Jakarta Hati

Title translation: Jakarta Heart

It is an omnibus consisting of six stories.

Masih Ada (There Remains)

A middle-aged man wearing safari is lashing out at his driver in a lavish house with a spacious parking room. The car is broken. Another car is used by his wife to go to a beauty salon since dawn. There’s a gathering. His son’s car hasn’t returned since last night. He has to reach Senayan before 11 am.

It is a story of a House of Representative’s member in the middle of the dense Jakarta and its citizens’ resentment. In his hands there’s a sport bag containing one billion rupiahs, a share from a corruption act, as well as the fact of a beaten kid for stealing tempe out of hunger.

Kabar Baik (Good News)

In a police station a young cop is facing a middle-aged man, still looking stout. They are filling an investigation report. The man’s case involves many women. It’s about a chain of social gatherings.

The man is the cop’s father who has been gone for five years. The cop’s mother is still in wait, expecting him out of love. The man says that the cop now has a little brother who’s turning five that day. The cop is in doubt. The father is a number one con man. The cop is in dilemma.

Hadiah (A Gift)

A writer is occupied with a phone call from a friend, offering him a project: writing trashy sex comedy. The writer is in dire need of money indeed. A 50 thousand rupiahs have just been used to buy a mobile top-up that hasn’t even got in. The rest is to survive the day. The friend insists that the writer directly calls the producer.

The writer’s son, 8 years, whines. He wants to come to his school friend’s birthday party not far from the house. Both then go to the nearest mall, buying a pair of fake brand of expensive plastic sandals, returning home on foot to save money. They can’t even afford the wrap paper. At the birthday party, the writer finds out that it’s a rich man’s kid. He endures other parents’ glances who come looking dashing and perfumed.

Dalam Gelap (In the Dark)

After dusk an area in Jakarta blacks out all of a sudden. It seems that it’s rotating outages. This one young married couple has to deal with the impact. They must talk with each other.

Usually when the light is on, each is occupied. Someone reads a novel, the other watches TV, or else, each on their own. Now in the dark their dying relationship is suddenly on the risk. In it there’s expectation, an unsolved problem caused by an affair and other things.

Orang Lain (The Other)

A man, mid 30, is shaking his glass by the bar in a small pub. He smiles dryly and lets his wedding ring sinking in the glass. Through the glass he sees a beautiful woman in her 20s approaching. She starts a conversation, “Your wife is having an affair with my boyfriend.”

Then they take a walk through the Jakartan night, questioning who has been the other in the damaged relationships. Is it them or their cheating spouses? On the brink of the dawn they try to settle it down.

Darling Fatimah

At Pasar Senen a woman who’s a Pakistani descendant with a lot of mouth is serving her customers. She’s beautiful, in the end of ther 40s. Then comes a young Chinese in his 20s, a broker of cakes.

Both get into a quarrel, with words too harsh for certain more polite Jakarta ears. But what they argue about exemplifies the warmth of love. They are discussing their relationship. It’s about jealousy, a strong will to marry, and how to deal with in-laws, and more. At one point a decision is made.