Sara, a transgender woman who is 35 years old, returns back to the remote village of her childhood to attend her father’s funeral. But she soon realizes that there’s more than just the funeral to deal with. For starters, the village has turned religious very recently and her mother has been suffering from dementia and does not recognize Sara. However, instead of fighting, Sara decides to go with the flow with the assistance of Ayu, her friend, and even goes up to compensate her mother’s loss of horrible memories of Sara’s deceased father, the uncle that Sara most loathes and the reason she left her family a long time ago.
All the pieces needed to create a really controversial film regarding LGBT rights in a Muslim country were present but Ismail Basbeth however decided to take a softer and more down to earth stance. The techniques he employed, to accomplish that, are both intelligent and fascinating. As a whole, the first deals with Sara’s parents. This approach only served to heighten the narrative, which is why the father being deceased and the mother being senile are such a stark contrast to the friction that was supposed to exist. When the residents of the area urge her against stepping into the mosque in light of her predicament, they are equally courteous and discreet which broadens the narrative. They say, rather than shout, and thus contribute to the same objective. Finally, that Sara decides to take care of her mother and concentrate on her rather than fighting for her rights as transgender, completes this method.
Even so, this still does not imply that the comments do not get conveyed or that they lack a certain sharpness. The manner Indonesia, or really the rest of the world goes, becoming more religious and less accepting of any diversity is made rather well, just as these problems are more pronounced in small communities. The biases that people have towards taking care of their parents who are sick are also mentioned, thanks to the manner in which Sara deals with her issues being both brave and rather shrewd. So, we could say that the core message here is that as much as tolerance towards harm is often interpreted as weakness one sometimes chooses to bear with it and later on seeks help, the basic principle, which the ending definitely endorses.
As a mother to a husband, Basbeth portrays the connection between the mother and son, she does so in such way in which the border p between loving and romantic is smudged, there is a strong sense of parent child devotion which is slightly romantic and feeling interlaced with the story.
While Budi Tobon manages to snap some remarkable long shots, he also immerses us into the rural setting with equal mastery while shooting in 4:3 format. The film, with its subtle and interaction-free mid shots that are typical of a documentary approach, manages to avoid any overt portrayal of Sara, capturing her gaze in one of the mid-shots instead. Currently, that is almost impossible to achieve given the slow pacing that is maintained in the film by Basbeth with his editing style. The 99-minute movie is just enough to sustain interest without wearing it out.
Recommended By Siasat It is confirmed that Christine Hakim will play in the short film “Sara” Directed by Edwin and co-produced by Fallacy Pictures and Makara Pictures Edwin meanwhile stated that Sara’s mother is dying. Edwin claimed that Christine Hakim had worked well throughout the film, debuting in a more dramatic role as a once-glamorous movie star.
Fighting may not resolve all differences between people or overcome all conflicts, and therefore I will embrace the value of compromise much more fully in comparison to the film’s portrayal, given that the theme of restraint is deeply rooted in “Sara”, it is more commendable for its intensity than for the more nuanced one could expect. But in reality, “Sara” has a realistic solution, which is compromise, so it wouldn’t have been bad if it were elevated further.
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