Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown (2013–2018): Season 12, Episode 3 - Indonesia - full transcript

[mysterious exotic music]

[man singing
in foreign language]

♪

- The warrior Bhima

is tricked into
a fool's errand.

- [singing in foreign language]

- He seeks his parents
in heaven.

They are not there.

Instead, he finds them
in hell.

♪

He offers his parents
the elixir of life,



yet they refuse.

They accept the fruits
of their karma.

♪

This being their final test,

they ascend to heaven.

- [vocalizing]

- The story of Bhima Swarga
teaches us that heaven

and hell are allegories.

Not truths.

Life is cyclical,

and so is death.

- [vocalizing]

♪

[upbeat rock music]



both: ♪ I took a walk
through this ♪

♪ Beautiful world

♪ Felt the cool rain
on my shoulder ♪

♪ Found something good
in this ♪

♪ Beautiful world

♪ I felt the rain
getting colder ♪

- ♪ La, la
- ♪ Sha la, la, la, la

♪ Sha la, la, la, la

- ♪ Sha la, la, la
- Sha la, la, la, la ♪

♪ Sha la, la, la, la, la

[motor putting]

[curious music]

♪

[dishes clattering]

[indistinct chatter]

♪

- [speaking native language]

- The sign says "The Big Bang."

- [continues speaking
in foreign language]

♪

- Okay, so when the world was--
when the universe was created,

um, the universe is like
an egg...

- Eggs.
- That broke.

- Yes.
- Okay?

From the shell...
- Yes.

- Is this fellow here.
He's called [indistinct].

- Yes.
- From the yellow...

- Yes.
- The yolk...

- [speaking native language]
- The--the teacher...

- Yes.
- [speaking native language]

- The teacher.
- And then they put

the white...
- And the white of the egg

is Semar.

- [speaking native language]

- Semar?
- Yes.

- Is to accompany the good.

So this is to accompany
the bad, the demon.

This is to accompany the good.

- So the philosophy is,
without this,

there is no this.

Without this,
there is not this.

- There is no right
without wrong.

There is no dark without light,

but each interconnects.

- Yes.
- That is the main philosophy.

You know, the existence comes

from the same egg.

[dramatic percussive music]

♪

- [singing in foreign language]

- For a thousand years,
the Wayang--

or shadow play--
has been entertainment

for both mortals and the gods.

♪

In the shadow world,

everything has its opposites.

- [singing in foreign language]

- At worth within every man
are forces both divine

and animalistic.

- [vocalizing]

- The philosophy
of the shadow play

is to strive for balance.

You cannot kill the dominant
animal urges within.

You must harness them,

yet not be controlled by them.

- [man vocalizing]

♪

Shadows that manifest
on-screen

are more than mere relief.

As they come alive,
timeless tales

interspersed with
subversive stories

bring the world of gods,
monsters, and heroes

into sync with current
social commentary.

♪

- [singing in foreign language]

♪

- Indonesia is--
correct me if I'm wrong--

it's the fourth largest
country in the world.

- The fourth largest,
but we are

the third largest democracy.

17,00 islands.

The majority
of the population--60%--

live on Java.

- And how many people
in Jakarta?

- Greater Jakarta,
there's around 25 million.

- 25 million?
- 25--

that's the greater area.

♪

- What should the rest
of the world know

about the fourth-largest
country in the world

that they don't know?

Because, let's face it,

I think if you asked
most people who are--

who are gonna watch this show,
"Tell me something

about Indonesia,"
you'll get a total blank.

- Indonesia,
we are very, very diverse

because even before Islam came,

the locals,
they had their own traditions.

They have their own culture.
- [speaking native language]

Tolerance...
- The tolerance...

The tolerance, uh, the--
the attitude of tolerance--

religion tolerance--
uh, that drop in our country.

- Uh, the--the level
of tolerance is declining.

- Yes, but in the food...

- Basically, food is
a great unifier.

- Right.
- You see?

Especially in the...
- You may speak poorly

of another region--
"Oh, they're terrible people

over there, but their food
is good."

- Yep.
They say that if

you really want to know
and try every single dish

in Indonesia, you have
to live here for 40 years.

- 40 years.
- You need to stay here

for a long time,

because every single area

has its own specialty.

[rousing percussive music]

♪

Padang food--
this is from West Sumatra.

If we talk about fast food,
this is the fastest food.

I mean, this is way before

this genre of fast-foot
exist in the world.

♪

As you sit down,
they come up with

all the dishes,
and the concept is

you choose what you want
to eat, and you only pay...

- Right.
- For what you want to eat.

Here is...
- [speaking native language]

- It's lungs.
Fried lungs.

- Lung, lung.
both: Fried lungs.

- This is an
intestine goulash,

and this--basically the skin.

- Deep fried fat and skin,
yep.

Oh, I like that.

- Of course this is rendang.

We're very fond of our rendang.

And what makes Padang food
very special

is the spice.
- Yes.

- The spice and the chili.

♪

- So good.

- Yeah, you like rendang?
- I do.

I could eat that all day.

♪

So, I--I wanted to ask,

the traditional Indonesian
shadow play...

how does one learn?

How did you, uh,
learn your art?

- All shadow-puppet masters...
[speaking native language]

- Yes, it's all, you know,
passed on from generation

to generation.
- So your father did this

as well.

And as I understand it,
traditionally...

the puppet-master was allowed

a certain latitude to...

tease, provoke,

or openly mock the powerful.

How far can you go?

- It's a bit like
in the court jester...

- Right.
- Where the court jesters

are expected...

you know,
to make people laugh,

but at the same time
it's an opportunity also

to criticize...
- Mm-hmm.

- Without getting...

punished for it.

But at the same time, there is
a philosophical level to it...

- Mm-hmm.
- To make the people aware

of certain dangers...
- Aware that...

[speaking native language]

- Yeah, so to make
the people aware that truth...

- Mm-hmm.
- And wrong-doings is--

it's actually not
black and white.

They interconnect.

[dramatic percussive music]

- [speaking native language]

- Watch the shadows,

not the puppets.

The right in constant struggle

with the left.
- [singing in foreign language]

- Forces of light
and darkness

in an endless fight
for supremacy.

Neither prevailing.

- [singing in foreign language]

- What is good?

What is evil?

Who is the hero?

Who is the villain?

What is up or down?

Black or white?

What is right or wrong?

In shadow-play,

no such final conclusion
exists.

♪

[upbeat rock music]

[mysterious percussive music]

♪

[cars honking, sirens wailing]

♪

[food sizzling]

♪

[cars honking]

♪

[fish sizzling]

[band playing
rousing foreign music]

♪

[boys cheering]

♪

[boys cheering, singing
in foreign language]

♪

- [exclaiming]

♪

- I think we have to wait
for the music...

[indistinct]
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

♪

"Hey, a lot of foreigners.

Lot of--lot of money."
[laughs]

- [laughs]
I think we're paying them

to not play music.
- [laughing]

Yeah, right, right.

♪

- So you teach here.

Uh, you were educated
in the States?

- Yes, yeah.
I got my second full ride

when I was teaching
as a Scholar-In-Residence

at the University
of California.

- And your subject was
the Nixon years.

The--during that period.
- Yeah, yeah.

After World War II.

- You are also a--
a man of the cloth.

A man of faith.
- [laughing]

- Uh, so the right man
to talk to.

We've been
largely advised that...

[stammering]

We will make people
uncomfortable

if we even discuss
the year 1965.

- [laughing]
The--the year

of living dangerously.
- The year

of living dangerously.
- Yeah.

What happened was, basically
the Communists were accused

of launching a coup
against the government,

and because of that
there was kind of

a justification
for killing people

who were suspected
of being Communists.

- And who were they?

- They're just villagers
or people who...

in a very bad way
associated with

or connected with the
Indonesian Communist Party.

- Right.

[crowd chanting
in foreign language]

- Indonesia boasts one
of the world's

most bizarre leaders.

Then, three weeks ago,
the Communists staged a coup.

But it misfired,
and the army struck back.

Michael Charlton reports.

- Indonesia's revolution
is still fiercely on the boil

as the systematic round-up
of Communists goes on.

- With its leaders either
captured or killed,

the Communist force collapsed.

- The army led a hunt
for party officials,

slaughtering the largest
Communist party

outside the Iron Curtain.
- General Suharto

has taken advantage
of the passion stirred

to try and swing
public opinion hard against

their rivals.

The army now control
all news and information.

[dramatic music]

♪

- The actual number
who were killed were between

half-a-million to one million.

And many more were imprisoned,

tortured, and things like that.

- Is it in the interests
of, uh--

uh, Indonesians

to be fully aware

of what happened in '65?

Has Indonesia as a country
reconciled itself

to those events?

- Is there eagerness to know?

Yes, there is.

There are people who--
many people.

At the same time,
there was also fear.

So many people,
they kept silent to...

avoid their family members
being implicated.

So yes, there is a lot
of eagerness,

but at the same time
there a lot of fear.

- Yeah.

- And so the real
political situation is...

- More complicated.
- Yeah, more complicated.

[hypnotic sitar music]

♪

[car honks]

♪

- What about everyday life
thrills you here?

You wake up in the morning
and walk outside...

- Well, you cannot meet
nicer people, Tony.

I mean everyone treats
everyone else

with respect and kindness.

It's engrained
in the culture here.

- [speaking native language]
- You just still see

certain things here that are
just gone in other countries.

You know, you still
have got people

grilling sauté on the street...

You've got people
wheeling around

sort of wooden carts
that have gone elsewhere.

At the same time,
you've got 16 million people

who have smart phones
all on social media,

and, you know,
that's opening up

massive opportunities.

To be a journalist here now
is just, uh, privilege.

[indistinct chatter]

[mellow music]

[indistinct chatter]

♪

- Yeah, is this--
so is this the, uh,

unofficial, uh,
foreign correspondents club?

- It is.
- Very much so.

- Yes indeed, yeah.
- How long you been

living here?
- Most of 18 years.

- How long you been living...
- Uh, I've had two stints.

I'm about six years.

Yeah, so I count back.
- Same, I've done two stints.

- So how are things going?

I mean, this--this is
a Democracy now, yes?

- Oh, it is.
- I've always called it

a microcosm of--of all
the good and bad

in the world, 'cause Indonesia
has everything.

Democracy, it has pollution;

it has environmental
degradation;

it's got human rights abuses.

There's a lot
of problems here,

but one of the great things
going on is these elections

are free and fair,
and everybody knows it.

- A popular president,

relative peace in the land.

Free speech?
- Oh, absolutely.

- But there--there are
two subjects that

there is a real reluctance
to talk about or reconcile,

and it's kind of weird.

The years 1965

and 1975--

there isn't much appetite
to look at that.

Why?
- For reputational reasons...

- Yeah.
- Uh, as much as anything,

but also potentially
legal reasons as well,

so the--the two main
perpetrators of the--

of the massacre
were the military

and the mass Islamic groups.

[crowd shouting]

Um, the groups who are
moderate these days

but at that time
and with that hysteria

they were involved in this

kind of brutal pogrom.

This was sort of
hand-to-hand,

slitting throats,
garroting people,

burying them in mass graves--

very nasty, nasty stuff.

And then the second reason is,

there was an intensive campaign
of propaganda.

which portrayed this, uh,

massacre as a--
as a honorable attempt

by Suhato to put down
a Communist coup.

- Is it even useful
for Indonesians

to look at that
extraordinarily...

painful...

awful period of time?
- We journalists write--

you know, you gotta believe

allowing these stories
to be told is--

you know, is gonna be
to the good.

- You know, I don't know.

I want to believe that,
I really do.

I do believe that,
but certainly

the West doesn't much want
to talk about it.

- No.
- [laughing]

- We were...
- Culpable.

[laughs]
- But yes, we were--

we were in deep.

But what is it--
Henry Kissinger walks

into a bar--
it sounds like a joke.

- [laughs]

- Henry Kissinger and a penguin
walk into a bar.

Uh, I'm not asking
what you'd do,

but what would--

would it displease you
if I walked over

and punched Henry Kissinger
in the face?

- [laughs]
- Would you find that

entertaining?
- I--I would.

- Would you have a frisson
of pleasure, even?

Would you feel injustice is--

is in some small way served?
- [laughs]

You hate Henry.
- I--I hate him, yeah.

Because in my travels,
I stumble across

his good works
everywhere I go.

- Right.

Let's do this.
[laughs]

- I'll rabbit-punch.
[all laughing]

- No, kidney punch.
- Cheers.

- Cheers, guys.

[indistinct chatter]

[plane engines roaring]

- Java is Indonesia's
seat of power,

but this home to millions
is just one

of seemingly countless islands
across the archipelago.

[adventurous music]

Bali endures as an island
of legends.

Of magic and spirits.

Where ancient
Animist traditions

bled with Hindu
and Buddhist beliefs.

♪

Ceremonies and offerings
are an attempt

to bring harmony between
the upper world of the gods

and the lower world
of the demons...

[instrument rings]

With man balanced in between.

[crowd shouting]

♪

- [speaking native language]

[exclaims]

♪

- Who is the hero?

Who is the villain?
[crowd shouting]

Who decides what is
right or wrong?

♪

Bali is as much an island
of the gods

as it is the demons.

[engines roaring]

[tropical music]

♪

[whistle blowing]

[indistinct chatter]

[whistle blowing]

♪

[rousing pop music]

♪

[man vocalizing]

♪

- ♪ Feel the music

♪

♪ Can you feel the mu--

♪

- [imitating heavy beat]

[slurps]

I hate Daft Punk.

[men cheering]

♪

Do you have a shot
of the, uh, people

getting, uh, massages
by the pool while eating?

♪

This is an Emmy-winning shot,
dude.

It's happening
right over there.

♪

- ♪ Yo

- So this, too, is Bali,
I guess.

Or it is now.

Thank you, Jimmy Buffet,
for taking a big dump

on the world.

[smacks lips, sighs]
Another wagyu slider,

my good man.
- [indistinct]

- Yes, thank you.

By weight, how much human waste

is generated by your average...

person on vacation?

Look around you.

Do the math.

[lighthearted music]

I want a water sample.

♪

I'm telling you,

the fecal coliform count

has got to be interesting.

[overlapping chatter]

I'm sure there's
a metaphor here.

[slurping]

[men chattering, cheering]

[all laughing]

- Oh!
[all laughing]

- Am I bitter?

Am I just old?

Do I just have, like,
a predisposition,

an instinctive hatred
of young people?

Perhaps.

[smacks lips]
Enjoy the moment.

The words of Baba Ram Dass,

"Be here now."

But I am here now.

[man laughing]

♪

I--I'm not actually
having sliders.

♪

I mean, you eat those
[...] things.

♪

[upbeat rock music]

[distant engine revving]

[gentle percussion]

♪

[man speaking indistinctly]

♪

- People who've seen
"Eat Pray Love"...

who were inspired
to come to Bali...

♪

And do yoga...

♪

They have a romantic notion.

♪

They want to improve

their lives in a...

♪

Physical and spiritual way.

♪

They would like to have
and experience...

that they can remember.

[indistinct chatter]

You mention Bali
and people think "paradise."

both: Of course.

[ambient music]

[rousing music]

♪

- Oh, wow.
- Thank you.

Oh, here they come.

The babi guling.
- Oh, yeah.

I remember this dish.

I love it, of course.

- Maybe we can just talk
really quickly about the food?

No, I--I'll get it in a VO,

'cause I've had it before.

We don't need to talk
about this food

'cause I know it
very, very well.

I will speak incredibly
knowledgably of it

in voice-over.
Trust me.

- You've been here before,
right?

- I have been here
I think 11 years ago,

and it was a very
different-looking place

even then, 11 years ago.
- 11 years is too long.

- Yes.
- [laughs]

- How did you get into
the yoga business?

Did you anticipate it was--
it would become so big,

or did it start small?
- Not really, honestly.

It was when the "Eat Pray
and Love" was shooting

in the island.

[man speaking indistinctly]

[serene music]

- So tell me how many
customers you do in a day.

- 300 to 400 people.

- That's a big increase.
- It's--it's really huge.

'Cause you see the traffic,
how crazy it is.

- It is crazy.
- [laughing]

Dealing with the traffic.

- I mean, it's worse
than Manhattan.

[cars honking]

- Uh, right now that--
we have two big problem

right now.

First is waste,

second is traffic.

♪

Is the tourism bad?

Yes, it have its bad side.

Is the tourism good?
Yes, of course.

Right?

What is Bali?

What is Bali and its people?

What is Bali and its culture?

What part of this
could be supported

by the people who come
to Bali?

What kind of people
do we want to come to Bali?

[inquisitive marimba music]

♪

- I think you've kind of
put your finger

on something that a lot
of people have not.

Because you don't want
to just do yoga--

you wanna do yoga
in reasonable distance

of this.

♪

Of these temples.

♪

If you come to Bali
and it looks

exactly like Cancún

and Miami, why the [...]

get on a plane
all the way to Bali?

♪

[adventurous music]

♪

- This one the three
most piratical places

on the planet.

It's pretty safe around here,
now.

It wasn't to be
in the early days

when we were filming here.

You first arrived
in Indonesia in '65, right?

- That's right,
but it was pretty--

pretty hairy, then.

- Given that you arrived
at absolutely

the worst possible time...
- Yep.

- What was it about the place
that, uh, compelled you

to come back?
- Uh, unexplored regions,

tropical animals,
ancient civilizations,

long memory amongst the people,
mysticism.

Everything a school-boy
would obviously love.

[wind blowing]

[pulley squeaking]

- Your, uh, training--

correct me if I'm wrong--
psycho-anthropology?

- Yes.
- Now, are there...

through-lines, or is there

any connectivity
between belief systems?

- They're different,
but they're all united

by a common theme--
that they believe

in the reality
of the invisible world.

They believe it's stronger
than what we think

is the reality.

You know, what we can touch
and measure and weigh.

They would all share the belief
that this is illusion.

That this is only the surface

of another, greater reality
beneath it.

In that,
they're fairly constant.

[mystical music]

♪

This is Nusa Penida.

This was a penal colony
for Bali.

They put their criminals here.
- Right.

- And they also believe
that it is the home

of the Leyaks--
the witches,

the black magicians.

♪

- [speaking native language]

♪

- This island has not
been invaded, uh, like Bali.

- No, it hasn't.

♪

- Hey, there's a bachelor party
going on there.

- [laughing]

- Oh, no.

Just messing with you, man.

Wow, beautiful.

[upbeat rock music]

[waves crashing]

[mellow music]

♪

[food sizzling]

♪

- Wow.
- That's, uh--

that's some big lobsters.
- These have to be

the biggest local lobsters
I've ever seen.

♪

- Wow.

♪

In the West, we tend
to think of things

in a binary way.

There's good and evil,

life, death.

You've seen every variety
of human behavior...

uh, in this part of the world.

Always a notion
of light and dark,

good and evil...

just not absolute ones?

- Uh, you know, we call Bali

"the island of the gods."

That's a sort of slogan
for the tourism industry,

but it's equally
an island of the demons,

I mean, I--I've always
found useful, in anthropology,

this concept of the left
and right cranial hemispheres.

- Right.
- The left is the thing

that we are over-dominant in
in the West,

handles the rational,
practical, consecutive thought.

Here, it's
the opposite imbalance.

It's the other way round.

The right is the intuitive,
holistic,

access to everything
we've ever been,

access to our genetic...
- That's our right brain.

- Memory.
Exactly.

- So they know stuff
we don't know?

- They definitely know stuff
we don't know.

[gentle percussive music]

♪

- Given all the time
you've spent in Indonesia,

do you experience life
differently,

or in any way similarly

to the people here
look at it?

- No, I don't think I do see it
the way people here see it.

I like to think that I can see
what it is

that they're seeing,
as it were

but I've got
a broader perspective.

Course, I'm a Westerner,

and a foreigner
in a strange land.

I'll never be considered
an Indonesian.

I--I'm enriched
by being here,

because there's
a greater variety

of human experience
going on here.

- Yeah, tell me about
the funerals,

'cause I--
we were attending one.

- Y-y-you are?
You will be?

- Yes.

- Well, a Balinese funeral

is a very sobering phenomenon,

especially for us Westerners,

who distance ourselves
from death.

- Mm-hmm.

- They spend quite
a long time

doing these
beautiful offerings,

all of it
to up in flames.

- Ah.

- So it's ephemeral art,

and the idea is that
we, too, are ephemeral,

and, uh, this is why it's
quite an extraordinary thing

that you actually
light the match

that consumes
your loved one,

but it's in your face...

- Mm-hmm.
- That we are not our bodies,

because they really believe
in an afterlife.

They really believe
that you will be coming back,

and you will be joining
your ancestors in the meantime.

It may be wrong,
but it's wonderful

to be able to believe that,

and to derive all the warmth

and strength and benefit of it.

Is this all human poetry,

or is there something in it?

- Yeah, I wonder.
I mean, I thought about,

you know, as one does...

- [laughs] Yeah.
- You know, how I want to go.

How do you want to go?

- I'd be burned.

I can handle cremation.
- You want a party?

I mean...
- Oh, I'd rather a party, yes.

- You would?
- How about you?

You want them all to cry,
don't you?

[laughs]
- No, no.

Leave me in the jungle.

- Okay.
- I don't want a party.

Um...
- Okay.

- "Reported dead."

- Okay.

- You know,
what actually happens

to my physical remains

is of zero interest to me...
- Doesn't matter.

- Unless it can provide
entertainment value.

Throw me
into a wood chipper

and spray me into Harrods,
you know,

at, uh, middle
of the rush hour.

- [laughs]
- That would be pretty epic.

I wouldn't mind
being remembered in that way.

[upbeat rock music]

[energetic percussive music]

- [speaking native language]

- Wayang

is not necessarily

entertainment
for the people.

Most of the time,
it's performed

for the unseen.

♪

[bell ringing]

That's why
it's a shadow play.

It's also
for the shadow world.

♪

Balinese have
a lot of magical thinking.

Often, we believe that

what happens in the real world
is a consequence

of what is happening
in the shadow world.

That's why
there's so much offerings

and appeasements.

Every day,
we make offerings:

love notes,
thank-you notes,

left around to the spirits,
saying,

"Thank you for keeping
everything in balance."

[rooster crows]

So today is the final rites
of the human.

Once the ashes
are scattered to the sea,

then begin the rites
of the spirit.

- So who will attend
the funeral today?

- The family, of course,

but cremations in Bali

are very much
a communal affair,

so the village runs it.

It's not just the family.
- Right.

[all chanting, bell ringing]

♪

People's attitudes

towards the passing of a life,

towards death,

funerals, wakes,

different here
than in the West.

- Very much so.
- No weeping

and rending of garments.
- There's--there is

a lot of...
- There is?

- It's--

at the bathing ceremony
of the body,

that is when
the mournful event

becomes a joyous occasion.

- Right,
but the funeral itself...

- Is a joyous occasion,

especially the cremation.
It's a big send-off.

It's a big party
to send a spirit

to the afterlife.

- We are not talking
about the end.

- No.

Life is cyclical.

It's very much a circle.

- So this is something
to be happy about.

- Yes, definitely.

[lively percussion]

♪

[cheering]

♪

The priest
is throwing out rice,

along with money.
- Oh, we're--

- And essentially,
this action

is to confuse
and misdirect

the spirits that might try to--

try to follow the...

[cheering, shouting]

♪

- Love the sound.
It's beautiful.

- So--
- The gamelan.

- It reverberates
throughout your body,

and the idea
is that that noise

shatters the illusion

between the seen
and the unseen worlds.

♪

[shouting]

♪

[chanting]

♪

[droning sound]

[upbeat metallophone music]

- The state of mind
is very important

for your next journey.

♪

This is where you frame
that big send-off

to the next life,

and of course,

that journey is the--
the mystery,

the unknown,
because eventually,

the soul
will be reincarnated

back here.

♪

[upbeat rock music]

[metallophone music]

♪

- [speaking native language]

♪

- The shadow play story
of Bhima Swarga

is often told as part
of funerary rites

for many reasons.

Heaven and hell
are allegories,

not truths.

Heaven and hell exist

right here,
on the mortal plane.

♪

No tears should be shed

during the cremation ceremony.

Tears only hold back
the soul of the departed.

At sundown,
ashes will be released,

returned to the purity
of the sea.

Time is circular,
as is life.

Death is but the beginning

of another journey.

[woman singing]

♪

[light rock music]

♪

[bell music]

♪

[speaking native language]

[gentle music]

♪

- All stories
should end on a beach.

All the good ones do, anyway.

Why should this one
be any different?

♪