[MOVIE REVIEW] Jamojaya: Family Struggles and the Music Industry

Warning: This review may contain spoilers of the movie.

Justin Chon is back as Director and Writer for his new movie, Jamojaya. He is joined by Indonesian rapper Brian Imanuel (aka Rich Brian) and actor Yayu A.W. Unru. This movie portrays the tension of a father-son relationship and the trauma behind losing a family member. Jamojaya shows both sides of this relationship through the eyes of the father/manager Joyo (played by Yayu A.W. Unru) and the son/artist James (played by Brian Imanuel/Rich Brian).

Prince Jamojaya

The movie starts off with an interview in Indonesian where both James and Joyo are speaking about James’ career. Right from the start we can see the tension between father and son without knowing the reasoning. It then transitions into the folklore/legend of Prince Jamojaya who ultimately becomes a Banyan tree. His brother who adores him begs to become a bird to search for his brother. Unfortunately, this story ends as a tragedy as these two species are unable to communicate. The legend revolves around Prince Jamojaya attempting to call to his brother to tell him he’s perched on him and his brother unable to hear or recognize him.

This is Joyo’s favorite story and his two sons are named after these brothers: Jaya and James. As the story evolves, we hear a lot about Jaya as we learn he died in a plane crash on his way to James in Los Angeles in the place of Joyo. Joyo is James’ former manager who is an up and coming rapper that moved to America alone as a teenager. In present day, we see James in Hawaii struggling with a new record label after being successful in Indonesia. Joyo then decides to head to Hawaii as he knows that James needs him for his music career.

Emotional Turmoil

Throughout the movie, we see both father and son tip-toe around each other as they both feel guilt towards Jaya’s death, as well as, resentment towards each other. Towards the end of the movie, we see the big fight between James and Joyo as they finally explode and let these feelings out. Sadly, this causes even more turmoil in their daily lives with Joyo wanting to give up on life and James lashing out on the record label who won’t listen to what he really wants. Eventually, the last event brings them back together in mutual need for the other.

The movie definitely felt a little slow during parts but some of it also feels intentional so that the viewer has time to dissolve the heavy emotions of the scene. The strip club scene especially seemed unnecessarily long as the point was taken midway through. Personally, the scenery in the movie was probably my favorite part as they often showed the area with the Banyan tree which reminded us about the folklore/legend in the beginning. Overall, the narratives and emotions behind Jamojaya are clearly depicted to the audience. The emotions of need, embarrassment, anger, guilt, resentment, etc were all bottled into 90 minutes. Also, for any Rich Brian fans who watch this movie, you’ll be glad to hear some of his music throughout the movie. Which songs do you hear?

Check out this movie at the 39th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. Tickets available HERE.

Jamojaya

Regal 12- Regal LA Live, 1000 W Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90015

May 12, 2023 at 7:30PM