Information about "Merantau"

05.08.2009EvilDollaR

There have been a huge number of films about martial arts over the past fifty years, but action films that use Silat are a real rarity. The only one of its kind was the Indonesian film directed by Gareth Evans “Merantau” or, as it is also called, “Merantau Warrior”, which premiered on August 6, 2009.

Here's a brief summary of the plot and the director's blog:

In the village of Minangkabau in West Sumatra, a young man named Yuda, a student of the Silat Harimau style, is in the final stages of preparation for “Merantau”. The meaning of this ancient ritual is that young people, upon reaching a certain age, should forget about all the amenities of an idyllic village and achieve success in the city of Jakarta.

After a series of failures, homeless and without any hope for the future, Yuda accidentally rescues the orphan Astri from a gang of European kidnappers led by the psychopathic Ratger and his assistant Luc.

Ratger, wounded in the battle, thirsts for bloody retribution and the return of the “living” goods. Yuda’s acquaintance with the city begins with a “baptism of fire” - he needs to hide from pursuit along with Astri and her younger brother Adit, and all the pimps and bandits inhabiting the streets of the night city follow on their heels.

Realizing that escape is futile, Yuda has no other choice - he must fight his enemies in an exciting and adrenaline-filled finale.

Information from director Gareth Evans' blog:

It's time for the next blog. I will try not to repeat what has already been said in the video. It’s a useless exercise to start rewriting everything again. I think it would be more interesting to talk about the fight choreography and what influenced this particular way of filming.

Ever since I first saw Armor of God in the mid-80s, I have always loved Jackie Chan's style of choreography. I don't think there is anyone else with the same level of understanding and application of the environment. Each corner can be used to avoid a blow, each piece of iron can be thrown at the enemy. Martial arts is often filmed in low key (the boat fight in Dragons Forever), but thanks to the editing, the short composition, the flow of ideas, movements and stunts, everything looks simply exciting. And then there was the fight in “Police Story” and my favorite battle with the monks in “Armor of God”.

There is a certain rhythm to the punches and blocks, and it feels like you are listening to music. It's like a percussion part. I wanted to do something similar with the choreography for “Merantau” and at the same time introduce everyone to military techniques and the variety of Silat in its purest form.

We worked on various situations, there are both mass fights and one-on-one fights in various locations. I'm not going to talk about what will happen there and with whom, and how it will all end, because I, like most people, also hate spoilers. You'll have to wait to see the details, but we captured a stunning 90-second cut-and-dry fight between two evenly matched fighters and a group fight showcasing holds and twists from Harimau Silat. The goal is simple - to make the viewer hold their breath until the end of each fight, while at the same time making them feel as if they are seeing something new with each fight. We tried to avoid repetitive movements, and Iko fought like a real person. I didn't want him to repeat some key movement 4 or 5 times in the film. Therefore, when they came up with scenes, they shouted in unison: “It already happened!” This way we made sure that everything was new and fresh.

It's quite interesting to see how rumors about our film spread. Members of forums on Indonesian cinema websites are trying to find out more and more news about it. All reviews through the feedback form were positive and full of hope that “Merantau” would become a stunning hit both for the audience and for the country as a whole. We are very pleased to receive such pleasant wishes and support. Filming will continue in less than a week and this will give us strength and energy to finish making the film.

Home » Articles » Information about "Merantau"
Tags: Merantau Warrior, Gareth Evans, Iko Uwais, Laurent Buson, Mads Coudal, Yayan Ruhian

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