Cigarette Girl

REVIEW GADIS KRETEK

I decided to watch this series because it was everywhere on X (formerly known as Twitter). Before that, I already knew the book, it was a hot topic once. The book-with the same title-was written by Ratih Kumala who happened to be Eka Kurniawan's wife. No wonder why I felt deja vu when watching the series, because it shares the same taste with Eka's plotting. They have historical writing style.

The series alone was mainly about cigarette. Dasiyah, as the main character, was a daughter of Mr Idroes, owner of Kretek Merdeka company, and she had a big ambition to make its sauce. But, women aren't even allowed to enter the sauce room. Then she met Raja when she was going to the local market with her father. Raja became one of their workers. Dasiyah and Raja fell for each other, but the universe seemed to not get their way. This, is when the story began.

I got to say the plot was really well done. It was a beautiful play, and well, the actors acted pretty natural, especially Dasiyah and Raja. Dian Sastro succeded to draw all the emotions. This series got all the romance, drama, and action in one.

I rate 8/10.

Definitely one of the best productions I've seen in a while. I mean, I am a very detail oriented person and there's nothing in life I enjoy more than accurate representations of things in a production like historical objects or fashion ect. Every detail in this series is very well thought&made in my opinion. My visual tastebuds were like "hell yeah." The development of the story and everything is good too except for the final maybe, because for some reason I was expecting a different ending. But still made me cry and throughout the series it was definitely worth to watch. Especially, shout out to the female lead! How beautiful she is and her acting was. I couldn't take my eyes off of her. Enjoyed the whole package of emotional, romantic, heartbreaking story so much and finished it right away. Go go go!! Ps* I had no idea Indonesian sounded that good.

I heard this show was beautiful. I didn't expect anything when I decided to watch it. I'm glad I did. It was one of the best Indonesian shows I've ever seen. The emotions felt real. The setting was solid. The acting was phenomenal. My first motivation was because of Dian Sastrowardoyo, she's my favourite actress. I also know Ario Bayu in several other movies. All of the actors in this show were the A-list bomb. I'm glad I watched it and I did it in one sitting. It has 5 episodes with each one consuming 1 hour. I would recommend people to watch this show. It has some great vintage detail of the old Indonesian in 1960s and early 2000s. 10/10.

This is a heavily atmospheric love story and if that is your thing you will love this.

It certainly is my thing and love it I certainly did.

The story plays out in two strands. The first is set in 1960's Indonesia. The romantic couple successfully struggle through the social barriers that surround them to then find all their hopes upset by the political and revolutionary upheavals of the time. Their continuing story is an emotional roller-coaster and I shed tears as I witnessed what happens to them.

The second strand is much closer to modern day, as their descendants piece together their story. A slice of joy to perfectly balance the sorrow of the past.

Every actor performs magnificently. Putri Marino, in particular, captures perfectly the turmoil her character experiences as she discovers secrets that turn her world upside down.

This TV Series portrays the old culture when women were considered to be unsuitable to voice their opinions, the unrest situation when the government eliminated Indonesian Communist Party started in 1965, and the love between two people from different classes. The casts are so incredibly talented performing their characters as well as speaking in their local dialects which made. I appreciate the writer who brought up the unrest situation during the elimination of Indonesia Communist Party where thousands of innocent people who were not involved in the communist party had been victimized by the hatred of those people who had close relationship with authorities. I heard this story a lot from people surrounding me when I was growing up, but none had brought this up due to fear of persecution.

The music, song, and singer that were chosen for this TV series were excellently done. The song was composed in 1970's, but the music was made a bit softer for this TV series which represented the music character back in 1960's. I heard many 1960's music and songs my parents used to listen, and the music just brought my memory from the past.

I would not suggest using Netflix dubbing in English, but using the caption because while listening to Indonesian, I also have the caption turns on for my friend, and the captions almost match the speaking language.

Again, thank you to all casts, directors, writer, and all people who involved in making this TV Series. Well done!