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drunk driver, a child who misses his mother and a woman caught in the past. This is the story of refugees
in Atambua.

Atambua is a city located on the border of Indonesia and Timor Leste, the country that was once the Indonesian province of East Timor.

Due to conflict that caught international attention, the government of president Habibie finally held a poll that resulted on the separation of East Timor. After its independence, East Timor was renamed Timor Leste.

The problems did not end there. A number of Timorese intended to remain citizens of Indonesia. So, they moved — “crossing over” and living on the border. One of these in-between areas is Atambua. How the refugees there interact, and live their lives are at the core of this movie.

The film’s writer and director, Riri Riza, said that currently, Indonesia is showing rapid economic development while wrestling with massive corruption.

“On the other hand, at the edge of the border, such as in Atambua, poverty, a lack of education and healthcare problems are still a major issue. Atambua 39ºC puts forward various flavors, as well as the beauty of the conflicts that exist in between,” Riri said, describing the background behind the film’s creative process.

Through the characters of Joao, Ronaldo and Nikia, Atambua 39ºC captures the lives of refugees framed in dark colors with a dim light of optimism.

Joao represents a young dropout, who stutters in the face of information and the progress of time that is too fast for him to follow. Ronaldo suffers for having to live in Atambua while his family is still living in East Timor. And Nikia aims to show the portrait of a woman living among refugees in a conflict area.

The story offered is relatively interesting and depicts a sense of longing for the elderly, politics and private life that are difficult to describe. Some smaller stories among the main story are more emotional. The woman’s character, although clichéd and stereotypical, is interesting and important to display.

Unfortunately, the visuals, the dialogue and the inspiration embbed in every character feel less than coordinated. The film tells its story through pictures that sometimes tease the audience to interpret the purpose and meaning of the image.

This may happen due to lack of dialog and the presence of scenes that are repeated or even not necessarily important.

For instance, a vivid scene when Joao cleans up his father’s vomit, starting with covering it with sand, watering it and then cleaning it. If the purpose is to describe how obedient Joao to his father, it is then fine. But why does it need to be repeated?

Relatively important scenes, like the one that shows Ronaldo’s reason to choose to live in Atambua, are not well described. If there’s any, it is through narration, not visually presented.

The presence of narrative explanation that comes through running tapes or “conscience” in some scenes, is successful in helping the audience to understand the specific scene or even the entire film.

Yet on the other hand, it can also be a “nuisance” since the audience no longer has sufficient space to interact. Rather, they are given certain feedback regarding the message. Not to mention sophisticated phrasings that feels too clever when uttered by a drunken driver.

Despite the shortcomings, Atambua 39ºC remains as an important film to be watched — it has a significant charm that is not owned by others over the years.

The theme of refugees and their lives are depicted with enough touching and insightful experience to show that Indonesia is not just a big country, but also the central of complexity as well as the attraction.

Various problems are framed with beautiful natural scenery and the message of nationalism is sown in relatively different ways.

The decision to cast local actors and use local language deserve praise. Throughout the film, each character speaks in Tetum and Indonesian, obviously increasing the complexity of the emotional problems.

The skill to master acting technique is not essential anymore, as the actors likely bring their own lives into the big screen.

And another strong element in this movie is the music by Basri B Sila, who is originally from Makassar, South Sulawesi. The music does not only build dramatic nuance but also touch the emotion.

Atambua 39ºC, which premiered at the Tokyo International Film Festival in October and hits screen here on Nov. 8, is also decorated with images of beautiful natural scenery. The rigors of nature and how society deals with it is will truly amaze viewers.

When this movie is screened in some major cities, the audience will probably mumble: “Is it still part of my Indonesia?” The beauty, along with the problems that go along with it, are two sides of the same coin.

Verdict: The duo of Riri Riza and Mira Lesmana (producer) has been proven to produce great movies that are not only box-office hits such as Petualangan Sherina (Sherina’s Adventure) and Laskar Pelangi (Rainbow Warriors), but has also produced films that are rich in social and political importance (Gie). Atambua 39º C is an important and interesting work.