‘Eat, Pray, Love’ Moves Film Production to Last “I”, Antagonizes the Balinese

Eat, Pray Love strikes again! In Bali! Now that the production of Elizabeth Gilbert‘s film adaptation has moved on to the final “I”, Indonesia, they are once again disturbing the peace. For a film about yoga and seeking inner truth, they sure know how to dig up a lot of dirt! The thing is, villagers of the town Balinese town Ubud are actually quite thrilled about the prospect of rising tourism, which the country thrives on as the largest economic contributor.

Besides that Ubud itself is getting 10 million rupiah, and basically the whole village is being paid as extras, up to 1 million rupiah each! (approx $105 US) Landowners are getting extra perks in rent fees for use in the film. So hurray, right? Not quite! A scuffle has erupted as some Ubudsters found out others are being paid more for their land. Chief of Ubud Village, Tjok Raka Kertiyasa, has had to step in and mediate the gripes explaining that it’s “about rights, not greediness.”

Fair enough, these people ought to be paid, dagnabbit. Apart from the money they’re also annoyed at the commands “to be quiet and stop everything they’re doing” while the cameras roll. Though maybe we would drop everything and gawk in a frozen yet sweaty state at the sight of Javier Bardem, the villagers of Ubud need their pay in cold hard cash. Hopefully this will all be cleared up soon so production can sally on to antagonizing Liz’s medicine man Ketut Liyer – one of the main supporting characters of course (and a real person*).

(video below shows the hotness, Javier Bardem, oh and the star Julia Roberts, and conveniently omits any mention of local disruption)

Here’s Ketut Liyer the Medicine Man, already a celeb and youtube sensation thanks to Eat, Pray, Love.

Earlier…‘Eat, Pray, Love’ Crew Crashes Hindu Festival, Bans Worshipers from Ashram

‘Eat, Pray, Love’ Controversy: India’s Watchful Eye on Accuracy, Julia’s Scrubbing Skills