Following the audiovisual extravaganza of “Samsara”, Garin Nugroho opted for a more “tame” approach, coming up with “Whispers in Dabbas”, a film inspired by the true stories of four legal cases in Indonesian courts, which is having its world premiere in Rotterdam.
Whispers in the Dabbas is screening at International Film Festival Rotterdam
The four stories are as follows. Grandma Minah, a wage labourer, was accused of stealing cocoa beans; Tukirin, a farmer, was charged for using hybrid corn. Daniel Frits Maurits an activist, was accused of breaking the Electronic Information and Transactions Law, essentially for raising awareness against illegal shrimp farming through Facebook; Sorbatua Siallagan, an indigenous elder from the Dolok Parmonangan community in North Sumatra was accused of occupying land within TPL’s (a pulp and paper company) concession area. Although the actual defendants had different lawyers, Nugroho included Puspa in the story, a novice lawyer that handles all four cases in the film and is, also a sister to Daniel, with the focus actually being on her.
As such, apart from the focus on the four cases, the film also centers on her, as she is fighting for the rights of such individuals victimised by the coalition of the State with major companies. Her case is no less dramatic, since she constantly loses at court, while the people in the legal company she works for are constantly on her, for taking up cases that make no money, and losing them, while disgracing herself (in their opinion) in the court.
Check the interview with the director
What becomes quite evident from the beginning is that all these poor people, who are also almost illiterate in essence, are victimized in order to become examples and prevent others from going against big companies. Their ‘crimes’ actually border on the ridiculous, as in the case of Granda Minah for example, whose crime was picking beans that fell to the ground. The excessive sentences they all get, actually involving imprisonment, and the way their arrests commence (out of nowhere, usually by officers in plain clothes without warrants) highlight quite eloquently how the authorities (read: the government) are in cahoots with private companies, with the whole endeavor in that regard being quite shocking to watch.
As such, Nugroho makes a rather pointed comment on how justice has failed in Indonesia and how the system is actually built in order to help the rich and powerful even more. That Puspa’s father was also incarcerated during the New Order regime, highlights the the continuing abuse of the law despite political reformation.
At the same time, and as expected by the Indonesian director, the cinematic approach here moves far away from the drama and even more from the documentary (with the exception of the info following the ending titles). Instead, he implements surrealistic and experimental tactics, with the audiovisual element being quite intense once more, particularly in the scenes that include music and dancing.
This approach allows the film to move into more arthouse paths, with DP Mandella Pracihara’s close ups in particular and the many silent moments being indicative of the overall approach here. The same applies to Andhy Pulung’s editing, which adds to a slight sense of disorientation about the where and when the events of the movie happen. The apogee of the overall approach, however, comes in two scenes. The one where a woman is eating from her own field and the one where the elder man is digging in the forest, in two rather impactful sequences, both for the way they are presented and for their dramatic premises.
Lastly, Della Dartyan as Puspa is quite impactful in the role, managing to portray her character’s despair and resolve quite eloquently, even if in a laconic fashion.
“Whispers in the Dabbas” is a very rewarding movie that shows that subjects as the one Nugroho is focusing on can be presented on cinema through an arthouse approach, and not only through drama or documentary.
