Stand
van de Sterren (Position Among the Stars)
(Leonard
Retel Helmrich, Netherlands, 111 min.)
This
engrossing family drama concerns three generations
of the Sjamsuddins, a small Catholic family living
in the slums of predominantly Muslim Jakarta.
Amid the economic, environmental and political
stresses of modern Indonesia, the Sjamsuddins
struggle to provide opportunity for their granddaughter
Tari—who, like teenagers everywhere, seems
mostly interested in the consumer trappings of
her social clique. The globalized pressures of
hectic city life are contrasted by visits to the
quiet village of the grandmother Rumidjch's youth.
By turns funny, appalling and stirring, this lush
cinematic experience arcs a profound narrative
regarding the universal human condition.
