“Mainland Chinese helmer Wang Chao finally attains an almost perfect balance between style and content in "Luxury Car," a tightly written and beautifully played drama…” - Variety

“A beautifully mounted musical epic combining traditional myths with contempo meditations on violence and social inequality, Opera Jawa is bold and innovative… Choreography is often mesmerizing, especially when set within the precincts of a gorgeous seaside palace rising above the flat landscape.” - Variety

“Superbly conceived and performed, it's like nothing you've ever seen or heard.” -Tony Rayns, London Film Festival

Setyo and Siti live a peaceful life as husband and wife, selling earthenware in their village. But when Setyo is called away on business, a flirtatious butcher, Ludiro, takes advantage of Siti's loneliness to seduce her. Tempted by song and dance, Siti initially refuses his advances but acquiesces in a moment of weakness, setting the stage for an epic battle between the two men. Located in lush forests and on pristine beaches of Java, director Garin Nugroho bases his deeply imagistic and dazzling visual narrative on the “The Abduction of Sita,” from the Hindu epic, The Ramayana.

“Drawing on Indonesia’s great musical tradition of gamelan, OPERA JAWA celebrates the rich and constantly evolving traditions of Javanese theatre, dance and music. A collaborative film, it involves some of the most famous Indonesian gamelan maestros, choreographers, dancers and installation artists. A joyful celebration of Indonesia’s cultural diversity, it is at the same time a requiem of grief for all the bloodshed throughout the world, a reflection of our lives today, in which problems are solved through cruelty, with tragic results.” – Garin Nugroho