This is a review for a movie called Merantau. I got the chance to watch its workshop not so long ago and got free tickets to Press Screening from it. My friend is even luckier (is he?), he got free tickets to the Gala Premier. I’m still waiting to hear from him. Lucky bastard hung out with celebrities (his take on the movie).

Okay, if you uninformed readers never heard about this movie, I suggest to take a look at that link above. I will jump right to the review without any introduction.

Plot/Story
The story is simple. I can’t talk much about it. It simply reminded me the story of my late grandfather (I don’t think he had the luxury of an address and money when he started his journey before his teens). What I really like is they really show the whole merantau tradition. They told it with his mother’s monologue, stories from his brother and Eric, and the scene where the whole village sends him off. They also told the audience a bit of silat philosophy. I think I should thank Bapak Bule again for not just picking the martial arts. Is it just me, or the last scene was really great. It made me accept the movie as it is.

Directing
Landscape exploited. They really took the advantage of Bukittinggi. Most outdoor scenes showed how beautiful the landscape is. My favorite was the Bukittinggi bus stop scene, when the camera slowly zooms out. The chasing scenes were pretty good. And I really respect the decision to take the fighting scenes wide-angle (and in one take IIRC). It’s definitely harder to pull off but this is the best approach if the fighters are numerous (IMO close up fighting is only applicable if it’s only a duel). I was quite surprised when they used a long take (the camera was a bit shaky though) on a scene where Eric walks to ‘malamar karajo‘ (that was the best line, caught me out of the blue).

Casts
Iko and Yayan were not actors before but did pretty good aside from the accent (but that’s okay, it is hard). Yusuf had the curious and innocent looks needed. Sisca was a bit loud and annoying, I guess that means her act was pretty convincing. Mats Koudal was perfect for the insensitive European clod. Laurent Buson still got his Shaolin moves. Alex was doing well as a pimp-wannabe. Donny didn’t have enough screen time. Christine Hakim got less scene time but still delivered great (my fave were Iko’s departure and the last scene).

Fight
It’s less flashy and more practical. You won’t see a somersault kick here. There were still choreographed maneuvers showed, but thankfully, not much (and for the observant, there are some ‘waiting times’). Overall, I’m pretty satisfied.

Music
I was too distracted. I only remembered opening music, the guitar and the violin(?), and some upbeat percussion during the action scene (it’s pretty much upbeat during the action scenes, but not limited to percussion).

Conclusion
For Indonesians, this is a must watch. We didn’t have action movie for so long (this one is drama-action). Thanks to the management who served me. For once, I thought I lost it for good.

I had the chance to watch Merantau movie workshop. It was on short notice as I read the promotion one day before (and I thought it was some kinda secret exclusive movie premiere). It was basically just meet and greet, trailer and confidential promo viewing.

I got to see the director (Mr Evans), the producer (Ario Sagantoro), main actors – I saw Iko, Yayan(the actor not the character) and the legendary Christine Hakim (so funny my friend didnt notice Iko and Christine Hakim by her side). This show was hosted by a popular host (I dont remember his name since I dont watch television) and he did a good job. They started of by showing some demo of silek harimau (Iko) and , this was the best part, they brought a silat expert (Ade) and the movie choreographer (Edwel Datuk Rajo Gampo Alam)!! Mr Ade explained the current exposure of silat worldwide including the rise of Vietnam di dunia persilatan. Mr Edwel gave a lot of info about silek harimau, how they were exclusively taught (originally silek harimau was the weapon of the king’s special guards).

Next, meet and greet. Iko was too shy (I feel sorry for the fan girls). Yayan told about his inability to smile (and the host cleverly made joke about this when a girl was about to get a souvenir from him). Mr Evans told about his interest in silat and how he finally decided to make this movie with the producer and Christine Hakim (and she ranted about current movie trends in this country and our appreciation for our own culture for a long time, mostly I agree with). Funny thing when the host asked Mr Evans to do some silat.

Mr Evans told us that most actors has martial background (like Iko with silat betawi, or Laurent Buson with shaolin!!). Aside from initial performance by Iko, we also got to watch silek demonstration in pair, Yayan with Iko and Mr Edwel with Iko (funny act by Iko at the end of demonstration).

I give an early thanks to Mr Evans for showing much interest in our culture. Hopefully this will make our current generation do the same and look for an exotic material of our own rather than foreign-made one. Maybe I should pick my saluang up again.

Well, to complete the experience. I got a lot of movie souvenirs and a ticket-for-two Merantau premiere. Now I need to find a date…

EDIT : I forgot to mention that Edwel Datuk Rajo Gampo Alam was the choreographer on Sengsara Membawa Nikmat. He made Sandy Nayoan cry.

this on imdb (LOL the board is so funny. mostly they talk by quoting the lyrics. the boards CONTAINS SPOILER!)

Okay this movie turned out to be a lot better than I expected.  It consists a lot of my favorite stuff. Crime, good music and dark comedy to name a few. So lets try to break it down.

Not usual musical

Be warned. Most musicals tend to stop the plot for the singing part(and dancing Bollywood style).  This movie is like opera or broadway musical, injecting the songs cleanly through the dialog. Characters start to sing suddenly but it timed perfectly with subtle background music.

Directing

Well I dont know much of directing. I can only say I love the camera works. It makes a simple scene looks beautiful. Tim decided to make this a lot more realistic so some people said it has less comedy than its original version.

Casts

Just great. Oh before I forget, today is one of the actor’s birthday! The actors are the reason why I wanted to watch this movie. Depp, Rickman, Bonham-Carter, Spall ( three of them also play  Harry Potter characters. What will happen if Thompson or Staunton got the part and played as Ms Lovett. Both are good actress, but I prefer Thompson), Borat, a kid with a good voice, old woman, and a young couple. Theres nothing much to say about most of them (known actors). They show their usual quality. I read on IMDB that Borat(yeah Im lazy to write his full name) sang an entire score on audition, and hired his barber as his coach. Bonham-Carter also took an extensive vocal lessons. If I have to choose my favorite character, It will be Ms Lovett by Bonham-Carter (the corpse-on-the-chest reaction was soo funny). All characters can sing pretty well (IMO).

Music and Lyric

Ah the one that made this ride excellent. So many great lyrics. Either it’s funny as hell, so witty , or both! Maybe theres alot more comedy on the lyrics that I dont get. I should watch this again. The movie used the original Sondheim music. Some songs didnt make it to the movie. Some got cut down. Now I am looking for these songs on the internet…they are must have. Memorable funny songs are The worst pies in London (syncophated singing while baking), miracle elixir(good voice by the kid), and meat-discussion song(the funniest and wittiest of all).

Plot

The plot is very simple but the conflicts were good. And since the lyrics was part of dialog, you dont have to wait for the song to finish to continue the plot since it never stops. I like the ending. I dont like put to much detail. It will ruin your experience.

Conclusion

If you like, or try to like opera/broadway this can be a good watch. Good music and good actors. I cant wait to watch Borat playing as Freddy Mercury.