Indonesian Movie Review | Perempuan Tanah Jahannam
In 2O19 I watched one of the best films by Indonesian director Joko Anwar. Perempuan Tanah Jahannam managed to hypnotize the audience with a tense atmosphere that was channeled through the film. Many meanings and lessons can be learned from the film. Amazingly the plot twist has started since the first minute.
This film tells the story of a young woman aged 25 years who are poor in the land of Jakarta. Maya (Tara Basro), that's the call her aunt gave her since she was taken away from a rural village to the city.
Many puzzles that she could not answer even though she was trying to find out everywhere. She never knew who her parents were and where they were at the moment. She doesn't even know why she was stranded in Jakarta.
Long story short one day she felt bored with her work, Maya, and then try her luck by starting a clothing business with his best friend named Dini (Marissa Anita). Poor, her fate is on the cutting edge because her merchandise is not in demand.
With determined capital, she wants to find her ancestral land with the aim of finding the treasure left by her family. From there the journey of his life began. She later learned that her real name was Rahayu. The bitter truth is, Rahayu turned out to be the most hunted woman in the village.
The meaning that can be captured from this film is loyalty and betrayal. As well as how we must be ethical towards others and not deviate from the path of God.
The only thing Maya knows is to struggle to stay alive by working hard. She works as a toll officer. One day a stranger behaves strangely trying to kill herself at the toll booth where she is on duty.
Her body was injured due to a large machete scratches. Maya was injured right on her right thigh, which she later learned was a small roll of paper bearing the ancient Javanese script inside.
These things can lead someone to disaster. Rahayu is one of the abysses of problems. She is a scapegoat of two people who ask for the help of the devil. It all started from Nyi Misni's (Christine Hakim) revenge for being impregnated by Rahayu's grandfather who was then the village head and was highly respected by the residents.
Ki Saptadi (Ario Bayu) was born, the child of the forbidden relationship. But she could not do anything because she was only a servant. It so happened that Ki Saptadi fell in love with Nyai Shinta (Faradina Mufti), the wife of Ki Donowongso (Zidni Hakim) who was the legitimate child of grandfather Rahayu.
From the affair Nyi Misni then became pregnant after a long time without getting a baby from her husband. Nyi Misni then takes care of the child being conceived. She was born as a skinless baby named Rahayu. Ki Donowongso was devastated.
She was so disappointed she asked the help of the devil to cure the illness suffered by his first child. Unfortunately meets destiny. The devil asks for a reward in the form of the lives of three healthy daughters to take their skin and become puppets.
Fierce squabbling "Santet" between Nyi Misni and Ki Donowongso rests on Rahayu's miserable life. She was taken by one of the servants who survived the night of tragedy in her home which claimed the lives of her parents. Raised in the land of Jakarta that cruel did not necessarily make her give up. She returned to take back what was her right all this time.
When she arrived at the village, all the residents had smelled strange signs. Many then thought she was Rahayu who had been hunted to be killed as a condemnation breaker in the village. After the night of the tragedy of 20 years, there are no more children running around. All babies will be killed immediately because they were born without skin.
Villagers believe Rahayu must be killed because she was the one who brought the accident. But residents were still distressed because Rahayu came with her best friend and claimed to be a student who was doing research assignments. Her best friend was killed for trying to protect Rahayu.
Rahayu then succeeded in convincing the citizens that the curse had ended when fulfilling the spirits of the three small children who possessed her. They asked for their skin and bones to be properly buried.
"Santet" is an attempt by someone to harm another person remotely using black magic. Usually santet is often done by people who have a grudge because they are hurt by others. Santet can be done alone or with the help of a shaman. Wikipedia
You also could watching the trailer below