page_title: The Mirror Never Lies
section_title: Themes
hierarchical_section_title: The Mirror Never Lies / Themes
caption_attribution_description: English: Garin Nugroho Riyanto Français&#160;: Garin Nugroho Riyant Русский: Гарин Нугрохо
context_page_description: The Mirror Never Lies is a 2011 Indonesian film directed by Kamila Andini and co-produced by Andini's father, Garin Nugroho, and former Miss Indonesia Nadine Chandrawinata. Starring Gita Novalista, Atiqah Hasiholan, and Reza Rahadian, it follows a young Bajau girl named Pakis who has lost her father at sea and uses mirrors to unsuccessfully search for him. It has several interpretations, including as a coming-of-age story and as an environmentalist piece.
  Filmed over a period of two months after nearly three years of research, The Mirror Never Lies was sponsored in part by the Indonesian branch of the World Wide Fund for Nature and the Wakatobi regency government. The first feature film to star the Bajau, it used their language extensively. Although a commercial failure domestically, it has been screened at many international film festivals and won several awards both inside and outside of Indonesia. Critical reviews have generally been positive, mostly emphasising the film's visuals.
context_section_description: In a 2012 interview Andini stated that she considered The Mirror Never Lies and the Bajau people symbols of unity; she expressed that the sea should not separate the different ethnic groups in the nation, but serve to connect them. Likewise, in an interview with Antara Nugroho stated that the film was intended to remind Indonesians that theirs is a maritime nation, which has influenced the country's culture. The regent of Wakatobi, Hugua, added in an interview with the Indonesian newspaper Kompas that Indonesian films had historically only presented land based cultures.
  Triwik Kurniasari, writing for The Jakarta Post, considered the film a criticism of "destructive fishing practices and climate change" in Wakatobi; she believed that this is shown through the director's "respect for the environment" in the film. Writing for Kompas, Teguh Prayoga Sudarmanto noted that such a theme is representative of realities faced by Bajau fishermen, who must travel ever further as the fish supplies diminish. He further suggested that the film depicts the sea as capable of both friendliness and hostility, a force with which the Bajau must deal every day. The critic Lisabona Rahman, writing for the Indonesian film database filmindonesia.or.id, contrasted The Mirror Never Lies with the plot of "tourist" ("turis") films: unlike in such films, where a city-dweller changes the traditional lifestyle in a village, Tudo is able to adjust himself to village life and follow their ways.
  Benny Benke, writing for the Semarang-based Suara Merdeka, drew a parallel between The Mirror Never Lies and Samuel Beckett's play Waiting for Godot. He suggests that they both have the same message: that awaiting somebody who never comes is ultimately futile. Benke further suggests that the film is centred around the conflict between the "utopian" Pakis and her "realistic" mother. Meanwhile, Maggie Lee, reviewing in The Hollywood Reporter, considered the film more of a coming-of-age story, with Pakis "discovering her womanhood just when the most significant man in her life is gone". Lee also noted Pakis' burgeoning sensuality and "nascent physical stirrings" for her friend Tudo. Ultimately, Lee suggested that Andini was expressing her desire to "break away from her father' [sic] artistic influence and swim alone" through the film.
caption: Producer Garin Nugroho said the film was to remind Indonesians of their maritime heritage.
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