![]() Don’t expect the movie to be overblown with sentimentality: it’s a harsh and vivid description of what it takes for the lower class society to live. Something in the Way follows its predecessor, Lovely Man, in showcasing beautiful visuals of Jakarta street life and red-light districts – the backdrop of the thriving sex industry in the nation’s capital, atmospherically shot by cinematographer Ical Tanjung ( Lovely Man). Following a series of encounters, an unusual relationship develops between Ahmad and Kinar until it ends in unfortunate circumstances. ![]() However, Ahmad is caught between his sexual urge and his devoutness as a Muslim – where he is reminded repeatedly in a local mosque of the condemnation towards the sin of adultery. Living across from Ahmad’s room in the public housing ( rumah susun) is Kinar (Ratu Felisha), a streetwalker and Ahmad’s growing desire. At home, he does it again while watching bootlegged porn DVDs. Ahmad is shown masturbating in the cab to some magazine pinups hidden under the dashboard. ![]() At least within the first three minutes of the film, we already know what his source of pleasure is. ![]() Once again, Soeriaatmadja explores the slums and impoverished parts of urban Jakarta, as he did previously in Lovely Man. We are introduced to Ahmad (Reza Rahadian), a phlegmatic taxi driver who has no ambitions in life. This time, according to actor Verdi Solaiman (who plays Pinem in the film) who was in Melbourne recently for the 9 th IFF, what gets in the way of the protagonist achieving his goal is taboo love and the harsh realities of life in Jakarta’s slums. What’s really getting in the way in Teddy Soeriaatmadja’s new feature film, Something In The Way? It’s not the transvestite dad who secretly works as a streetwalker to sustain his family as in Teddy Soeriaatmadja’s Lovely Man (2011). AIYA Victoria’s Pingkan Palilingan reviews the opening film from this year’s Indonesian Film Festival, Something in the Way: an unusually provocative film, which offers a “a harsh and vivid description” of Jakarta’s sex industry. ![]()
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