Leaf on A Pillow

"How come a human being lost his rights to be buried...?"

Release Year: 1998
Country: Indonesia
Genre: Social drama
Director: Garin Nugroho
Screenwriter: Garin Nugroho, Armantono
Cinematography: Nurhidayat
Music: Djaduk Ferianto
Editing: Sentot Sahid
Actors: Christine Hakim, Kancil, Heru, Sugeng

The first time I watched this movie, I was in elementary school. But, even with my limited understanding and attention-deficit tendency, the image of a kid sniffing glue near the railway was forever seared in my brain. That image is just one of the many highlights in this brutally realistic depiction of lives in the ancient city of Jogjakarta; especially the unfortunate lives of slum-dwelling, glue-sniffing, education-deprived, street children.

Leaf on A Pillow (Daun di Atas Bantal) follows the daily lives of Kancil, Heru, and Sugeng, three street children who eat and sleep under the shelter provided by Asih (Hakim), a tough craftswoman who acts as a foster mother to them. The boys spend their days hanging around the train railway, collecting a meager amount of money through various ways, and generally just try having fun in the bustling streets of Jogjakarta. However, with their lifestyle, lack of formal citizenship, and the constant danger of being targeted by organized crime, a peaceful and lengthy life will be something that they will never have.


Garin Nugroho is one of the absolute best directors in Indonesia, and his technical craft really shone in Leaf in A Pillow. His movie is not merely a conventional character drama, but an artful composition of images and impressions that portray a vibrant, living, and breathing city. In a sense, even though the focus of the narrative is Asih and her street children, this is not just a story about them--this is story of a city and its inhabitants. The way Garin constructed and framed most of his shots are really impressive, as he loaded them with so many details and sensory triggers. As a result, the setting really comes alive instead of just being a static backdrop to the characters, representing the life cycle and daily routine of Jogjakarta inhabitants through a collection of strongly atmospheric mise en scenes; whether it is a high school girl popping pills inside a public bathroom, traveling saxophonist blowing out his tunes into the dark sky, musicians gathering in the night and singing to Paul Mauriat's Love Is Blue, or a small girl waiting nervously to cross the street in the middle of a busy traffic.

The episodic feel and semi-documentary approach make the narrative a bit challenging to follow. Exposition is rare, and character interactions are based on random snippets of dialogues instead of having specific functions to drive the plot. Context is seldom stated explicitly, the audience should learn them by the process of observation and drawing inferences (except at the very end of the movie, where Garin feels the need to address and explain a specific social problem). Consequently, the script is much less memorable than the audiovisual elements that accompany it (the titular 'leaf on a pillow', Asih's keepsake which is regarded in high value by the boys, does not make much impression because of it), and there are times when I wonder if it could have been better if Garin just make it a full-documentary.


However, there is an undeniable naturalistic feel caused by such approach, which is also mirrored by the performances of Kancil, Heru, and Sugeng, who are genuine street children in real life. It is obvious that they were not really ordered to 'act', but instead to just behave as they normally do and as if there is no camera following them (Heru, who is the most dominant and abrasive, is easily the most memorable among them). The responsibility to anchor the movie's dramatic parts falls to Hakim, a senior actress who attacks her role with slow-burning vigor and intensity, especially during the final act where a cycle of tragedy is completed (ruined somewhat by scenes of a phony-looking news report and a very stiff delivery from the reporter, which are probably the only false tones in this otherwise very graceful film).

Despite a very lively atmosphere and cinematography, the thematic concerns of the film is presented in a detached way. There is no unnecessary melodrama, and this is not a story of how the power of love and friendship can fix everything. It is a portrayal of a harrowing reality, and a matter-of-fact social commentary: tragedy in Leaf on A Pillow is not treated as an anomaly, but a common and inevitable occurrence in the less fortunate lives of Indonesian street children.


Overpopulation continues to be a problem in Indonesia, as several hundred thousands street children roam every big cities in the country. According to the official law, the responsibility to nurture these children falls to the government, but it is clear by now that both the central and local governments are largely powerless (or worse, ignorant) to address this social issue satisfyingly. Kids like Kancil, Heru, and Sugeng can only depend on similarly struggling people like Asih and the occasional NGOs, and while living near the fast-moving trains, gangsters, and the many crime syndicates, every new day could really be their last.

For Rena

"They are my siblings. I don't want any of them to leave."

Release Year: 2005
Country: Indonesia
Genre: Social drama/family drama
Director: Riri Riza
Screenwriter: Key Mangunsong
Cinematography: Ipung Rahmat Syaiful
Music: Djaduk Ferianto
Editing: Sashta Sunu

Actors: Maudy Ayunda, Surya Saputra, Karlina Inawati

There is an easy way to distinguish between good movies and bad movies (social drama in particular). A bad movie feels the need to hammer its messages into the head of audiences, repeatedly stating the "importance of friendship/family/forgiveness/whatever" through explicit dialogues/monologues and melodramatic scenes. A good movie knows how to deliver its message without being preachy, relying more on subtle elements like atmosphere, expression, and low-key scenes.

For Rena (original title: Untuk Rena) is a good movie.


Mostly taking place in an orphanage, the movie focuses on two main characters: the titular character, Rena (Maudy) and a young man named Yudha (Surya). The 11-year old Rena is a big sister figure in the orphanage who always cooks up some prank to prevent her younger siblings from being adopted, while Yudha is a well-off yet lonely employee working under a Japanese man. Their paths crossed as Yudha started to regularly visit the orphanage and won the hearts of the kids--including Rena, although she is also wary and suspicious of his real motive.

The introductory act of For Rena effectively applied the single most important principle in the art of visual story-telling: show, do not tell. Both Rena and Yudha don't speak much during this segment, yet so much information about them is conveyed. We know that Rena is a protective leading figure who prefers the kids sticking together rather than being separated because of adoption, and we also know that Yudha has a certain feeling of longing toward children. We know those not because any of the characters told us, but through easy inferences from character interactions and facial expressions. Basic, but so often forgotten in many lesser movies that seem to think that their audiences are not smart enough to figure it out by themselves.


The movie does eventually dump lots of information through the character of Tia, the orphanage keeper, who is saddled with most of the necessary exposition and consequently becomes more of a pseudo-narrator instead of an actual character. However, it is handled in a graceful manner, wisely avoiding any sort of melodrama. The crux of the plot is about the real identity and motive of Yudha, yet it is not meant to be a real surprise (most audiences should be able to guess correctly what's really up with him); the reveal comes relatively quickly and in a non-dramatic way, as well as the events that proceed afterward.

Riri Riza is one of the best active directors in Indonesia, and the proof of his considerable ability is visible from the natural flow of the scenes. He also integrated contemporary social issue and cultural setting into the background; the tsunami disaster that struck Indonesia the same year this movie is released, and the Ramadhan fasting that had become a yearly tradition in the country. Both aspects are there without directly influencing the main plot, yet their presence greatly strengthen the atmosphere of the film and the messages it intended to deliver: of family, forgiveness, commitment, and gratefulness for what we have.


Surya gave the best performance in the movie, nailing the sweet spot of chemistry during the many scenes with the kids. The much less experienced Maudy understandably has a lot to improve in her sometimes stiff line delivery, but her photogenic face and reserved interpretation of Rena are enough to carry the movie along with Surya. Nobuyuki Suzuki also gives a memorable performance as Yudha's comical Japanese boss, who seemingly had a strong impact to Yudha's decisions and actions in the story. Finally, the other orphanage kids may be underdeveloped, but they contributed a lot to the eventual bittersweet resolution (Raja Khalil Gibran as Hamdani, the youngest and most adorable kid in the orphanage, will definitely steal most attention).

In terms of plotting, there is honestly nothing special about For Rena: similar material can be found in many television movies produced during holiday season. However, it is rare to find one as well-presented as this: visually and musically accomplished (the music in particular, is composed by renowned musician Djaduk Ferianto, while also featuring an uplifting soundtrack by the indie band Mocca), educating without being preachy, and genuinely touching without being overly sentimental.