Some things in this film seemed strange to me and I am not sure if I have understand the whole context of the film to culture and history of Indonesia. But that does not make me nervous at all. It was not different when I saw the first films by Ozu, Hou Hsiao Hsien or Ritwik Ghatak. But as films they have won me over long before I began to learn more about the culture these films are originated from. What I realized in the first 10 minutes from Nana is, that Kamila Andini is a virtuoso of cinematic images which she varies like one of these mentioned old masters.
Taking place on two time levels, the 1960 in Indonesia the time of the anticommunist pursuit and the takeover of the ultra right wing general Suharto. No doubt, an Indonesian spectator might be a more quick to capture the film´s historic context. In the film, the hints to history are evident in some dialogues and especially in some radio news. But like Hou Hsiao Hsiens Taiwan-trilogy, Andini deals with both, history but especially how it affects the intimate life of individuals. And like Hou´s characters, Andinis characters are exposed to certain historic events without understanding the whole complex context opposite to the following generations who can can learn about these events from history books.
Nana is married for a long time with a wealthy plantation owner who is much older than her and has several children. Before her marriage, she went through a traumatic experience, a conflict in which she lost her whole family, including her first husband. Even though the interiors (just alone the film´s production design is a masterpiece itself) suggest she is a wealthy woman. But how she walks through these well decorated rooms of this big house she appears like a lost soul, rather homeless than really belonging there.
The film is punctuated by Nana´s nightmares about this traumatic experience. These nightmares come always unexpected and what begins like a flashback leads to a nightmare and she always wakes up totally deranged. How these scenes are integrated, they appear like evil ghosts in the midst of a seemingly safe present. As the film proceeds, he befriends with a female butcher (a rumor says she is a communist or at least a sympathizer). For the first time she has someone whom she can tell about her story about things she never talked about to anyone. I remember there is one wonderful long scene when she tells her new friend about herself, a masterful long dialogue scene in this opulent decor. It is also a hint to the fascination of this film this strange combination of minimalism and opulence. And it is symptomatic for this film. Impossible to turn away eyes and ears from such scenes. Even if this film is narrated in a quiet flow (except dream sequences), a lot of things happen often at the same time, some of them I can recognize, some remain a mystery to me, but I stay captured by each shot, each movement. Nana is one of these miracles which allows in some moments to discover all the wonders of Cinema again for the first time. During special festivals or celebrations we see often performed dances. Even though I do not know if these are old classic dance forms how they exist for example in India or old traditional ones. But these dance performances intensify my impression that the whole film is a strange but breathtaking fascinating modern Laterna Magica. Like all great films, Nana offers always options. You can be absorbed by this masterful composition of colours, light and movements even without understanding everything but you can also enjoy the perception of small details. If you dream yourself through this film or if you rather follow the film´s attention for small details, that is your choice. Sometimes I felt as absorbed by this kaleidoscope of colours, light, movements and music like I was when I saw for the first time Jean Renoir´s India-film The River while I learned much later that especially this film made in India is probably Renoir´s most personal film.
Like I mentioned - there might be a lot I have to learn to understand Nana in its historic and cultural context. But what I understood very quick is that Nana is a stellar piece of a film which I would like to see again as soon as possible. Sekala Niskala (The Seen and the Unseen, 2017) one of Kamila Andinis previous films (Berlinale-Generation 2018) is still warm in my memories. Just to watch a film like Nana on a big screen (where it belongs to) tells me the reason why international filmfestivals still make sense.
Rüdiger Tomczak
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