[Recently I had to consider whether the fact that I am involved in the Indonesian action film Merantau disqualifies me from writing this review - I was helping them with international sales and festival planning, and am currently working with director Garret Evans on international pre-production movie versions - but guess what? Fuck it all. I'm involved with the film because of the sheer talent of everyone involved, and if you want my biased opinion on it, then so be it. But my attitude towards him will not change, regardless of whether I worked with them or not.]
“Merantau” had the honor of being screened at the closing ceremony of the PiFan Film Festival 2009. It is the first Indonesian martial arts film to be made in about fifteen years, and quite possibly the very first action film to make full use of the indigenous martial art of Silat. Work on the full Indonesian version of the film, which is two hours and thirteen minutes, was completed just a few days before the festival premiere, and, most likely, this particular screen version will be the only one shown outside Indonesia.
In her screen debut, Iko Yuwais plays the role of Yuda, a village youth from Sumatra who will soon have to perform his “Merantau” - a ritual that has been followed for generations (and even to this day). According to this tradition, young men would find themselves in the big city, learn new things and adapt to their new surroundings, and then eventually return home, thereby enriching the local community with their new knowledge and worldview. The young man, full of hope and optimism, soon after his arrival realizes how cold and harsh the city can be. The house in which he was supposed to live was destroyed, and the people who rented it disappeared, most likely, along with all his money paid for rent. Completely alone, not knowing anyone in the city and afraid to ask for help from home because of the shame his family would be subjected to, Yuda was forced to find temporary shelter at a local construction site, which is a bad place to start a journey. And everything got worse and worse. The next morning he was robbed by a boy, whose pursuit led him straight to a fight with the owner of a nightclub and extortion of money from one of the dancers. This was Yuda's introduction to the seedy backstreets of Jakarta, and his intervention would lead him down a path of increasing violence.
“Merantau”, filmed simply superbly, begins very slowly and measuredly. If it weren't for Yuda's initial demonstration of Silat and his sparring match with his teacher, the film's development could easily be mistaken for an ordinary family drama. For Evans and his team, family relationships and dynamics are very important. Much of the film focuses on Yuda's life in Sumatra before his arrival in Jakarta - the energy and pervasive realism of the big city contrasts sharply with the simpler life at home.
The beginning of the film may require a bit of patience from the audience, but once the action starts, it gets fast and hard. The first hour teases everyone with the aforementioned showpiece sequences, a chase scene and Yuda's first skirmish with local bandit Johnny, and then, in the second half, they serve up the “full stuffing” - the final seventy minutes captivate with truly non-stop energetic scenes, rich in action sequences. The fights are very varied. They were designed to show different aspects of Yuda's skills, deftly balancing technical fighting with a dash of Jackie Chan-style improvisation and heavy-handed footwork. Silat, at least the variant presented here, is an unusual combination of hard and soft martial arts styles, changing the direction of movement of the hands during strikes with elbows and knees, and Evans films his fights with wide long shots, trying to demonstrate to everyone how the fighting style itself is, as well as his obvious movie star prowess.
And this, in turn, leads us straight to Iko Yuwais as Yuda. The skill of debutant actor Yuwais, who has studied Silat for more than fifteen years, can hardly be doubted, especially after the producers released training videos from the set showing preparations for the film. The question was what kind of actor he would make. The answer was a resounding “Yes.” Gifted with innate charm and photogenicity, with a script that brought out his natural strength, Yuwais was undeniably the star of the shoot. This was confirmed by the crowds of annoying fans who came to him for autographs and photographs, not only after filming, but also under the cover of darkness. Thanks to some obvious physical similarities, Uwais will likely be compared to Tony Jaa for the rest of his career, but the actor has a comfort and ease in front of the camera that Jaa never had.
Highly technical performances, a deceptively simple plot filled with energetic emotions, and the superb hard work of a production team consisting of not only experienced actors but also newcomers, proves that Indonesia with the film “Merantau” has once again made a strong statement in the action genre, thanks to the first a legitimate screen fighter since Barry Prime. Sure, the regular version of the film runs longer than foreign audiences are used to, with more emphasis on the family drama at the beginning, but a cut version is already in development (at the time of writing, its running time was about one hour and forty-six minutes), and this is a drawback should be eliminated soon.
Author: Todd Brown
Translation: EvilDollaR
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Tags: Merantau Warrior, Gareth Evans, Iko Uwais, Laurent Buson, Mads Coudal, Yayan Ruhian
Tags: Merantau Warrior, Gareth Evans, Iko Uwais, Laurent Buson, Mads Coudal, Yayan Ruhian
You’re welcome, Ilya, I’ve been waiting since spring...
Thank you. I wish there was a release soon.
Let me add a little: if you believe the words of Todd Brown, then the full version of the film should be released on DVD, that is, all 2 hours and 13 minutes.