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Requiem from Java
Requiem from Java
7.9
/10
148 Ratings

REQUIEM FROM JAVA

Opera Jawa

Directed by Garin Nugroho
Indonesia, Austria, 2006
Drama

Synopsis

Siti and Setio are a couple living in a small Indonesian village. Once dancers in plays enacting the Sanskrit epic Ramayana, they have since retired to sell pottery. But the events of the epic will come to life when Ludiro, a butcher who rules over the local businesses, tries to seduce Siti.

Synopsis

Siti and Setio are a couple living in a small Indonesian village. Once dancers in plays enacting the Sanskrit epic Ramayana, they have since retired to sell pottery. But the events of the epic will come to life when Ludiro, a butcher who rules over the local businesses, tries to seduce Siti.

Our take

Based on The Abduction of Sinta from the Hindu Ramayana, Requiem from Java is a sumptuous feast of baroque cinematography and staging. Aural and visual treats abound in this maximalist Gamelan musical that sets beauty and bloodshed in tandem for a love story that can best be described as visionary.