Identitas [2009]

Release Date:6 August 2009
Origin :Indonesia
Genre:Drama
Director :Aria Kusumadewa
Starring:Tio Pakusadewo, Leony Vh, Ray Sahetapy, Titi Sjuman, Otig Pakis, Teguh Esha

Synopsis
“Identitas” uses its main character, Adam (veteran actor Tio Pasukadewo), to represent those less-fortunate city inhabitants whose self-worth and value is rendered miniscule in a crowded metropolis, where the strong rule the weak.

Adam, a forensic officer at a hospital in Jakarta, is an introverted character who avoids human contact if possible and prefers the company of his “subjects.” He engages in monologues with the bodies he examines, and sometimes at night, even sleeps beside them.

He lives alone in a house “owned” by his father, who has long since disappeared. Because his father had no official identity papers, however, Adam is in danger of being evicted from his home. One of his neighbors claims that the property belongs to him, and Adam screams “The RT and Lurah [neighborhood heads] know that my father owns this house!”

Increasingly desperate and on the verge of becoming homeless, Adam becomes obsessed with the issue of identity and begins relating his own situation to the myriad John and Jane Does that come to his workplace every day — without value and without identity. He begins collecting their name tags, even kissing and caressing them on occasions.

Tio`s portrayal of a desperate Adam during these scenes is perfectly grotesque, layering the character with an oddball disposition that never strays into caricature.

One day, Adam befriends a young woman (former child singer Leony Virtia Hartanty) in the hospital`s waiting room, where she is waiting for her ill father to get treatment.

Adam`s becomes increasingly enamored by the woman and begins to focus his concern for her by secretly caring for her father and buying him the medicines he needs. But when he tries to help them with their health insurance, their lack of identification papers becomes an issue. To make matters worse, the woman is a prostitute, further lowering their chance of receiving any governmental assistance.

Still seeking for ways to help, Adam tries to approach the mayor, who is being treated at the same hospital. He fights the security guards at the door, only to find a mayor`s assistant who offers to help Adam only if he agrees to work for the mayor`s reelection campaign.

The campaign scenes included are comical moments that feel like unnaturally changing gears and even slow the story a pace or two. Fortunately, it is only a small part of the movie and before long, Adam finds out that the woman has been murdered by a client and that her father is inexplicably missing from his hospital bed.

The woman`s body is now owned by the hospital, whose chief wants to sell parts of it for academic research.

Adam tries frantically to save her body as his eviction draws near. The movie`s tragic end seems an inevitable necessity to drive its point home. The extreme manner in which Adam resolves his problems is, sadly, a daily reality in Indonesia.

Trailer

Posted in: Drama