REVIEW: DVD Release: The Admiral

Film: The Admiral
Release date: 14th June 2010
Certificate: 15
Running time: 99 mins
Director: Andrei Kravchuk
Starring: Konstantin Khabensky, Elizaveta Boyarskaya, Vladislav Vetrov, Sergei Bezrukov, Richard Bohringer
Genre: War/Drama/History/Romance
Studio: In2Film
Format: DVD
Country: Russia

When the Tsar took Russia into the First World War against Germany, he had no way of foreseeing the terrible events that would unfold, and the men and monsters that would be unleashed upon his country. When the revolution strikes, Russia is thrown into chaos as the Communists fight for power, but in the East a movement has arisen. The Whites to fight the Reds. They are led by a national hero, Admiral Kolchak - the Supreme Leader of Russia.

In late 1916, Admiral Kolchak is in charge of a mine laying ship in the Baltic Sea when a German ship – the Karl Friedrich arrives on the horizon. The Friedrich is many times more powerful than Kolchak's ship, and practically blows her to pieces. Kolchak, with most of his crew dead or wounded, personally fires a direct hit on the enemy battleship and then succeeds in luring her into the mines Kolchak has just laid. An almost suicidal strategy, but one that succeeds. The Friedrich is beaten.

At the subsequent celebrations, Kolchak meets Anna Timirev, the wife of his second-in-command, Sergey Timirev. Kolchak and Anna fall in love immediately, but Kolchak chooses for them to be separate to avoid further pain to their spouses. Even so, they write often. Sergey eventually asks to be transferred to avoid further humiliation.

The Tsar promotes Kolchak to Vice Admiral, commanding the Baltic fleet, but the Tsar is soon deposed. The sailors of the fleet revolt and the officers of Sergey's ship are executed, Sergey manages to escape, and he and Anna flee to the East. Kolchak's ship also revolts, but Kolchak avoids bloodshed by surrendering power. The provisional government sends him into exile in America.

Kolchak soon returns, gaining a power base in Irkutsk, Siberia. He takes command of the resistance. The Siberian “White” government opposing communism and fights his way west using trains to take his army across the icy landscape. Anna hears of his return and travels to meet him, but on seeing him give a speech, she becomes a nurse, and follows the army anonymously so that she does not distract him from his destiny.

As the army pushes towards Omsk, their base in Irkutsk is threatened. Kolchak makes the decision to retreat in order to consolidate his strength, but the railway workers on which he is dependent are beginning to revolt. As his train makes the dangerous journey back East, Kolchak finds Anna and they are finally able to be in love in the last few days until the train is finally stopped. Kolchak, Supreme Leader of Russia, is executed…


The Admiral is a film that wants to be Dr Zhivago. An epic love story stretching across the Russian Revolution. Unfortunately, it comes across as an empty story devoid of emotion and devoid of context.

Kolchak is one of the major figures of Russian history, but by the end we are none the wiser as to who Kolchak is. His achievements are treated strangely, the fight with the Karl Friedrich at the beginning is pretty much pure cinematic fiction, and Kolchak's achievements as an explorer are ignored. His exile, return and installation as Supreme Leader of Russia all occur off-screen, and his final campaign is treated without context. Why does Kolchak oppose communism? Was he a royalist? A friend of the Tsar? An anti-communist? Or simply exploiting an opportunity? Worse still, the allegations that Kolchak presided over massacres and mass torture in a brutal military dictatorship are completely ignored. This is available in further reading, but in the context of the film not only does it leaves our ‘hero’ without life, without reason for anything he is seen to do, but at best it betrays the man, and at worst, deliberately misinforms.

The film tries to focus on the love story between Kolchak and Anna, but without knowing Kolchak, or indeed Anna, beyond the fact that they both look beautiful, we cannot understand what attracts them to each other. The ‘love story’ is completely empty, devoid of reason, the history a hotch potch at best. Kolchak and Anna spend the entire film whispering sweet nothings about how much they love each other, but at no point does the film show why.

This lack of emotional understanding by the director extends beyond the basic story. Kolchak and Anna's spouses are treated equally badly. After establishing that Kolchak is married and has a son, and that they are upset about his adultery, they are given almost no screen time, and are completely absent from the final third of the film. Sergey gains a little more exposition, but also disappears from view once Anna leaves him. Kravchuk is only interested in his two principals, but this hamstrings the whole film.

Several battle scenes in the second half, choreographed with skill and looking good, are also pointless as we have no reference to the men fighting the battles, only their high command, which is Kolchak looking stern and severe in a train carriage. The cast and two leads give us their best, but without the backing of script or director, their efforts are in vain.

It is impossible to deny, however, that the film looks good. The CGI is used sparingly and effectively, with the Karl Friedrich, in particular, positively terrifying. The costumes are sumptuous, the cinematography bewitches at every turn. If only this was all that were required to make a film. For a historical epic, it's a sadly wasted opportunity.


A pretty film hides an emotionally empty story, all the sadder for it being true, and therefore a failure to show the reality and events of the time. The longer it goes on, losing context and character development as it goes, the more soft focus it becomes. Until, by the end, you're not sure why you cared. A folly. PE

REVIEW: DVD Release: Soldier Of Orange

Film: Soldier Of Orange
Release date: 16th August 2010
Certificate: 15
Running time: 149 mins
Director: Paul Verhoeven
Starring: Rutger Hauer, Jeroen Krabbe, Susan Penhaligon, Edward Fox, Derek de Lint
Genre: Adventure/Drama/Thriller/War
Studio: Palisades Tartan
Format: DVD
Country: Netherlands

Paul Verhoeven has always been a cynic, teetering on just the right side of violent nihilist. Robocop was a vicious satire on the police. Starship Troopers a vicious satire on the military. Soldier Of Orange is set during the Second World War, it would be forgivable to call it a vicious satire on war, but it's not. It's a relatively gentle (for Verhoeven) satire on life and friendship that is no less devastating in its critiques for that.

Eric Lanshof is attending a fresher party at university. During the ritual humiliation dished out by seniors, he is knocked unconscious by the union president Guus Lejeune. Later Guus apologises, and the two share digs and a group of friends - Robby, Nico, Alex, Jan and Jack. As war descends upon them unexpectedly, these seven men react in very different ways.

Robby sets up a secret transmitter. Nico becomes heavily involved in the Dutch Resistence. Eric and Guus both decide to escape to England. Jan and Jack try to sit out the war, while Alex, whose mother is German, becomes ever more seduced by the German army. After an aborted attempt to reach England, which leads to the capture and execution of the Jewish Jan, Eric and Guus finally escape, but Eric has been fed false information about a traitor, and almost shoots the wrong man.

As two of only a handful of Dutch escapees, Eric and Guus are introduced to the exiled queen Wilhelmina, and recruited into her plan to bring the leaders of the Dutch Resistance to England. The plan is complicated and the traitor strikes again. The resistance leaders, Nico and Robby are shot and killed and Guus executed.

Eric returns to England once more, and becomes a pilot in the RAF, before becoming the queen's aide. On her triumphant homecoming to a free Holland, Eric returns to his flat and finds Jack, the only other survivor of his friends…


Soldier Of Orange is a film that bears all the hallmarks of being unremarkable, and yet, by the end, has left you breathless. It has gained the tag ‘epic’ due to its sheer length, yet it does not deserve such a tag - epic films are those that deal in broad sweeps of history. The characters in Soldier Of Orange don't so much make history as stumble around events that they barely comprehend, and mostly end up getting killed for their trouble. Thus while the characters are at first unremarkable, the events small and every day, we are slowly brought into their world, bearing witness to their deaths and entrances, and most especially, their failures, until the end scene, which is understated, yet quite devastating. Eric, the hero, has returned home. As he opens the doors to a scene of mass jubilation of freedom, he is asked what he will do now. “I don't know,” he replies, instantly hollowing out the perception of heroism and forcing the viewer to face a reality of war, that warriors become defined by what they do, that they have no purpose other than to fight, and while the Nazi's needed to be fought, what then? That Verhoven can express so much with a single line, instantly smashing the perceptions of a broad sweep of history, of heroes and villains, of bravery and cowardice, indicates the full power inherent in this film.

Verhoven is painting in shades of grey, his camera is a pure eye of realism, and he doesn't falter when covering his characters mistakes and failures, which are many. Indeed, Eric's RAF career, where he is successful, is barely covered. Verhoven isn't interested in it. He knows that heroes are created by how they face their mistakes, not how they celebrate their successes. Eric and Guus run a disastrous mission that ends up with most of the group dead. As Eric realises the danger and tries to save the mission, he puts himself in greater and greater danger, until, in a staggering scene, he finally finds himself literally dancing with his old friend Alex, now a fully fledged Nazi, and having to bluff his way past someone who knows almost everything about him.

The image of Guus escaping across the beach is unforgettable cinema in a film filled with memorable moments. Guus later guns down the traitor in broad daylight, and is immediately caught and then executed. By this point, we have almost forgotten that Guus sadistically humiliated Eric on their first meeting. Verhoven does not judge, however, his camera is simply there to record journeys. We sympathise with Alex, Jack, Robby and Esther, his wife, because we know why they do the things they do.

But this film could not have succeeded without its cast, all of whom are outstanding, but, of course, Rutger Hauer as Eric gives one of the great film performances. Hauer is a very difficult actor to film because he has such a gigantic presence on screen that he can often be allowed to dominate the camera, without even intending to. When he is onscreen, it's difficult to remember that other actors are around him. Some directors exploit this; others aren't good enough to control it. Verhoven, perhaps uniquely, manages to keep Hauer as part of a talented ensemble, and, in so doing, brings out shining performances.

Every major character is unforgettable, filmed beautifully, acted perfectly, and with understatement. We watch them grow and flower, whether as heroes, cowards or Nazis. We understand their justification, whether or not we accept it. Esther, who has turned a blind eye to the obvious, says, “I survived.” Esther is Jewish. Jan, the other Jewish character, did not survive. The audience do not need telling the obvious. How many of us would make the same decisions? These are real people we are watching.


Soldier Of Orange is a film made by a director at the height of his powers. The script, cinematography, direction and acting are all beyond compare, and sent Hauer and Verhoven to Hollywood. A masterpiece of European and war cinema, this is essential viewing, not just to cineastes, but to everyone. Unflinching and real. PE

REVIEW: DVD Release: Fellini's Casanova

Film: Fellini's Casanova
Release date: 1st May 2010
Certificate: 15
Running time: 148 mins
Director: Federico Fellini
Starring: Donald Sutherland, Tina Aumont, Cicely Browne
Genre: Drama/Biography
Studio: Mr Bongo
Format: DVD
Country: Italy

Giacomo Casanova is a writer, a wit and an aesthete. Venturing out from his native Venice and passing through the hedonistic capitals of Europe, he seeks to be recognised for his manifold and self proclaimed talents in the higher arts. But in his reckless wanderings, Casanova comes to realise that all anyone is interested in are his sexual escapades. Fellini called this film his masterpiece.

The film opens during one of Venice's famous carnivals. A statue of Venus is to be raised from the Grand Canal, but the supports break and she is one again engulfed by the water. Subsequently, Casanova, who has witnessed this while masked, is brought a note, asking him to attend an island where a nun excitedly awaits his ravishment.

On arrival, he learns they are to be watched by the French Ambassador who proclaims Casanova's sexual genius, only to disappear when Giacomo asks for a reference to the King.

On the return from the island, Casanova is accosted by the inquisition, who imprison him in a cell he can barely stand up in. However, he shortly escapes and embarks on a travel across Europe; Italy, Germany, Britain and France, hoping to make his mark as a man of letters, but everywhere he finds debauchery and disappointment - his string of sexual conquests hollow as he chases nonexistent dreams.

In Dresden, Casanova chances upon his mother in an empty Opera House. She can no longer walk and he carries her to her carriage, but after she drives away, he realises he has forgotten to ask her address to write to her. Finally, at the end of his travels, Casanova finds a position as Librarian at Waldstein. But he has become an object of ridicule, forced to eat with the servants. He is left to dream about the one woman he found in his travels whom he considered perfect. An automated doll…


Fellini's Casanova is a haunted dream journey through spectacular sets, populated by a bemused Giacomo and a surreal circus of grotesques. Deliberately as un-erotic as possible, Fellini meditates on the emptiness within Casanova, and the artifice that surrounds him in the debauched European nations - artifice that Casanova cannot help but beg for recognition from. The film is an incredible vision that does not readily open itself to explanation, but rather needs to be felt emotionally through the absurd chaotic journey on which Casanova is our steadfast guide.

The occasional narration by Giacomo provides the reinforcement that the madness we are witnessing is in fact Casanova's madness, even while Donald Sutherland provides an imperious and unrelenting presence as the stillness at the centre of each scene. Sutherland, despite being possibly the least likely actor ever to portray Casanova, radiates a softness and unnatural beauty that is quite unexpected. It is a triumph, therefore, that he never allows Casanova to become an object of sympathy or to allow his naiveté to overcome his dialogue with the audience. Fellini despised Casanova. Sutherland allows him to become an object of ridicule without compromising the character's integrity. The audience are left unmoved by Casanova's journey, upon which he learns nothing, tells the audience nothing, creates nothing, leaves nothing, and ends up with nothing except a dream about a hollow woman. When other stories about Casanova focus on tremendous amounts of sex and ribaldry, this is a film that dares to show the dark side of the very first ‘playboy’.

However, this does not make for easy viewing. The plot is nonexistent, the Brechtian theatrical techniques are many, constantly reminding the audience that they are viewing a facade of a facade, and the main character is a perpetually deluded freak for whom sex becomes such a routine, that it has all the eroticism of training for and participating in an Olympic sport, and for whom women drift into nonexistence.

For all that, Fellini keeps his audience through incredible scenes. London is a perpetual road in a pea soup fog, inhabited by a 7ft woman fighter who is attended on by two dwarfs. Casanova blunders through, lost and alone. In Germany, he finds a hall filled with pipe organs, played discordantly, and then concordantly, presided over by a comatose Dudley Sutton. As pure cinema, this is as good as it gets. Scenes that will etch themselves into the brain and never leave.


Fellini called Casanova his masterpiece. It is. However, that does not make it easy viewing, nor does it make a whole lot of narrative sense. Casanova is very much a film that requires its audience to feel rather than to think, and what is more, promises to leave them unmoved. It is a brave filmmaker who desires to pull off such a feat and a rare filmmaker that succeeds. A compelling film. PE

REVIEW: DVD Release: Axis Of War: Night Raid

Film: Axis Of War: Night Raid
Release date: 5th July 2010
Certificate: 15
Running time: 85 mins
Director: An Lan
Starring: Wang Yongming, He Dandan
Genre: War/Drama
Studio: Metrodome
Format: DVD
Country: China

Axis Of War: Night Raid, is the third part in a trilogy of recent releases, covering an incident in the Sino-Japanese war prior to WW2.

Axis Of War: Night Raid begins with one army led by Captain Chen and another led by Captain Gao fighting over which of them can use a train to travel. Gao wishes to go south to the front. Chen wants to go north where the Japanese have invaded but there is no fighting. Gao, a female photojournalist and later revealed as Captain Gao's sister, accuses Chen of cowardice. A Japanese plane attacks both armies and Gao gets the train.

Chen marches his men north, the Japanese planes a constant threat. Chen stumbles on their ‘nest’, but his radio transmitter has been damaged. He cannot receive or send orders. After an intelligence raid on the nest goes wrong, and one of his soldiers is killed, Chen decides to march on to his destination.

As they march, the planes cease to attack them. Chen is emboldened and turns back under cover of night. Both Captain Gao and his sister have returned home to a local village following their mothers death in a bombing raid. Gao has brought all the munitions from his army with him. Chen pleads with Gao's father to have the superior equipment for his attack on the airfield. The next evening, the attack on the well defended airfield begins…


In the 1970s, the Western World was dealing with Vietnam, and the propagandist war film all but disappeared from our screens. Cinema was always an effective propagandist, but such films have one purpose, patriotism. Art often falls by the wayside. Triumph Of The Will and Went The Day Well? Survive as standout examples of propaganda by outstanding artists, such as Hitchcock, and Pressburger got in on the act, too, but many films sank without trace. Post war films – Ice Cold In Alex, for example - were able to portray war without being exercises in patriotism. However, it's interesting to note where British war films draw the line between triumphalism and balance. There's a huge difference between a film such as Escape To Victory and Malick's The Thin Red Line.

Night Raid is a propaganda film. If not directly financed by Beijing, it certainly has no interest in portraying reality. Japanese pilots cackle to themselves evilly as they strafe Chinese soldiers. At one point a Japanese soldier armed with a Katana faces a Chinese soldier armed with a machete, and the Japanese Soldier drops dead from fear! Every Chinese death is mourned over with saddened faces and orchestral music. The Japanese receive no characterisation at all. Gao, the journalist, castigates everyone she thinks is a coward, until she discovers they are actually to attack, at which point she falls in love with everyone. The finale is an orgy of destruction as the Chinese suicidally throw themselves into the airport attack, making up for lack of training through guts and derring-do.

Supposedly a true story, when viewed through such an obvious prism, it's difficult to accept any of the events at face value. Did the Chinese really volunteer for the ‘Suicide Squad’ with smiles on their faces? Did Captain Chen really send home those who had family to support? Because we're having to question everything on screen as being viewed through rose tinted spectacles, it's practically impossible to engage with the film emotionally.

That's not to say that the Japanese empire was not a brutal one in war, or that the film is totally without merit. Wang Yongming, as Captain Chen, with his long suffering eyes and hangdog face carries the film singlehandedly, and deserves much better material to showcase his talents. But the propaganda element undermines the emotional truth the actors are doing their best to portray. However well they act, we never believe them, because the direction carries such blatant artificial distortion.

The final set piece attack on the airfield is painfully bad. Acted with enthusiasm, but it is obvious that the sets are small and cheap, and the poor special effects simply make no sense. When the entire base has been decimated, and most of the soldiers on both sides are dead, we are served with an explosion where dozens of soldiers appear from nowhere to be caught in the blast. It's not the low-cost special effects that ruin the film; it's the fact that no-one spent the effort to get the continuity or editing correct because, despite the best efforts of the actors, the production is cynical.

Propaganda films can be works of art in their own right, and there is nothing wrong with the Chinese wanting to celebrate their war heroes, but if a film must be propaganda, then talented artists are required in order to rise above the extreme limitations of the genre - directors and scriptwriters with a bit of subtlety, at least. This film is as subtle as being hit over the head with a brick.


Poorly made propaganda without any real artistry, as this is, has no merit whatsoever beyond its nationalistic ambitions. If this film serves any purpose outside of China it will simply be to provoke a desire to find an unbiased account of the last Sino-Japanese war. PE

REVIEW: DVD Release: Ponyo

Film: Ponyo
Release date: 7th June 2010
Certificate: U
Running time: 97 mins
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Starring: Yuria Nara, Hiroki Doi, Jôji Tokoro
Genre: Anime
Studio: Optimum
Format: DVD & Blu-ray
Country: Japan

Studio Ghibli has made an international name for itself, and Director Miyazaki in particular, as one of the world's finest animation houses, rivalling Disney in animation and Pixar in storytelling. Ponyo, or more accurately Ponyo on the cliff by the sea, is Miyazaki's latest offering, and tempts with his hallmark love of fantasy and wonder.


Ponyo is the story of The Little Mermaid, Japanese style. Ponyo is a fish along with many sisters. Her father is the wizard Fujimoto, and her mother Granmamare is a Goddess. Ponyo has a desire to see the world and escapes from her Father one day while he travels in his submarine. When she reaches the surface, Ponyo is caught up in a garbage trawler and saved by Sosuke, the boy from the cliff. Ponyo falls in love with Sosuke.

Fujimoto sends waves to save Ponyo from the humans, and eventually gets her back. But Ponyo has tasted the blood of a human, and this gives her the power to become human also. She escapes from Fujimoto again and steals his magic, upsetting his potions in the process and spilling them into the sea. Ponyo, now fully human, uses the power of the sea to reunite her with Sosuke.

But there is now an imbalance in the world which will destroy it. Sosuke and Ponyo wake to find the world underwater. Ponyo uses her magic to turn Sosuke's toy boat into a little steamer and they journey to find Sosuke's mother. As they travel, Ponyo's magic runs out and she returns to being a fish. Sosuke saves her again, and they find his mother, Granmamare and Fujimoto together under the water. The only way to save the world is for Sosuke to fall in love with Ponyo…


As always with Studio Ghibli, the animation is unbelievably beautiful in ways that Disney and Pixar will never equal, for differing reasons. Pixar, for all its clever technology, will never produce animation with this much heart and soul, and Disney simply don’t have the imagination. If nothing else, Ponyo proves beyond all doubt that hand drawn 2D animation can be as good as anything done on a computer in however many dimensions you care to mention. Of particular note is the mid-film set piece. A simple in concept, yet truly spectacular scene as Ponyo rides her brothers and sisters, now transformed into giant fish, over the sea and up onto the cliff, as Sosuke's mother drives perilously fast around hairpin bends to escape the onrushing flood. It's a staggering achievement that ranks as some of the best high energy animation in any animated film, ever.

However, there is more to a film than just animation. We expect nothing less than perfection from Studio Ghibli. But does the film stand up to its previous offerings? Unfortunately, the answer is no. Make no mistake, this is a film with enough heart to capture even the hardest cynic, but flaws do exist in the film, and they lie with the storytelling. When we first meet Fujimoto, he is a wizard who desires to wipe out humanity and return extinct animals to the sea - a character trait that is never mentioned again. While this is a mere niggle to an adult, and won't even be noticed by the majority of children watching the film, it does point to the fact that the plot is not as watertight as it ought to be. Another little niggle involves Sosuke's father, who out at sea finds hundreds of ships all thrown together in a beautifully animated scene, but one that goes nowhere. It's unfortunate, but it is just shabby storytelling. There's no excuse for a script that introduces plot elements only to subsequently ignore them completely.

As well as losing entire strands of character and story development, the script also neglects to adequately frame the story that is seen. The viewer is never entirely sure of the nature of the oncoming catastrophe. Is it down to Fujimotos magic elixirs spilling into the ocean? The logical reason that the animation supports, or is it because a fish has become a human? Something the script suggests, but without rhyme or reason.

Despite these niggles, Ponyo succeeds because it's a heart rather than a head film. The narrative may be of variable quality, but the characterisation is perfect. Sosuke and Ponyo will capture even the hardest of hearts. Both characters are adorable and beautifully brought to life. Sosuke's mother Lisa is grounded in the real world of elderly care but equally well created. Children will probably want to watch with the English dub, and this too is excellent, with actors like Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon and Liam Neeson on board, all doing excellent jobs.


Ponyo is an outstanding feat of animation, let down somewhat by a less than perfect script. But these problems are not fatal flaws and there is much to enjoy. A feast for the senses that everyone should love. PE

REVIEW: DVD Release: Opera Jawa

Film: Opera Jawa
Release date: 28th January 2008

Certificate: 12

Running time: 119 mins

Director: Garin Nugroho
Starring: Eko Supriyanto, Martinus Miroto, Artika Sari Devi

Genre: Musical

Studio: Yume

Format: DVD

Country: Indonesia/Austria

Opera Jawa draws on the many centuries old heritage of Indonesian theatre, dance, song and storytelling to create a tragic tale of love, lust and betrayal that is dripping in symbolism.

Taking as its inspiration the Hindu tale of Rama and Sita (here known as Sinta), director and scriptwriter Garin Nugroho transcribes the action to modern day Java, where three people, who formerly danced the story of Rama and Sinta, seem doomed to repeat the story in their own lives.

In the story of Rama and Sinta, the two are a happily married couple until the jealous ten-headed Demon King Ravana kidnaps Sinta for himself. Rama enlists Hanuman, the Monkey King, and a fierce battle ensues between the monkey and demon armies. Ravana is killed by a shot from Rama's bow, and Rama and Sinta return home in a festival of lights (Diwali). The Javanese version of the Ramayana differs greatly, but not in terms of the basic story.

The film is told through traditional Javanese opera and dance. Setio (Rama) and Siti (Sinta), former dancers of the Ramayana, are married and now run a business selling earthenware. But the market in earthen pots crashes and they are left poor. Setyo, despite loving Siti deeply, feels a terrible strain and turns his back on her. Meanwhile Ludiro (Ravana), a powerful businessman who used to dance with Setyo and Siti, begins to tempt Siti to him through gifts and charisma.

Heartbroken and destitute, Setyo organises an army of the poor to attack the rich of the village, whose own army is led by Ludiro. In the fighting, Ludiro is killed. Siti returns to Setyo, but can he take her back?


Opera Jawa is a unique film. Nugroho chooses to use Symbolism to such an extent that it becomes the story. Creating a world which isn't the world, where fantasy and reality are both obvious creations and so the same illusion, where the stepping stone between our world and the interior thoughts of a character is the simple act of putting on a mask. Occasionally, it's difficult to follow the story due to the abstractions, but the symbolism is never less than crystal clear. Mannequins ubiquitously dot the scenery, replacing, mainly, dead bodies. One scene has red wax heads, decapitated from white plaster bodies. The heads burning as candles and the wax dripping down onto the bodies. It's an unforgettable image following up the, equally symbolic, battle towards the end of the film that is played out through puppetry. News reports are played over a stone TV.

Masks play an important part in this film, and in Indonesian Art as a whole. In the west we have become rather immune to the affect great mask work can play on our understanding of art. In the mainstream, we now only see masked superheroes where the mask usually goes to accentuate features. In Opera Jawa, the masks are often blank: a wicker hat, some leaves, a half carved piece of wood - in one instance, a t-shirt. The effect is mesmerising as, through the mask and the skill of the dancers, characters are transformed into monsters, or their inner thoughts laid bare.

The skill of the performers cannot be overstated. This is movement that talks not just of years of training or innate ability, but thousands of years of tradition, of dances honed over centuries. It is really quite humbling to watch. The music side of things, however, is a slight problem, at least when it comes to the western ear. We have been spoiled by our exposure to chromatic octaves, Puccini Operas and the classical tradition. Trying to listen to an orchestra where staying on the right note isn't as important as creating an overall effect is fine in itself but, especially when you're also following subtitled lyrics, the music fades into the background. Fortunately, the incredible visuals more than make up for not being able to hum the arias afterwards.

Opera Jawa, despite filling a kind of fantasy halfway world, does so entirely naturally. There are no special effects in the film, no artificial lighting, at least nothing obviously so. The fantasy is as real as our world, with monsters created out of people and masks, and when an obvious surrealism ends, it does so simply with the removal of masks or the monsters simply walking off screen. This is pure theatre, and truly more successful than any of the special effects tricks employed by cinema if you can buy into the surrealism - although not everyone will.

Only once is there a misstep by the director. In the midst of Ludiro's final seduction of Siti, a remarkable scene involving an exceptionally long red cloth, Nugroho cuts to an out and out comedy, where the very fat occasional narrator strums a ukulele and Ludiro does a very, very silly dance proclaiming all the nice things he has bought for Siti. It is very funny, but this is the same Ludiro who at the start of the film proclaims that he will bloodily destroy any who oppose him while dancing over a severed ox head in an abattoir. This little self-deprecatory scene, instead of bringing humour to the story, just serves to point up how seriously the rest of the film takes itself. For a misstep however, it is still enjoyable.

Supriyanto, Miroto and Sari Devi all deserve praise for their performances. Miroto as Setyo has a wonderful vulnerability as Siti slips away from him, but it is Supriyanto as Ludiro and Sari Devi as Siti who steal the film, both individually and together, where their dancing takes on a primitive eroticism. Also worthy of praise is the Hanuman character (unnamed on screen) for which the actor crafts a truly simian movement that puts any western actor that has had the misfortune to have to pull on a gorilla suit to shame.


A truly stunning piece of cinema that exudes craftsmanship, beauty and traditional techniques to transcribe new life into an old story. It won't satisfy those looking for action, but if you want to watch a film that will fill you with awe and wonder, then this should be high on your list. PE