{"id":182,"date":"2007-08-31T11:03:00","date_gmt":"2007-08-31T10:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2007\/08\/31\/opera-jawa\/"},"modified":"2007-08-31T11:03:00","modified_gmt":"2007-08-31T10:03:00","slug":"opera-jawa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2007\/08\/31\/opera-jawa\/","title":{"rendered":"OPERA JAWA"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\"Opera<\/a><\/p>\n

\nFormat:<\/B> Cinema

\nRelease date:<\/B> 7 September 2007

\nDistributor<\/B> Yume Pictures

\nDirector:<\/B> Garin Nugroho

\nBased on:<\/B>‘The Abduction of Sinta’ (from the Ramayana<\/I>)

\nCast:<\/B> Artika Sari Devi, Eko Supriyanto, Martinus Miroto

\nJava 2006

\n120 minutes
\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\nYou could call it long conception, short birth. Garin Nugroho imagined Opera Jawa<\/I> five years ago, but shot it in just two weeks. Production companies weren’t interested in the idea of a modern day opera based on Hindu holy text the Ramayana<\/I> and set to the sound of gamelan music. But then Peter Sellars – the man behind the staging of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro<\/I> in the Trump Tower – decided to commission the film for the New Crowned Hope Festival. The festival, funded by the city of Vienna and curated by Sellars, commemorates the 250th Birthday of Mozart, who himself struggled to get his revolutionary work commissioned.<\/p>\n

\nThe intricate planning that Nugroho invested in his idea over those five years is clear in the final product, which is packed with layer upon layer of art installations, folk-inspired dance and constant movement. A series of musical vignettes tell the story of the destructive love triangle between married couple Setio and Siti, and the town bully Ludiro. The couple meet playing the leads in popular Hindu tale ‘The Abduction of Sinta’, but the artistic glamour of their single lives turns into conjugal drudgery after the wedding.<\/p>\n

\nWhen their pottery business falls to pieces, in steps Ludiro, a long-haired Lothario who woos Siti with his proud masculinity and material wealth. It is a tough decision for Siti; the contrast between the Spartan marital home and Ludiro’s string of sumptuous lairs is clear to see. As Siti entertains the idea of being with him she becomes the focus of some of the most haunting sequences in the film.<\/p>\n

But the personal becomes political when Setio’s patience snaps and he instigates a community offensive on Ludiro, whose tyrannical rule over neighbouring businesses – orchestrated by a mob of crab-like Mafiosi – has wreaked havoc on the hearts, minds and purses of the town.<\/p>\n

Nugroho broadens the political scope even further by describing the film as a requiem for those who have died through natural and man-made disasters, suggesting that the love triangle of the film symbolises real-life power struggles over land for reasons of religion, natural disaster and greed. The point is made well: like the land itself, Siti rarely crafts her own destiny but allows herself to be the vessel of other men’s desires.<\/p>\n

Both she and Setio dance stylised set pieces where their eerie movements convey their deepest feelings. But power-hungry Ludiro – played by one of Madonna’s former dancers – actively teases and taunts in his dance scenes. When first introduced, he appears from behind an animal carcass in his butcher shop to turn his all-encompassing megalomania into a violent, swiping dance routine. He later steps out a strutting flamenco-style dance atop the bar of a smoke-filled jazz joint, which reveals his dangerous allure and the depth of his desire.<\/p>\n

In this way, Nugroho proves that a dance, like a picture, can tell a thousand words. In fact, words are where the film fails. For viewers not fluent in the Javan tongue – even those with a steely acceptance of subtitles – the impact of reading the opera lyrics pales in comparison with the sheer joy of seeing the saturated colours of Ludiro’s candle-lit oasis or the graceful coordination of the Javan classical dancers. <\/p>\n

The idea of a feature-length gamelan opera is a hard one to accept, especially when it is politically charged and crammed with art installations. But the stunning beauty of the film means Nugroho gets away with it.<\/p>\n

Lisa Williams<\/B><\/I><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You could call it long conception, short birth. Garin Nugroho imagined Opera Jawa<\/I> five years ago, but shot it in just two weeks. Production companies weren’t interested in the idea of a modern day opera based on Hindu holy text the Ramayana<\/I> and set to the sound of gamelan music. But then Peter Sellars – the man behind the staging of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro<\/I> in the Trump Tower – decided to commission the film for the New Crowned Hope Festival. The festival, funded by the city of Vienna and curated by Sellars, commemorates the 250th Birthday of Mozart, who himself struggled to get his revolutionary work commissioned.
\nReview by Lisa Williams<\/B><\/I><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cinema-releases"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","wps_subtitle":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/purUP-2W","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":149,"url":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2007\/08\/01\/deadwood\/","url_meta":{"origin":182,"position":0},"title":"DEADWOOD","author":"VirginieSelavy","date":"August 1, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Perfectly adapted to the hour-long soap-opera structure, produced by an impressive team of writers and directors, featuring acting of the highest quality as well as a brilliant soundtrack, Deadwood has truly revolutionised not only the western, but also the TV series in general, and all this despite the casting of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Home entertainment"","block_context":{"text":"Home entertainment","link":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/category\/dvds-and-blu-rays\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":101,"url":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2007\/05\/29\/fitzcarraldo\/","url_meta":{"origin":182,"position":1},"title":"FITZCARRALDO","author":"VirginieSelavy","date":"May 29, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"In 2006 during an interview with Mark Kermode for the BBC's Culture Show, Werner Herzog was famously shot with an air rifle, apparently by a crazed fan - not that surprising perhaps for LA and, if the director's own words are to be believed, not that surprising for Herzog himself.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Home entertainment"","block_context":{"text":"Home entertainment","link":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/category\/dvds-and-blu-rays\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3723,"url":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2013\/10\/24\/the-taste-of-money\/","url_meta":{"origin":182,"position":2},"title":"The Taste of Money","author":"Pam Jahn","date":"October 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Im Sang-soo\u2019s follow up to The Housemaid seems to be trying hard, but ultimately feels like a glossy, heavy-handed soap opera. 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