Loeloe Hendra pursued a Bachelor’s degree majoring in Film and Television and a Master’s Degree at the Indonesian Art Institute Yogyakarta. His short film “Onomastika” (2014) was screened at multiple international film festivals including Berlinale and Singapore and won Best Short film at the Festival Film Indonesia. “Tale of the Land” is his first feature film.
Tale of the Land is screening at Busan International Film Festival
The story takes place in Kalimantan, Indonesia. A conflict over indigenous land traumatized a Dayak girl, Maya, who was separated by her family. At that time, an old man named Tuha saved her from slaughter, and brought her to live on a floating house in the waters. As the story begins, she has been living afloat for over a decade and every time she tries to even step on land, she experiences a shock that makes it evident she cannot set foot on it. She believes she has been cursed, and despite her will to return, she has come to believe she cannot anymore, while Tuha is not particularly eager to let her go either.
The presence of a new buffalo, and even more, of Lawa, a young boy who disrupts the life she shares with Tuha and another young man named Yus, makes her wishing to overcome what she believes is a curse.
According to the director’s statement, the story is an allegory for the Dayak tribe, Kalimantan’s indigenous people who cannot live freely in their own land anymore, since it has been exploited by palm oil plantations and mining. Truth is though, and although it becomes obvious that the film is a kind of metaphor, without these notes, it would be difficult to understand what it is about.
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Apart from this, though, there are a number of traits found here. For starters, the inspiration from Kim Ki-duk‘s “The Bow” regarding the main premise and from Kamila Andini‘s “The Seen and Unseen” are evident and actually work quite well here. Furthermore, the hint that something weird is happening with Tuha and the overall atmosphere of disorientation that permeates the movie creates a setting that thrives on mystery, in a way that retains interest from beginning to end of the movie.
The sudden appearance of scenes of ritualistic dance (the Andini reference mentioned above), the ominous presence of the buffalos and particularly the one that doesn’t fit, and May’s reaction every time she steps to land add to the aforementioned elements, in an overall atmosphere that could be described as ritualistic disorientation.
At the same time, though, what seems to be a build up for something to happen does not find a way out, in an approach that would definitely add to the film, which does end up leaving the viewer with a sense of unfulfillment. The open ending is impactful, but still does not move much beyond the aforementioned issue.
Technically, however, “Tale of the Land” definitely thrives. Fahrul Tri Hikmawan’s cinematography captures the water, the floating house and the land in a way that makes the movie function like a thriller, in an element that definitely adds to the entertainment it offers. Carlo Francisco Manatad‘s editing essentially dictates the ritualistic atmosphere mentioned before, through a rather fitting slow pace.
Shenina Cinnamon proves once more that she is an actress to watch for, with an imposing performance as May, a young woman who struggles essentially against herself. Hendra based the whole movie on her and she delivered in great fashion. Arswendy Bening Swara as Tuha is also excellent in presenting a character that remains ambiguous from beginning to end.
“Tale of the Land” is definitely well-shot and highlights the fact that Hendra has some very good ideas, both cinematically and contextually. It just needed something of a high point in order to be a great film.
