In the contemporary remake of 1987’s Arini: Masih Ada Kereta Yang Akan Lewat (Arini: Another Train Will Come), director and co-writer Ismail Basbeth explores trauma and runs with it.

His primary tool is the damaged, seemingly brave interiority of Arini (Aura Kasih) and all the reasons behind it. When a meeting between Nick (Morgan Oey) and Arini takes place on a train, she balks at the idea of a potential romance, choosing instead to ignore his advances.

Though it is a little disturbing at first to see Nick’s repeated, rejected advances, Ismail makes sure there’s a reason behind them, and takes his audience on a trip into Arini’s past as a married woman, more than a decade earlier.

With her union set up by a friend, Ira (Olga Lydia), Arini is led to believe that her marriage is real, but it’s camouflage; an elaborate ruse. You could see the marriage hit its nadir before it even takes off, though her smile might fool you.

That smile fades as the movie progresses, but the film never abandons its protagonist. What remains is Aura Kasih’s nuanced acting as a woman who refuses to believe in love again. She says as much to Nick, perhaps to return to the misery she’s grown accustomed to. Nick, played decently by Morgan Oey, does nothing but adamantly promise her a new life.

Arini: Masih Ada Kereta Yang Akan Lewat was adapted from its namesake novel by the decorated writer Mira W. In the 1987 film adaptation, director Sophan Sophiaan cast Rano Karno as Nick and Widyawati as Arini.

Arini has since been regarded as a fine example of Indonesian romantic drama, earning multiple nominations at the Citra Awards and a win for Widyawati. The novel and the film are both tasteful entries in Indonesian pop culture.

It was thus a little surprising to hear the news that Ismail was helming the movie. Waltzing between mainstream and art house films, from the surrealistic Another Trip to the Moon to the straightforward Talak 3, Ismail is a filmmaker with taste.

He adjusts that taste to whatever script is in his hands, which is why Arini boasts a satisfyingly layered relationship, layered characters and their complexities. The simple use of flashback builds Arini’s past to allow her present to make sense, to both Nick and the audience.

Love in Germany: Arini (Aura Kasih) and Nick (Morgan Oey) share a bench in a scene shot in Heidelberg, Germany.

Ismail cares for not only the narrative thread. There’s also idyllic European scenery and some gorgeous cinematographic selections. Ismail lets Aura’s face express her inner turmoil. He doesn’t treat conflicts as a spectacle, and instead allows silence or quietly spoken passionate words to reveal them, so the movie floats and glides at a glacial pace.

There is one thing I wish the movie had more of: an exploration of the age gap between the two lead characters, since Arini is 38 while Nick is 23.

When I learned about the age gap leading up to the film, I thought the movie was going to show the intricacies of a relationship seemingly marred by taboo. It did — there’s a dinner scene where Nick’s mother comments that Arini should probably call her “elder sister” instead of “ma’am” — but it’s a gap that hasn’t really closed when the credits start rolling.

Perhaps the new Arini won’t reach the same heights as the original did, as the landscape of Indonesian cinema has changed greatly. But its contemporary iteration is further proof of Ismail’s versatility, one that Indonesian cinema should be happy to embrace, in whatever landscape.

— Photos courtesy of Max Pictures

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Arini

(Max Pictures, Matta Cinema; 83 minutes)

Director: Ismail Basbeth
Screenwriters: Ismail Basbeth, Titien Wattimena
Cast: Aura Kasih, Morgan Oey, Olga Lydia, Haydar Saliszh