| Daun di Atas Bantal | |
|---|---|
 Daun di Atas Bantal | |
| Directed by | Garin Nugroho |
| Written by | Garin Nugroho Armantono |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Nurhidayat |
| Edited by | Sentot Sahid |
| Music by | Djaduk Ferianto |
Release date |
|
Running time | 83 minutes |
| Country | Indonesia |
| Language | Indonesian |
Daun di Atas Bantal (released in English asLeaf on a Pillow) is a 1998 Indonesian film directed byGarin Nugroho. It is one of the most acclaimed films from Indonesia in recent years and was the country's proposal for anAcademy Award. It was also screened in theUn Certain Regard section at the1998 Cannes Film Festival.[1]
The film follows threestreet children, Sugeng, Heru, and Kancil (played by themselves), in their day-to-day lives inYogyakarta. Although they live in poverty, are from broken homes, and must do anything to survive, they aspire to rise above poverty and hope to receive an education. They are supported by Asih (Christine Hakim), a saleswoman who lets them stay in her workshop; the children fight over Asih's leaf pillow.
The children's lives do not go smoothly. Kancil isdecapitated whileplaying on top of a train. Heru falls victim to aninsurance scam, where he is givenfalse identification papers and then killed to collect the premium.
Daun di Atas Bantal was produced by Hakim, who also played Asih. The film was her first production, and she initially did not intend to act in it to avoid stress; however, she changed her mind after being told the film would be more marketable in Japan if she acted in it.[2] Hakim has called the film "an expensive university" for her because she made a mistake that required Nugroho to reshoot all of the footage. In an attempt to cut expenses, she had saved all cans of exposed film in an attempt to send them to thedeveloping together; upon their receipt, the lab notified her that a technical fault with the camera had rendered the film unusable, and that it could have been detected earlier had she sent each can as it was filmed.[3]
Hakim choseGarin Nugroho to direct the film, noting that he was a "very talented young director",[3] partly inspired by Nurgoho's 1995 documentary film on street childrenDongeng Kancil untuk Kemerdekaan.[2]
The street children inDaun di atas Bantal are actual street children, who portray "dramatized versions" of their own lives.[4][5] After production, Hakim ensured that the children received an education; for example, Heru was placed in a music school.[6]
The sound forDaun di Atas Bantal isDolby Digital and was done in Australia. At the time, Dolby Digital sound was rare in Indonesian films.[7]
The film is based on true stories in the lives of three street boys in Yogyakarta who all die under tragic circumstances, and was played by the real street boys around the event location. The film also deals withpoverty in Indonesia, as seen through the experiences of the poor.[4]
According toStephen Holden in a review forThe New York Times,Daun di Atas Bantal is a "documentary-flavored" film that does not attempt to make the viewer care for the characters; he describes it as being detached and loosely structured.[4] Ade Irwansyah ofTabloid Bintang notes that the plot is much more linear than Nugroho's earlier works, without confusing metaphors or poetic imagery.[5]
Daun di Atas Bantal was shown in theUn Certain Regard section at the1998 Cannes Film Festival[1] on 23 May 1998.[7] It was Indonesia's submission to the71st Academy Awards forBest Foreign Language Film, although it was not nominated.[8]
Derek Elley, writing forVariety, called the movie Nugroho's best work to date, noting that although the opening was weak, "the viewer is slowly drawn into the urchins' nether world".[7] Holden wrote that the film "hits you in the face with almost unimaginable squalor and a patchwork of teeming sights and sounds that are more than the senses can take in".[4] In 2010, Ade Irwansyah ofTabloid Bintang listedDaun di Atas Bantal as the 17th-best Indonesian film of all time, noting that it was the first film in which Nugroho's dialogue was effective and the plot was easy to follow.[5][9]