'Biola Tak Berdawai' not all stringless

Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Biola Tak Berdawai. Drama **1/2 (out of four stars). Starring Ria Irawan, Nicholas Saputra, Jajang C. Noer, Dicky Lebrianto. Directed by Sekar Ayu Asmara. Produced by Kalyana Shira Film (In Bahasa Indonesia).

There must be a purpose beyond anything that God creates, people say. So how, exactly, to explain the existence of multihandicapped children?

As a reminder to the able-bodied of how fortunate they are? Or could it be a warning from Mother Nature that there is a great power larger than life, whom human beings simply cannot fight?

Such children -- as stated by Bhisma, a character in the movie Biola Tak Berdawai (The Stringless Violin) -- are like violins without strings: beautiful, but they cannot be played.

Multihandicapped children are but one of a number of themes that feature in the latest Indonesian film, which opened in theaters on Friday.

A sophomore effort from Kalyana Shira Film, after last year's Ca Bau Kan, Biola is an improvement on its headscratcher-epic- wannabe predecessor.

At first, Biola seemed to be another, pretentious, local arthouse film that merely imitated other great pictures. The cinematography is indeed excellent and the music score really haunting, but it also turned out that the plot and story worked too.

This film may not be as fluent as Riri Riza's Eliana Eliana, which came out last year and so far is the best of the recently released, big-screen movies.

A feature directorial debut from Sekar Ayu Asmara, one of Ca Bau Kan's producers, who also wrote the script for this movie, it certainly has shortcomings (illogical scenes, ridiculous action, a dull plot). But, on the whole, Biola is somewhat touching and leaves its audience with something to think about.

The film brings us two women: Renjani (Ria Irawan) and Mbak Wid (Jajang C. Noer), both of whom have dark clouds hanging over their past.

A former ballerina, Renjani, 31, is a rape victim who aborted her fetus. Mbak (sister) Wid, whose mother is a prostitute, is a doctor trying to make up for her mother's deed, that is, getting rid of her unborn babies.

Together, Renjani and Mbak Wid take refuge in an orphanage located in Yogyakarta, taking care of multihandicapped children.

One of the children is Dewa (Dicky Lebrianto), an autistic and brain-damaged, eight-year-old orphan the size of a five-month-old baby, on whom Renjani pours all her love and affection.

One day, the child reacts to Renjani's dancing, which brings her to the conclusion that music therapy can probably heal him. During the effort, Renjani encounters Bhisma (Nicholas Saputra), a much younger violinist.

He falls for Renjani, as she does for him, but the latter still cannot come to terms with a past that has become a stumbling block between the two.

This movie is a comeback for noted actress Ria Irawan, also a former child actor who once received an award for her role as a maid in the 1988 movie Selamat Tinggal Jeanette (Goodbye Jeanette).

Not a bad comeback, but she does not really give of her best in her portrayal of a wounded soul, as it is sometimes unconvincing and unnatural.

But most off-putting of all is Mbak Wid's character.

While portraying brilliantly a strong-willed, single mother in Eliana, Jajang is surprisingly ridiculous when playing a doctor- cum-psychic.

The supposedly eccentric and bitter Mbak Wid becomes a real joke, with bad makeup, unnecessary histrionics and absurd statements on how life and everything in it are a riddle.

Nicholas, however, shows some improvement, although not much, in playing a tortured artist, in strong contrast to his portrayal of a high-school student in last year's huge hit Ada Apa Dengan Cinta? (What's Up With Cinta?).

Meanwhile, newcomer Dicky (a nonautistic eight-year-old in real life, but with a growth problem due to a blood disease), really steals the show.

Another shortcoming includes lapses into pat dialog, especially that between Renjani and Mbak Wid, and illogical scenes, where Renjani often leaves Dewa by himself. (On the beach? -- come on!)

But thumbs up, once again, for the excellent cinematography and the gripping score. The latter is a debut effort from musician/conductor Addie MS of the Twilite Orchestra.

All in all, however, this film is not a disappointment, given that there are many debuts being made here. In fact, it is a pretty neat attempt at depicting a rather complicated issue.