Directed by Garin Nugroho; Produced by Gita Fara, Aldo Swastia; Staring Ario Bayu, Juliet Widyasari Burnett, Gus Bang Sada; Cinematography Batara Goempar; Production Design Vida Sylvia; Edited by Beck; Production Company Cineria Films, Lynx Films, Garin Workshop; Release Date 10 May 2024 ; Country Indonesia; Language Silent; Budget (no data)
The renowned Indonesian film director, Garin Nugroho has brought his latest artistic offering, Samsara (2024), as the opening film for the 19th Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival (JAFF). This contemplative film marks the culmination of his artistic journey in cinema and performing arts. It epitomizes a notable achievement in Indonesian cinema where a film director has spectacularly orchestrated optical and sonic elements of cinema. Nineteen years ago, Nugroho’s widely-acclaimed Opera Jawa (Requiem from Java, 2006), featuring traditional Javanese music and dance in a setting of opera inspired by Ramayana epic, became an opening film of the first edition of JAFF.
Samsara reintroduces the perennial trait of cinema as a spectacle in which the audience is awed with the magic brought by lights, shadows and bodily movements. With captivating images, sonorous music, eloquent gestures and movements, Samsara offers the existence of cinema in its purest sense. Without the use of dialogue, Samsara admirably depicts the tale of human desire, love, and the consequences of excessive ambition. It also illustrates the inherently animalistic drive towards survival and reigning superior among their fellow human beings.
The music scoring beautifully combines gamelan and electronic musical instruments to evoke a contemporary vibe. While the sounds of gamelan produce mythical atmosphere, the electronic sounds heighten the intensity of dramatic scenes. As a result, we experience beyond the fusion of two different music genres – we also encounter what can be considered as a musical conversation. Against this sonic backdrop, the stunning cinematic images in Samsara appear incredibly poetic and evocative in conveying the story. Moreover, in particular film scenes we see paintings of Bali (as a set of the narrative) by famous maestros becoming alive while retaining their respective fantastical character.
Overall, Samsara celebrates the power of cinema in capturing the human conditions through a simple yet memorable storytelling. As such, Samsara not only invites us to reflect on the fragility of human being but also to have faith in human’s capacity to transform their conditions.
This article was first published in the catalogue of 19th Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival (30 November-7 December 2024)
