Eliana, Eliana

This is an amateur movie shot on video, not an "electrifying drama" as the DVD liner notes falsely boast. I have seen much better stuff from undergrad film students. The bulk of the story unfolds with an all-nite taxi ride around Jakarta. This movie could have been made using a single video camera, but there are a few sections where two cameras were used and the content was bounced together later. The editing is extremely rough. The final edit was probably done with two cameras, bouncing content back and forth, instead of with a proper editor. Perhaps they did the editing in the taxi too? The English subtitles were written by someone not fluent in English, e.g., "Where you go now?" To say the production quality is on a par with Blair Witch is generous. If you're not scared away yet, this film was an ambitious and creative endeavor, with lots of cool and funky images from all over Jakarta.

Let's get straight to the bad stuff first: Camera work, bad. acting, over done. crying scene, well they tried. sound, let's not go there. Editing, none! But if you watch this film right next to a homesick Jakarta-ite like myself, they'll tell you about the nuances in this movie that the bad translation could never get across. For example, you'll know that there are multiple languages, dialects and slangs spoken in the film, they don't only represent the diversity in the city but also social status, respect, even mood (Eliana mostly talks in a polite dialect to her mom but then when she's angry she turns to impolite Jakarta dialect). And besides anything Garin Nugroho did, I've never seen Jakarta presented as raw as it is in any film. But boy, was I pooping in my pants. From the vendors of delicious food, to the traffic, to the beta fishes in jars. I could almost smell it (that's good and bad). That's the grimy Jakarta I experienced, and I love.

I love this film for evoking that feeling. It's ashamed that it plays a little like a soap opera with the crying and the angry scenes. But for all the absurd quality of the production, the concept, the story and the effort (or lack thereof) are still way more genuine and authentic to the Indonesian experience than almost any corny Indonesian teeny boppy romantic comedy and horror films that are out there.

A tale of mother-daughter conflicts told in a very simple way to touch viewers' heart. The emotional bond between Eliana (the daughter, by Rachel Maryam) and Bunda (the mother, Jajang C. Noer) is real, and at some points is very gripping. All cast performs out of their skin, especially the magnificent Jajang C. Noer, in whom is laid the heart of this feature. The corners of Jakarta sets a strong background. The ending is gently heart-touching. Director / Screenwriter Riri Riza successfully creates this masterpiece on a relatively low budget.

This is a festival-typical movie. Attempting to explore a simple life (as Majid Majidi did in "Children of Heaven" and "Baran"), Riri Riza had succeeded in showing the audience, the JAKARTA.

Jakarta is a scary big city, especially for them who have just arrive from other cities/villages and for them who are part of older generation. They see Jakarta as mess and heretic city while the younger generation see Jakarta as the city of freedom and salvation.

The movie itself was set in Blok M, one of the busiest districts in Jakarta in Day and Night. You can see the corruption, anger, immoral behavior in the day and low-class nightlife. You can see the shock experienced by the older generation (imagine how shocked the character of father was in "Coyote's Ugly" when he saw his daughter --which he expected to be a singer-- became a dancer in nightclub).

And when most people in Indonesia think the Jakarta people's mind is always about how to be a rich people, this movie is accurately shown that is not the case. The most priority in Jakarta people's mind is about how to survive. How to continue the live until the next day and the day after. And morality is not the main issue in Jakarta lifestyle -- which may considered as heretic by conservative people.

The story itself ended when the mother saw her daughter would not sacrifice her moral for surviving.

Watching Eliana, Eliana is not like watching any other movie. It is not a 'blockbuster' like "Ada Apa Dengan Cina" but it deserves as much attention. It is more like a document, in which through the conflict situation between mother and daughter, we see what is happening in general in Indonesia today. The older generation: politicians, army and police have lost every touch with reality and the younger generation today. The same for Eliana's mother, who, living far away from Jakarta, has no idea about life in the 'big city'. It is not easy to sit through the whole movie, and especially the first part is a bit difficult to get through, but slowly you get fascinated by the relationship between the two, and their fullday trip by taxi. Finally, Eliana and her mother get closer, realising that though they are different in every possible way, they still have something in common. Not only Eliana, also Heni find her way back to reality and the moment that Heni decides to put out her sigarette in the small depressing hotelroom, is telling us something about Indonesia today. A country , where a young generation between 10-40 is destroying themselve with smoking, encouraged by tobacco companies and the government should realise like Heni, it is time to stop all this. Indonesian filmmakers have really impressed me these past two years. And I can't wait to see the two upcoming movies I saw announced at the cinema!