The Film “Pangku” truly makes me cry, almost in every scenes. This is a true personal emotional experience. That is true, at the beginning of the scene, spectator are shown how a pregnant woman gets on a truck, and cursed as someone who brings misery, just because the truck tire is flat on the way.
Instead of helping, the two men who travel on the truk orders Sartika, the nme of the woman, to do something – by directing traffic – as if they were saying, "See, you are pregnant and not totally clear, if you want work, then just do it ". Hhmm...
A very detailed shoots starts from the beginning of the scene, when Sartika (played by Claresta Taufan) get off the truck wearing a skirt, where the front part is shorter, indicating that she is pregnant. The producer is very sharp and detailed. Sartika’s each expression and stare are cold in the first minutes, and the facial expression of the two men (driver and his assistant) are flat yet full of anger and annoyed. This is a cue for the following scenes - silent, empty, flat just like Javanese characters (hopefully I am not biased) in general, despite the facts that fishermen in Pantura (Northern Coast of Java) experience intense heat, not that they have rough character? Perhaps there is an exception. The film title "Pangku" seems to confirm that the film is about Java, about the culture which is perceived as refined, despite the strong patriarchy.
Sartika lives with Mrs. Maya, the owner of the coffee shop who complains that her shop is empty, less popular than the karaoke, and offers more modern entertainment. She can stay there until Mrs. Maya helps with her delivery. Then, Sartika becomes a farm worker, cutting grass and rice paddy after harvest, while taking her child to work, with a minimum wage which is not enough to buy rice. With heavy heart, she decides: to work with Mrs. Maya as a waitress, accompanying customers, until the end. She is still shy and tries to keep her body healthy, so that she can work well: as a waitress, accompanying customers.
But then, Sartika has an interest in Hadi a customer, who often gives her four extra fish. This is extra okey, meaning he does not take what is not his, in other words ‘no corruption’ of (what should belong to other people), he gives to Sartika, Bayu the son of Sartika, and Mrs. Maya and her husband. What an irony, the family of Mrs. Maya lives along the northern coast of Java, in the fishermen village, but they rarely eat fish, and they do not even know the name(s) of fish that they are eating.
Once again, the film “Pangku” is Java-Centred as portrayed by Mrs. Maya, played by Christine Hakim. Although her heart is boiling because her husband no longer works, and only able to collect plastic waste that he does not even sell, yet she still respect him as a husband: prepare food and drinks. The husband-wife relation is like a silent treatment. Almost in the full film, Mr. Jaya, the husband of Mrs. Maya does not say anything. Have you heard of our grandfather become silent like a Javanese when other people are fighting? Yet Mr. Jaya is a perfect man because he has so much compassion by taking care of Bayu, building chicken noodle cart, and even cries when Sartika and Bayu says goodbye and move with Hadi, after Sartika is married to Hadi. And actor Jose Rizal Manua play that character well.
Bayu, who is saying very little, or let us just say he is very careful in talking, except when he is awaken from sleep, he says to his mother, " I do not like for you to work when you are sitting on the lap of customers". He sees his mother while at work.
Bayu prefer to express himself to Gilang – played by Devano Danendra – who has an even harder life, without parents and family and accepts everything when he experiences rough treatment from his employer. Is it true, that violence can easily be committed by those who have power/authority, or who feel to have higher position and prestige than those on the margins, poor, orphans, and unable to fight back?
The positive is that the film “Pangku” does not show people as individuals who whine, who think that they are victims, or even become brutal. No. Javanese culture in the setting of 1990s is not shifting, at least not in that strata of community. So, Gilang’s anxiety changes into creativity: he quit his work as a physical labourer, then he becomes a parking boy and makes kites to sell. In fact, he can get out of the circle of violence perpetrated by his former boss.
Sartika has the same experience, when she realises that she is not the only woman in Hadi’s life. She was only an object of sexual expression and loneliness of her husband whose wife works as a migrant worker overseas. Whatever the justification is, Hadi wants to have a child, wants to have descent life, despite the fact that the root of the problem is exactly the same: not able to contain his lust. Hadi takes charge of Sartika. You want proof? Just look at the mean smile like a wolf constantly shown by the producer. The picture shooting through close-up to Hadi’s face who is quiet – maybe Reza the producer does not want to eliminate the character of Fedi Nuril in previous films – yet the gentle character hides an evil smile.
Hadi’s "evil" character reflected by his eyes, confirms that the film “Pangku”is a film with cues. Spectators are supposed to look closely at the cues, the facial expression, and the conversation in order to play out the emotion. Even the angry emotional expression of Sartika when leaving the house is represented only by tears, and her resolve to push the chicken noodle cart that she never used. There is no scream, of anger or conflict between Sartika and Hadi. The empty stare of Hadi goes directly to Sartika and Bayu, and his wife is a representation of the battered husband where patriarchy is at the edge of destruction.
I suppose, the film tells a long story, not only violence against women but also structural violence that leads to poverty, a broken family where the father role is missing, about the authority off a woman’s body, about changing time and many more that spectators can see. What I can emphasise is how to survive in that situation. Reza Rahadian, the producer in his debut, I think can bring spectators, not only to their emotional peak, but also high spiritual plane, without being overbearing. (Astuti Parengkuh)
