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Audio Format: DD 2.0 Video Format: Widescreen 1.85:1 Languages: INDONESIAN Subtitles: English Region Code: 1 Year Made: 2002 Running Time: 86
A fresh new picture from Indonesia after a lengthy cinematic dry spell in the archipelago nation, Riri Riza's "Eliana, Eliana" is a sprightly melodrama that never quite transcends its familiar storyline, but nonetheless offers many pleasures within its compact, 86-minute frame. Film is alive with the bustling sights and sounds of Jakarta by night, where anything can happen and where women (particularly pic's title character and her wily mom) command a fierce, empowering respect. A success on its home turf, and winner of a special citation from the Dragons & Tigers jury in Vancouver, pic should receive further fest exposure, particularly in Asian cinema showcases.
"Eliana, Eliana" is immediately distinguished by Riza's lively mise-en-scene. Shot largely on cluttered mercantile streets on digital video, then transferred to film in the cinemascope aspect ration, pic possesses a highly distinctive look. Cinematographer Yadi Sugandi's constantly moving camera captures flashes and fragments of action in a wonderfully off-the-cuff style, occasionally catching the same piquant energy as Wong Kar-wai's "Fallen Angels."Eliana (nicely underplayed by Rachel Sayidina), is fired from her job in a department store for kicking a male customer in the groin. She stops at a lunch counter for a bite to eat, but when a loutish fabric dealer gets fresh with her Eliana delivers another swift kick.
A resident of Jakarta who left West Sumatra to try city life several years earlier, Eliana arrives back at her apartment only to find that her mother (the commanding Jajang C. Noer) has decided to pay a surprise visit after a five-year hiatus. To make matters worse, Heni (Eliana's roommate and tower of support at moments like this) is nowhere to be found.During the long night that follows, Mom tries to talk Eliana into moving back home, while Eliana desperately searches for Heni. Resembling a talky, two-character play with lots of mother-daughter venting (a la Marsha Norman or Beth Henley), this section of pic is not uninteresting, and the two actresses are always compelling, but is over-familiar in treatment. Much better is Eliana's ultimate confrontation with Heni (Henidar Amroe).
Eliana, a small-town girl from West Sumatra, now thrives in the hustle bustle of busy Jakarta. One day, after she is fired by her callous boss, she returns home to find her roommate missing and her mother waiting for her. In the long night that follows, Mother tries to talk her daughter into returning home, while Eliana searches the streets and cafes of free-wheeling Jakarta for her roommate. Set against a pulsating backdrop of modern-day Indonesia, this electrifying award-winning drama tells the story of a woman pulled between the old and the new, between tradition and rejuvenation.
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