Touching, if a bit melodramatic, this Indonesian film about the growing friendship between a prostitute hiding from her violent pimp and a dying portrait photographer weighed down by a lifelong secret is lovely to look at, gentle, with a good heart. It's a film I wish I loved even more.
The intentions are wonderful, but the tendency to go over the top with the acting (especially the old man), and the fact you could see where the story was heading for quite a while kept a lid on my enthusiasm. So did the emotional distance of the style and very slow pace (and I love slow movies).
All that said, it was good enough that I will see it again, and discover if it pulls me in deeper next time, knowing ahead of time the very low-key approach to the story, and the slightly heightened performances (an odd, interesting contradiction there).
The intentions are wonderful, but the tendency to go over the top with the acting (especially the old man), and the fact you could see where the story was heading for quite a while kept a lid on my enthusiasm. So did the emotional distance of the style and very slow pace (and I love slow movies).
All that said, it was good enough that I will see it again, and discover if it pulls me in deeper next time, knowing ahead of time the very low-key approach to the story, and the slightly heightened performances (an odd, interesting contradiction there).