone else. It is also a film technically quite good, although the editing could have been better.

Two thumbs up for Arisan!

Other than the actors "sometimes" talks stuttered, & a "not so good" sound (especially when the actor "Surya Saputra" talking, cos he's lips looked barely moved, I really couldn't understand What he was saying, thank God, before I bought the VCD, I already saw it in the theater) It's refreshing to have a well made movie from Indonesia,& an added bonus cos it has a clever dialog that you don't see in other "cliche" Indonesian movie. It also break the Dogma that a good Indonesian movies, is the one with a traditional, classical artsy movie, with a longgggggggg dialog & scene. Don't get me wrong, I still like those kind of movies, but sometimes the Director is a bit selfish, to make movie that only good in visual & difficult dialog but not enjoyable for the audiences.

Plizzzz, Indonesian film maker, make more movies like this.

It's hard to find Indonesian film that could make me come back for second time to watch it. But it's different. Director Nia Dinata did great work.One subject that I enjoyed most were dialogues....different than many indonesian cinema, very daily style. Actually it's not new idea but it happened in a muslim country and focus on three best friends lives, but the center of this story are about being gay and Tora Sudiro played as good as he can. He deserve to get my TWO THUMBS UP and more,represented as some gay men did. As usual gay style show us sissy and freak and ridiculous people. we can't find easily gay men on cinema as good man as part of the society. But it did.Arisan is one of good movie I ve ever seen, please don't compare with brilliant Hollywood cinema,okay...