Welcome back to my Dark Corner of this Sick World.
‘You. You really gave me a fright’
As you walk down the road of life, always stop to smell the skulls along the way.
‘They’re right, it doesn’t have any smell at all’
Mystics in Bali is an important film in Indonesian cinema,
the first movie to blend western influences with traditional subject matter.
'This is a cloth of black magic words.'
Also pretty weird.
‘Alright, so let’s start’
American student Kathy is writing a book on a form of Indonesian black magic called leeyak,
and has decided that the best way is to actually learn it.
‘I’m surprised that a pretty girl like you would be interested in learning black magic’
Her local boyfriend Hendra offers to introduce her to a black magician,
'Maybe it wants to make sure, its presence is not seen by us.'
#evil muppet laugh#
‘I think I can recognise that laugh’
well you wouldn’t forget it,
‘That terrible laughter is the sign of the most terrible clan of them all’
and it’s infectious.
#Stupid laughter#
The leyak magician agrees to teach Kathy,
‘Let’s shake hands Katherine’
Ummm… Maybe just pound it out.
She asks them to return tomorrow.
#crazy muppet laughter#
'I've been waiting for you.'
‘Who are you?’
Who do you think it is? How many people do you know who sound as if Grover from Sesame Street has been committed to Arkham asylum?
‘Now I need blood’
Fortunately they have several bottles with them,
for the magician, now manifesting as a very long tongue.
'This is good blood.'
Next
‘Now I need you to take off your skirt’
There’s a serious casting couch problem in Indonesian magic,
‘I need to write the magic spell in a secret place’
Sure you do.
Again the witch tells Kathy to return the following night.
‘But be sure she wears the tapi’
The what?
‘The Tapi is an undergarment’
Met a man with a 12ft tongue in the woods in the middle of the night he asked me to take my skirt off then told me what underwear to put on, no red flags so far.
‘Well it is interesting but I’m afraid it’s all mumbo jumbo to me’
Sounds like a college prank to me.
How about that writing on your thigh?
‘I was just wondering if maybe you could read it?’
Okay…
buuuuhhhh
‘Hendra, come on, I’m sure you want to know it’s secret too don’t you’
Do I ever.
‘Yeah, I’m just trying to figure it out right now’
This scene is weirdly long.
‘You can come closer, so you can read it clearly’
Hendra, take the hint.
‘Hurry up, Hendra, before anyone comes here’
I’m not wrong; this is weird right?
‘Can you understand it, Hendra?’
Just give me another minute.
‘No’
People sometimes ask how we pick which films to do. Stuff like this.
‘I haven’t seen anything like this before’
That would explain a lot.
Then Hendra struggles to read the word.
‘Le- ak… ak’
So leyak. The thing you’ve spent the whole film talking about.
‘Leeyak!’
But it’s still not over.
‘Take a closer look, tell me what else you can figure out’
Damn it Hendra has the girl got to put down landing lights?
‘That’s enough’
‘Oh Okay’
Oh, I blew it. The next night Kathy’s lessons begin,
she learns the magic dance and…
How to turn into a pig.
But when she and Hendra talk the next day.
‘That ball of fire you told me you had destroyed could be yourself,
the fire goes out means someone has died somewhere’
We didn’t see that and it seems like a pretty important plot point.
‘Are you saying that I’ve killed another human being’
‘That’s right’
Who’d have thought black magic would end badly?
‘Hendra, this is turning into the most horrible nightmare’
But she still goes back the next night and…
‘I will have to borrow your head for a short time’
I’m sorry what?
This only seems weird because you haven’t seen what comes next,
for the record, floating heads eating newborn babies do feature in Indonesian folk tales.
Which is maybe why no one is surprised to see them.
Huh, that’s odd.
‘It seems that this thing was a flying head and the funny thing was that this flying head had light coloured hair’
Firstly; no it didn’t. Secondly; a flying head ate a baby and the weird thing was its hair?
There’s a lot of under-reacting in this film.
‘This’ll mean that I’m now a murderer’
‘Yeah’
Hendra watches Kathy and the witch transform into snakes,
the next day.
And Hendra says…
‘Kathy, what’s the matter with you?’
Firstly; you saw her become a snake, put the pieces together!
Secondly; the correct reaction when your girlfriend coughs up live mice is not; must be something you ate.
‘Perhaps it was the food last night that has made you so sick now’
Kathy is now lost to black magic and while her head is off,
a good magician tries to stop her.
Have some respect, that’s not an ash tray.
‘Yeah but don’t worry. Maybe Katherine’s being used by some evil supernatural forces now’
Does sound like something to worry about.
‘You must move on’
Plenty more fish in the sea.
The film’s climax is an epic magic duel,
with the good magician levitating,
and the evil one turning into a busty pig.
Normally with this type of story my reaction would be...
‘If we could understand it, it would be better’
But I don’t think it would. It’s fantastic as it is and its bafflingness is part of its bonkers charm.
‘It’s kind of weird isn’t it’
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Traditions in other cultures often seem weird to us, what are your favourite movies that use these cultural oddities? Let us know in the comments below.