The Photograph

I first saw this film at Cinequest (San Jose Film Festival) in 2008. Each year I see about 15 films at that festival, and this was by far my favorite; it was also one of my favorite films of the entire year. The pace is languid, as appropriate for the story and setting. True to the title, I perceived many of the scenes as a delicate and cherished still shot brought to life for a short while. The story is simple: singer and reluctant prostitute at a town bar seeks escape from her situtation and rents a loft from an aging and frail portrait photographer; reluctantly he accepts her help in lieu of rent. The acting, cinematography and even the story made this a great film. I am not a great critic of acting skills, but I felt the two main actors did a superb job. Watch this film if you can find it and I assure that you will be invested in the lives of these two remarkable people.

The makers of this film obviously missed the lesson of Antonioni; namely, that misery does not automatically equal interest.

There are many films from different countries which have the name "The Photograph" as their title.This Indonesian film is different in the sense that it has been made by a former film critic.It is a film about two lonely,oppressed people.The feminine perspective of this film concerns an attractive prostitute named Sita who has no qualms about her profession.She is doing it to support her daughter and grand mother.There is also an old Chinese photographer whose life took a shocking turn after the death of his wife on railways tracks.It can be surmised that it may have been a case of suicide.The Photograph is a film about these two lonely people who are close to one another even though they appear to be different on numerous occasions. The film has the mark of a film critic as the director has put jokes in the later half to win audiences.The oppression of women is shown in the form of troubles faced by Sita who is harassed by her pimp.Indonesian director Nan Triveni Achnas shows us that the sorrows and happiness of lonely people are very much the same.This is a film about life and human sentiments as Sita's passion is life whereas Mr.Cameraman's passion is photos as he is interested in human sentiments.A good film for those viewers who would like to explore Indonesian cinema.

A humanistic film about a couple of people struggling in their lives, and who find some level of solace from gently supporting one another. The first is a mother (Shanty) who's been forced to leave her mother and daughter to work as a karaoke bar hostess and prostitute. She owes her pimp money and out of desperation, takes an attic room at an elderly photographer's place of business (Lim Kay Tong). The photographer is beginning to falter both mentally and physically, and is haunted by his past from events which we gradually learn about. Meanwhile, the young woman is treated like dirt at the karaoke bar and brutalized by men, so yeah, this is a pretty somber film. Director Nan Achnas exercises restraint, but the scenes where someone throws a beer can into her face while she's singing at the bar, and then later the beginning of a gang rape with her in tears put a lump in my throat.

The quality of the video that I saw was not the highest, but the cinematography and performances from the two leads were solid. I liked how the film didn't take an easy or cliché path with its plot. She doesn't become the photographer's assistant, and they don't become friends in some unrealistic way where suddenly it's all smiles in their lives. On the other hand, the fate of the pimp seemed awfully convenient, and the pace of the film lags a bit in the middle, as if something else was needed to take the film to the next level. All in all though, a sensitive film worth seeing though.

Touching, if a bit melodramatic, this Indonesian film about the growing friendship between a prostitute hiding from her violent pimp and a dying portrait photographer weighed down by a lifelong secret is lovely to look at, gentle, with a good heart. It's a film I wish I loved even more.

The intentions are wonderful, but the tendency to go over the top with the acting (especially the old man), and the fact you could see where the story was heading for quite a while kept a lid on my enthusiasm. So did the emotional distance of the style and very slow pace (and I love slow movies).

All that said, it was good enough that I will see it again, and discover if it pulls me in deeper next time, knowing ahead of time the very low-key approach to the story, and the slightly heightened performances (an odd, interesting contradiction there).