Indonesian director Edwin depicts friendship and the lifestyles of the people of the age group of 30s with a food base spicy narrative in “Aruna and Her Palate”. The movie is adapted from Laksmi Pamuntjak's novel of the same title which narrates food, friendship and conspiracy.
There are four main protagonists in the movie. Aruna (Dian Sastrowardoyo) is a single woman who works for an NGO is passionate about food. Nad (Hannah Al-Rashid) is a food critic who wishes to author a book. Buno (Nicholas Saputra), is a chef and he likes to cherish and discover authentic Indonesian cuisines. Three of them are assigned to investigate the cases of bird flue in parts of the country. And in the mid of the investigation, enters the fourth character Farish (Oka Antara), who is inquisitive about the life of Aruna and keeps a watch on her. The four characters are very different. Aruna is wrapped in simplicity, Nad has a touch of elegancy, Buno is adventurous whereas Farish's mind is full of curiosity. The narrative flows with the different shades of four characters and depicts their thoughts about life, love, foods, politics and different aspects of life.
“Aruna and Her Palate” is a dialogue based movie where the director unfolds the characters under the backdrop of an avian flue outbreak. Everyone has a different opinion about life and they share and debate, which has been brilliantly scripted in the narrative. The film brings in the collision between faith and science.
The movie is dialogue driven and the script writer Titien Wattimena does an excellent job, keeping the narrative in a way that its engaging to watch. The music has been used beautifully as snippets and music director Ken Jenie composes few jazzy and foot tapping numbers, that blend perfectly with the narrative and the emotions of the movie.
“Aruna and Her Palate” deals with day to day life, underlying subtle emotions, and the ups and downs, along with the dynamic of friendship. Director Edwin handles and blends those excellently in an interesting narrative.
