The Family and Humanity Side of Brother Glenn
Apart from his romantic songs and voice, Glenn Fredly is also a figure of family love and humanity.
This article has been translated using AI. See Original .
About AI Translated Article
Please note that this article was automatically translated using Microsoft Azure AI, Open AI, and Google Translation AI. We cannot ensure that the entire content is translated accurately. If you spot any errors or inconsistencies, contact us at hotline@kompas.id, and we'll make every effort to address them. Thank you for your understanding.
A Glenn Fredly believes that music and songs are no longer just an art, but also a force, which can even reunite warring parties. Throughout his career and life, Glenn has succeeded in proving that music can bring peace.
Although born and raised in Jakarta, Glenn never forgets his love for his ancestral land, Maluku. A prolonged and bloody conflict with ethnic, religious, racial, and inter-group nuances once divided the region and claimed many lives.
The impact of the Ambon riots, which occurred between 1999-2000, also left divisions and mutual distrust within the community. This situation made Glenn anxious, as well as moved him to seek solutions.
All of that great concern was then translated into a number of real ideas and actions. Starting from his courage to hold a peace music event in Ambon City, to his fight to make the city a World Music City according to the UNESCO.
The other side of Glenn's figure is trying to be reconstructed in a biopic film, Glenn Fredly The Movie (2024), directed by Lukman Sardi.
Playing the role of Glenn is actor Marthino Lio, who won the Citra Trophy for FFI 2022 and 2023. In previous occasions, Lio also revealed that he still has a familial relationship with his idol.
Two sides
Lukman begins his film by showcasing various bloody tragic events in the country after the fall of the New Order regime, including the outbreak of riots in Ambon, through a series of video clips.
What makes the opening scene interesting is that Lukman combines several video clips with background audio of an interview between Glenn and two radio presenters. They are having a cheerful conversation about Glenn's fantastic achievement with his second album, which was a success and exploded in the market.
Also read: Democratic Italian Films
Since then, Glenn's name has become part of the top musicians in the country with a number of hit songs that are widely loved. The contrasting pairing became Lukman's way of introducing the two sides of Glenn.
The figure of Glenn, who is not only flamboyant and skilled as a talented musician, but also as a national figure with a very high concern for the condition of his homeland.
In another scene, Glenn is recounted as being willing to come directly to Ambon, even at his own expense, in order to meet his fans in person and also see the development of the post-conflict situation. He did this when he was still in the early stages of his music career.
In Ambon, Glenn met with Pastor Jack Manuputty (Gilbert Pattiruhu) to gather information about the current situation of the community. While singing and entertaining the congregation, an incident occurred - an incident that even claimed a life.
However, instead of being afraid and backing down, Glenn's spirit is even more ablaze. He is increasingly confident that he will be able to reconcile conflicting parties there through his musical abilities.
The conviction was realized by holding a peace concert in Ambon. The concert was organized by Glenn involving several musicians, one of them being Ridho Slank.
"Horse glasses"
Glenn's perseverance sometimes makes him seem to wear "blinders" and not care about his surroundings. In order to achieve his ambition of reconciling all conflicting parties, Glenn even forgets to ground himself in reality, including in financial contexts.
This often puts him in conflict with his two managers, Uci (Sahira Anjani) and Felix (Winky Wiryawan). They always remind Glenn that his ambition still requires financial support, which unfortunately they do not have.
Not only related to management, Glenn's dream of bringing peace back to his ancestral land often takes a toll on the emotions of those around him. Those who are close to and love Glenn often feel neglected.
Glenn has repeatedly failed to establish a love relationship. One of them was when he was separated from his girlfriend, Nola (Alyssa Abidin). His first marriage to Dewi (Sonia Alyssa) also failed.
Adding to the conflict between Glenn and his father, Hengky Latuihamallo (Bucek), Mama Linda (Ruth Sahanaya) tried to mediate. Ruth's acting, who claimed to have just entered the film industry for the first time, was convincing.
The episode of Glenn's life is described to have become happier after his marriage to Mutia Ayu (Zulfa Maharani). From that marriage, they were blessed with a daughter.
Glenn's joy for his family was expressed in a music arrangement, which had been stored in Glenn's phone memory for a long time after his departure.
Also read: After "Torment of Hell", Show "Torment of the Grave"
Producer Daniel Mananta then chose the song to be the soundtrack for this film with the title "Ke Keluarga", which was performed by Yura Yunita.
Glenn's work is not just limited to his music and albums during his lifetime. With his tenacity, Glenn will always be remembered as the person who made Ambon City a World Music City, crowned by UNESCO on October 31, 2019.
Several months later, Glenn passed away. The legendary musician died on April 8, 2020 at the age of 44 due to meningitis.
Celebration of life
In a press conference after the premiere screening for the media, director Lukman Sardi mentioned that his film is a celebration of Glenn's presence and existence in the world. Consciously, Lukman admitted that he intentionally chose to focus on portraying Glenn as more than just a successful musician with many hit songs.
”As a filmmaker, I have many choices about what will be told in my film. There are indeed a number of romantic elements in it. However, in the end I really wanted to talk more about Glenn, both regarding his relationship with his family, as well as all his struggles for humanity. "From all that, we then chose suitable songs to perform," said Lukman.
Before working on this film, Lukman and his team conducted a series of research and interviews, especially with people close to Glenn. From there, various data about Glenn were collected, which were compiled into more than 200 pages of story.
According to Lukman, Glenn is a man who greatly loves his family. He is also very grateful that he can eventually have a complete family with the birth of a daughter from his marriage with Mutia.
"For us, this story is very relatable to most people considering that we all have families and loved ones," said Lukman.