Governor hands over Metallica gift

Jakarta's governor Joko Widodo holding a maroon bass guitar given to him by Robert Trujillo of US band Metallica. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

THE heavy metal-loving governor of Jakarta has surrendered a guitar that was a gift from US band Metallica to anti-corruption authorities.

A beaming Joko Widodo appeared on TV last week strumming the maroon bass guitar given to him by Metallica's Robert Trujillo, which was autographed and bore the words "Giving Back!.. Keep Playin' That Cool Funky Bass!".

But the powerful Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) said that Mr Widodo, widely considered clean in a notoriously graft-ridden country, had now handed the gift to them.

"We will check if there is any conflict of interest or if there was an exchange of favours," commission spokesman Johan Budi said.

"The screening process takes up to 30 days, and after that we will decide whether to return the guitar to him or confiscate it."

During the TV appearance Mr Widodo, an anti-establishment figure who was elected in September, said he was a huge fan of Metallica, whose hits include Enter Sandman and Nothing Else Matters.

He also listed Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Napalm Death as among his favourite bands.

His spokesman Eko Hariadi said the guitar was the first gift Mr Widodo had received since becoming governor, he had handed it over voluntarily to be checked and there was no conflict of interest.

"The governor loves rock music. So he was certainly happy to receive it, it's like getting a tennis racquet from Boris Becker," the spokesman said, referring to the German tennis great.

"To him, it was a souvenir and there was no exchange for favours."

Corruption remains rampant in Indonesia, particularly among public servants, and the country last year slid to 118th of 176 countries in Transparency International's annual graft index.
 

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Metallica goes big with new film

Metallica is promising a movie the likes of which you've never seen before. Picture: Daniel Wilkins Source: PerthNow

METALLICA already planned to go big with its new 3D film. IMAX is helping make the debut for Metallica Through The Never giant-sized.

The film that mixes concert footage with a dramatic narrative and CGI will open September 27, becoming the first movie to debut on IMAX's chain of super-sized screens.

"To be at the forefront in this situation where IMAX has never done this is very exciting," Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich said.

"It's also a bit of a confidence booster. Being in the movie-making business is not necessarily our forte and it's been a very interesting three years. We've learned a lot about a lot of different things. The recognition from IMAX and to be able to have our fans and people that are interested in this film to see it and experience it in the IMAX format is super cool."

Ulrich, in his first interview about the movie, chuckled at the long road the film, directed by Nimrod Antal, has taken to near completion. It remains in post-production where concert and narrative footage are being knitted together with CGI effects to create something the band thinks will be completely different from the average concert film.

"Any filmmaker hopes people like a film," Ulrich said, "but what I can guarantee is that it will be unlike anything that anybody's ever seen before - so at least that's something. And for that I'm pretty excited."

Ulrich, speaking by phone from Cape Town, South Africa, where the pioneering metal band will play this week, didn't want to go too deeply into details about the film. It stars young Chronicle actor Dane DeHaan as a member of Metallica's concert tour crew who's sent on a special mission by the band. The movie follows two parallel story lines - DeHaan's scripted narrative and the band's concert - which intertwine throughout.

The band built a stage to film its concert pieces so fans will have the feeling of being inside the performance.

"There's no secret there are parts of Metallica's career that have been quite theatrical, of the different live experiences that we've had," Ulrich said.

"And so we thought that we would give some of those theatrical presentations a kind of 2012 upgrade, especially for a bunch of our fans who were very, very young who have only heard about what happened in the '80s and '90s."

That the movie's release slipped into 2013 turns out to be a good thing in retrospect. Even if it's taken a few more cheques than the band expected.

"Metallica (has a) tendency to jump and then start asking questions on the way down, then realize that as we get closer to the ground that there's no safety net and realize we should have asked more questions on the way down," Ulrich said.

"But that's part of the rush. We jumped and this seemed like a pretty fun undertaking."
 

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