A Film about the Life and Death of the
116-year-old Balinese Master-Artist.
A co-production of the Australian Broadcasting Commission and the Australian
National University. With special assistance from the Bushell Trust and
Rosemary Foot.
56 minutes, 16mm, colour, optical sound.
Produced, Co-Directed (with Lorne Blair), scripted and researched by
John Darling.
SYNOPSIS:
In April 1978, in a village situated in the fertile central hills of
Bali, the island's greatest living artist died at the age of 116. Lempad's
longevity was cause enough for wonder, but the magnificent body of art and
architecture that he left behind is a greater tribute to an unusual man.
He lived his creative life through the most traumatic century of Balinese
history.
LEMPAD OF BALI tells the story of this remarkable person against the
background of the island's changing fortunes over the past one hundred years.
It begins by showing him just before his death and then follows the elaborate
preparations for his cremation and the consequent release by fire of his
spirit into the next world. A wide selection of Lempad's work is shown including
the drawings, paintings, sculpture and architecture which have enriched
the cultural life of Bali. As a counterpoint to the art, the story of the
island itself is given through the use of archive film and photographs,
including the several waves of invasions that it has experienced, occupation
by the Dutch and the Japanese and, in more recent times, by international
tourists.
 Back to Top
|