Susi Susanti: Love All classroom resource

Context

As well as being an exciting sports drama, Susi Susanti: Love All gradually reveals information about Indonesia's social and political context during the period covered in the film.

• Watch the trailer (above).
• As a class, share what stood out for you and what you would like to know more about. Take note of any new Indonesian vocabulary or expressions used.
• The events covered in the film take place during the rule of President Soeharto. Find out more about his government's New Order policy.
• Susi Susanti, and many other badminton players and coaches portrayed, is a Chinese Indonesian. As you can see from the trailer, this meant that she did not have full citizenship in Indonesia. You can find out more about the discrimination faced by Chinese Indonesians during the New Order period in this article.
• In 1998, terrible riots broke out due to some Indonesians perceiving that Chinese Indonesians were responsible for the country's economic collapse. You can read about some Chinese Indonesian's memories of this violent event here.

Sport in Indonesia

Did you know badminton is the most popular Indonesian sport?

• Find out more about badminton in Indonesia, including the country's success internationally.
• Badminton is important to Indonesian national identity. Discuss as a class why sport plays such an important role in bringing people in a country together. Share some Australian examples of national pride about sport.
• If you want to dig deeper into the complex intersection of Indonesian politics, badminton and the status of Chinese Indonesians, this article offers some thought-provoking analysis.

Biopics

Susi Susanti: Love All is a biopic, or a biographical film, that tells the story of a real person's life. This genre (kind) of movie often focuses on a famous individual, showing how they got started, the challenges they faced, their achievements, and the impact they had on the world.

• As a class share some of the memorable biopics you have watched. Make a list of sporting biopics and brainstorm the familiar elements that you expect to encounter in a biopic about a famous sportsperson. (These familiar elements are called conventions.)
• What info did you discover about Susi Susanti in your research about badminton in Indonesia? Do you think her achievements are a good subject for a biopic? What makes her achievements so memorable? You can watch her in action in the video (below)
• Visit the Susi Susanti: Love All webpage on imdb. Take note of the different production crew roles and make a list of the Indonesian terms for these roles. When the credits roll at the end of the movie, see how many terms you can remember.

Your response

Susi Susanti: Love All blends the familiar elements of the inspiring sporting biopic (such as intense training sequences, key turning points, climactic victories, inspiring music) with a serious depiction of discrimination, violence and social upheaval.

In pairs or groups, use these prompts to discuss your response to the film and its approach to the biopic genre:

• Share what stood out for you when you watched the film. Which scene/s did you find the most memorable?
• Compare the responses of your group members. Which aspects of the film do you agree on? How do your responses and opinions differ?
• In your group, make a list of Indonesian adjectives that describe the film. Share your list with the rest of the class.
• What message do you think the film is communicating? What do you think about this?
• What did you learn about Indonesian society that you had not previously known?
• Were there elements or references in the film that confused you, or that you would like to know more about?
• Share what you have discussed with the rest of the class.

The title

• Do you think Susi Susanti: Love All is a good title for this film? What different meanings or ideas do you think the phrase 'love all' suggests when used in the title? How does it relate to Susi’s story, both on and off the badminton court?

Audience

• Who do you think is the target audience for this film? Explain your answer.
• Thinking back to your research on badminton in Indonesia, how impactful do you think Indonesian viewers would find this film?
• Design a film poster publicising Susi Susanti: Love All. Make sure it communicates the key features of this film to its potential audience. Write a catch-phrase in Indonesian that can be used on the poster to communicate the essence of the film and encourage viewers to watch it.

Character Development

• How does the film introduce Susi Susanti as a character? What do we learn about her personality and how does this relate to the narrative which follows?
• How does the film show Susi's growth as an athlete and as a person?
• How important is Susi's family in the narrative and what role are they seen as playing in her life and success?
• How do other key characters contribute to Susi's story?

Structure and Narrative

• How does the film structure Susi’s story? Does it follow a linear timeline, or does it use flashbacks or other techniques to tell the story?
• Are there specific turning points in the film that shift the direction of Susi’s journey? What are they, and how are they presented?
• Susanti's story is well-known in Indonesia. With this in mind, what narrative techniques are used to keep the audience engaged throughout the story?
• Susi Susanti: Love All links Susi’s personal journey in sports with important moments in Indonesian history and politics. Create a timeline of the key events shown in the movie. Use one colour to highlight the events from Susi’s personal life, such as her athletic achievements and milestones, and a different colour to mark the political and societal events that influence or coincide with her story.

Genre Conventions

• Refer again to the trailer and identify the elements that are familiar to you from other sporting biopics you have watched. Which elements do not fit your expectations? What traditional elements of the sporting biopic genre can you identify in the film? For example, are there moments of intense training or a key competition that acts as a turning point?
• How does the film build tension around Susi’s big matches? What techniques (e.g., music, slow motion, camera angles) are used to create excitement or suspense during these scenes?
• Are there any moments where the film subverts or challenges the typical sporting biopic conventions? If so, how?

Visual and Cinematic Techniques

• What role does cinematography and editing play in conveying the intensity of the badminton matches? What visual techniques used to highlight key moments?
• How does the use of sound and music influence the emotional tone of the film, particularly during moments of triumph or defeat?
• What techniques are used to show Susi’s progress and achievements?
• What is the effect of the sepia image of Susi submerged in water (below)? What do these shots tell us about her emotional state and the impact of the social upheaval that surrounds her?

Themes

• What important themes emerge throughout the film? How does the film use Susi’s journey to explore these themes?
• Sporting biopics celebrate qualities such as perseverence, determination and resilience. How are these themes explored in Susi Susanti: Love All?
• How does the film balance the personal and professional aspects of Susi’s life? Think in particular about the role of her family and the significance of her parents in her life.
• What role does national pride play in the story? Why does President Soeharto place so much importance on Susi winning a gold medal at the Barcelona Olympics?
• A paradox is a situation that contains two contradictory characteristics. Why is Susi's status in Indonesian society a paradox? What does this reveal about Indonesian society in the 1990s?
• Despite the discrimination Susi and her community face in Indonesia, she asserts her identity as an Indonesian at the 1998 Uber Cup. What point is Susi making in this moment? What does her response in this moment reveal about her and the film's themes of determination and resilience?

Vocabulary List

• Put together a vocabulary list in Indonesian of sports-related terms like 'shuttlecock', 'court' or 'rally'. Use these words in sentences that communicate their meaning.

News report

• Imagine you are a sports reporter writing for an Indonesia newspaper in 1992 about Susi Susanti. You can choose to write about Indonesia's hopes for her to win the country's first ever gold medal at the Olympics in Barcelona, or about the nation's joy in the light of her and Alan Budikusuma's success.

Write a film review

• Write a review of the film that communicates some of the emotions and drama at the heart of Susi's story – this will be a great opportunity to expand your Indonesian vocabulary. Give your review a snappy and attention-grabbing headline.

Work in pairs to write a dialogue

• Write a short dialogue between two characters from the movie that adds to the story you have watched on screen. Your dialogue should be 4 or 5 sentences long. You can imagine a conversation between Susi and a teammate, her coach, a family member.
• Compose an interview between a journalist and Susi Susanti or another athlete from the movie. Questions could include: 'Bagaimana rasanya menjadi juara dunia?' (What does it feel like to be a world champion?), or 'Apa tantangan terbesar yang kamu hadapi?' (What was the biggest challenge you faced?)

Fan letter

• Write a fan letter to Susi Susanti. Use some of the sporting terms you have learned from watching the movie.

Create a comic strip

• Use a scene from Susi Susanti: Love All to create a comic strip (written in Indonesian) about an episode in Susanti's life. Use words and images to tell the story.