Of Love & Eggs (2004/Global Lens Series/Indonesia/First Run Features DVD)

 

Picture: C     Sound: C     Extras: C     Film: C+

 

 

An amusing, entertaining, simple look at the life of children in Jakarta, Indonesia, Garin Nugroho’s Of Love & Eggs (2004) has energy and shows us enough of lives we have not seen before that some of its predictability and some of its unevenness (including interesting risks, like having a young girl talk to the audience while text appears behind her) takes place during the Muslim holiday of Lebaran.

 

We get multiple stories, but that does not make this multi-layered storytelling, though it has its compelling moments.  Eggs become a metaphor in a humorous way for life and existence, yet it is also a tale of oppression, suppression and how the spirit of children can subvert that, even in strict terms, Muslim and otherwise.  I hoped it would say more, but overall, the film is an interesting counterpart to all the bad news about terrorism and shows a more interesting side to Muslim life.

 

The letterboxed 1.78 X 1 image is soft and shot on video, likely not High Definition, but has some good color, composition and interesting locations.  Also expect some of other visual flaws throughout, while the Dolby Digital 2.0 is simple stereo at best and fares better than the image overall, despite location recording issues.  Extras include a text filmmaker’s statement, more on Indonesia and the Global Lens Series.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo