Air Mata di Ujung Sajadah, like Monday First Screening, is a cutesy movie that exerts itself to make you weep. "Aww" is the only reaction these films want from their audience. Complexity is sacrificed for simplicity. Everything is painted with broad strokes, so everything looks generic. The scenes are shot through a teary lens and carefully calculated for cheap emotional manipulations. Air Mata di Ujung Sajadah features a children's performance that shamelessly mines treacly sentiments. Such tasteless tricks make you truly uncomfortable.
The movie - directed by Key Mangunsong and written by Titien Wattimena, Ummu Amalia Misbah, and Muthiah Khairunnisa - displays its simple-minded approach from the beginning itself. Aqilla's (Titi Kamal) mother tells Aqilla that she should break up with her boyfriend, an artist named Arfan (Krisjiana Baharuddin) because he is not very rich and artists don't earn a lot of money. The mother is practical: She knows love alone is insufficient. You need cash to run a family. Aqilla, though, has a romantic viewpoint: She is a college student who believes love is the only important thing required in a relationship. Aqilla's mother is absolutely right. But Air Mata di Ujung Sajadah shows her with shades of villainy. She exists in a gray area, but the movie merely sees things in black and white.
This rational mother, however, takes an inexplicably dumb step by giving her daughter's baby to a married couple, Yumna (Citra Kirana) and Arif (Fedi Nuril). Her logic: Aqilla is not ready to be a mother. She wants her to continue with her studies. There is some amount of goodwill in this decision, but then again, the mother, before dying, confesses in front of her daughter that her son is alive and that this secret has been burdening her for a long time. Huh. Wouldn't it have been better if the movie had actually shown us the mother's mental suffering? The filmmakers, though, don't want to go into complex territories. They dump heavy psychological views on the screen through sloppy lines. Aqilla's mother feels guilty, so the movie can move on to the next point. It's just a lazy way of putting Aqilla in front of her child.
The movie asks whether an adoptive parent can take the place of the biological parent. Aqilla brings Baskara into this world, but Yumna and Arif feed him, and educate him. The kid has spent more years with his adoptive parents and not a single second with his real mother. In such a situation, how much right does Aqilla have on her child? Also, would it be correct if Yumna and Arif hid Baskara from his biological mother? These are not easy questions, and to its credit, the movie gives us an uneasy scene where Aqilla, in front of Yumna and Arif, tells Baskara to refer to her as mommy. Yet, the problem in these portions comes from the movie's perspective. We always root for Aqilla instead of feeling split, even when Yumna and Arif have good reasons to be afraid of Aqilla's presence. Arif and family look like villains, while we are placed on Aqilla's side.
Still, two scenes take you by surprise through their subtle and strong discharge of powerful emotions. When Baskara asks Aqilla to draw a house, he tells her to include rooms for his mother, father, maid, and Arif's mother. You expect a mushy reaction from Aqilla at this point, but she gently smiles and continues drawing. She understands that after years of absence, she cannot just suddenly become an important part of her child's life. Air Mata di Ujung Sajadah always tries to move you emotionally, yet it's the casual moments like the one where Yumna wipes Baskara's face with her hand and the one where everybody takes a selfie that proves to be affecting. The rest of the film, unfortunately, hits you with schmaltzy bullet points. It makes sense that the English translation of the title - according to Google Translate - is "Tears at the Edge of the Prayer Rug." Tears are what the movie wants from its audience.
Final Score- [3.5/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
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Publisher at Midgard Times