Comments by Wong Lung Hsiang

Director: Garin Nugroho
Genre: Drama
Country: Indonesia
Language: Indonesian
Year Released: 2002

Nugroho's previous (and first) digital video (DV) effort, the political criminal-themed A Poet, offered very bleak images as the entire film was shot within the confines of a prison. This time round, Nugroho emphasizes colors and brightness in the set-in-Irian Jaya (a province of Indonesia west of Papua New Guinea) movie. The decision seems to go against the dark religious and political grain of the subject matter. But interestingly, the use of luscious colors also serves as a vehicle for bringing out the richness and the intrigue of symbols used in this documentary-turned-drama (the film was extended from a set of documentary footage that Nugroho shot). Ironically, even though the real-life situation of Irian Jaya is still full of uncertainty, all the major characters in the movie eventually gain redemption, and seem to live happily ever after. It transmogrifies the movie into a fable about fraternity and humanity (fortunately, my friend who hates nearly patched up endings did not catch this film). However, the script needs to be tidied up, a piece of advice that can be extended to the two (out of three) earlier Nugroho films that I have seen. These earlier films include, And the Moon Dances, which is still one of my all-time favorite Southeast Asian films, Leaf on The Pillow, and The Poet.