Hell And High Water

The Jakarta Post   |  Wed, 02/25/2009 11:42 AM  |  Scene

In the mid-1990s, the International Labour Organization called on the Indonesian government to crack down on the thousands of fishing platforms dotting the Malacca Strait that used child labor. With about 50 platforms still in operation as of 2007, the waters off North Sumatra continue to be a living hell for underage workers who live like slaves in terrible conditions. This coming March, ECCO Films Indonesia presents Jermal, a feature film by Ravi Bharwani, Rayya Makarim and Orlow Seunke, about a child on one fishing platform. Maggie Tiojakin meets the filmmakers.

“No man is an island” John Donne wrote in his poem depicting humans as social creatures incapable of surviving without the assistance or company of others. Jermal’s opening sequence finds the irony of the phrase as a fishing platform (also known as a jermal) comes into view.

The deck, built out of rough-hewn logs, sits about two to three meters above the surface of the ocean. On the deck is a wooden shanty with a metal roof, in which the catch is sorted and processed every couple of hours. The child workers sleep on the hard floor of a makeshift shelter, with small cabins – equipped with beds – making the living quarters for the foremen, usually the only adults on the platform.

A deck such as this is center stage for Ravi’s Jermal, the story of unlikely relationships among the individuals living and working in the middle of a choppy sea. The particular focus of the story is the relationship between 12-year-old Jaya (Iqbal S. Manurung) and his estranged and unwelcoming father, Johar (Didi Petet). After Jaya’s mother dies, he is returned to Johar, a beer-bellied man in his late 40s whom Melville’s Ahab would have been glad to call friend if he weren’t so similar in appearance and behavior. Curiously, one of the child workers on the platform, who has a “special kinship” with whales, is named “Ahab”, a clear nod to the American literary masterpiece, Moby Dick.

“I wanted to weave a literary reference in the film,” says Rayya Makarim, whose past credits include Pasir Berbisik (scriptwriter, 2001) and Banyu Biru (co-scriptwriter, 2005). “I thought it would be interesting to have a character named Ahab.”

The script, which Rayya co-wrote and co-directed alongside Ravi Bharwani and Orlow Seunke, keeps the dialogue to a bare minimum. This is Ravi’s preference; for Orlow, it is a wonderful approach to telling the story of a boy who is desperately trying to connect with his distant father.

“This is something I always remind myself when writing a film,” Rayya says in agreement. “A movie is supposed to show the audience the story and not tell them. So when Ravi suggested that we minimize the dialogue, I immediately saw his point.”

The approach allows veteran actor Didi Petet to chew up the scenery in a performance where he scratches, growls, stares and drinks like a brooding sailor left to navigate the entire ocean all on his own. His relationship with Jaya carries the film from the moment it opens to the final shot, as Jaya’s relationship with the other workers fades into the background, making this ultimately more a story about alienation and the parent–child relationship, merely set against the backdrop of child labor.

Although the film succeeds on the level of the single relationship, it raises the question of whether the filmmakers overlooked the opportunity to explore the broader theme of children’s rights.

“If we wanted to talk about something heavy, we would have made a documentary instead of a feature film,” says Orlow. “We’re not trying to change the world with this film, we just want to entertain the audience, give them something different.”

If offering something different from the standard cinematic fare today is the filmmakers’ aim, then they have succeeded.

“If the audience can connect with the characters and the story,” says Rayya, “then we have done our job. Because, in the end, that’s what movies are all about: connection.”

Jermal opens in theaters on March 12.

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