by Perry Seibert
synopsis
Nia diNata's epic drama A Courtesan is framed by the story of a daughter leaning about her mother. Giok Lan (Ninik L. Karim) decides to find out more abut her deceased mother, Tinung (Lola Amaria). Giok discovers that Tinung was encouraged to become a courtesan by her aunt (Lulu Dewayanti). She becomes deeply involved with businessman Tan Peng Liang (Ferry Salim), who causes a scandal when he has Tinung move in with his family. Eventually Tan is ruined when his rivals begin to attack him. A Courtesan was screened at the 2003 Palm Springs Film Festival.
