What is one willing to give up in order to fulfill their insatiable desires?
Following the internationally acclaimed Setan Jawa—which premiered in 2017 to a sold-out crowd at Esplanade—respected Indonesian director Garin Nugroho returns for the world premiere of Samsara, a stunning cinematic experience that marries film with live music.
Samsara follows the story of a man from an impoverished family who is rejected by the wealthy parents of the woman he loves. He strikes a bargain with the Monkey King, performing a dark ritual to gain wealth and marry the love of his life whose parents had rejected his proposal because of his poverty and low social class status. After he gains wealth and eventually marries her, the deal turns out to be a curse for her and their son, where the son must be given to the Monkey King and his mother has to breastfeed him and the other monkey infants periodically. Tragedy becomes reality when the son reaches a young age and wants to go back to the house to be with his mother, violating the boundaries between human and animals, Rooted in Indonesian mysticism, this is a universal narrative about the insatiable hunger to be what one is not, and the boundaries one is prepared to breach to realize this.
Like its predecessor Setan Jawa, Samsara is a “cine-concert” that draws from German black-and-white films from the 1920s as well as wayang (traditional Indonesian shadow puppetry). While the former featured an evocative silent film accompanied by live gamelan music and a Western classical orchestra, Samsara forgoes the orchestra for vibrant, live electronic music. The production marries this electronic soundscape with traditional Balinese performance elements like the gamelan orchestra, traditional dance, masks and wayang. The film and live performance stars two Asia-Pacific luminaries of the stage and screen, Indonesian film actor Ario Bayu and Indonesian- Australian dancer Juliet Widyasari Burnett.
Under the bold visionary eye of Garin Nugroho and the exceptional work of a powerhouse creative team, Samsara promises to be a bold and memorable cinematic experience, seamlessly bringing together the art forms, nuances, and traditions of Indonesia’s past and present.