`Merantau` Kick-Starts Martial Arts Genre

Jakarta - Indonesian martial arts films date back to the 1950s, with “Harimau Tjampa” (“The Tiger of Campa”) and “Tjambuk Api” (“The Fiery Whip”), both by D. Djajakusuma, among the first local movies in the genre.

Similar movies were also prevalent in the golden period of Indonesian film in the `70s and `80s, when as much as 120 titles were produced each year. Titles like “Saur Sepuh,” “Jaka Sembung” and “Si Buta dari Gua Hantu” were so well-loved that sequel after sequel was made, continuing into the early 1990s. Martial-artists-turned-actors Barry Prima, Advent Bangun and George Rudy became household names that drew legions of fans into theaters.

Indonesian films drew smaller audiences in the 1990s due to the barrage of imported movies on offer. This led to a belief that only erotic films could survive domestically, forcing diehard fans of Indonesian martial arts movies to wait almost two decades for “Merantau”, a film released this month that promotes Indonesia`s own silat.

“Merantau,” by British director Gareth H. Evans, tells the story of Yuda, played by Iko Uwais, a young man from West Sumatra who leaves his village to fulfill the coming-of-age rite of passage called merantau. The word denotes West Sumatra`s Minangkabau tradition of sending a boy of a certain age off to a faraway place to obtain knowledge, to come to a spiritual awakening or to work and make a name for himself.

Yuda gets on a bus to Jakarta, where he hopes to start his own school of silat harimau, a form of martial arts inspired by the body movements of the tiger. Alas, Yuda has nowhere to stay as he discovers the house of the relative he planned to lodge with has been torn down and its inhabitants are nowhere to be found. At this point, the film takes a curious turn.

Those familiar with the tradition of merantau would find it implausible that Yuda decides to trespass on a construction site to stay nights when he could look for a nearby mosque. Simple research would show that in many rural areas in West Sumatra, Minangkabau males have been trained from an early age to leave the house to study religious and cultural teachings in a surau, or communal prayer house. The earlier scenes show that Yuda, his mother and his brother are religious.

Such a detail would not interfere with the plot, which begins to pick up speed when Yuda meets Adit (Yusuf Aulia), a small boy who picks pockets and begs for money to help support himself and his sister, Astri (Sisca Jessica). Astri later reveals that their parents abandoned them for no reason, forcing her to work as a dancer in nightclubs to make ends meet.

She has no idea, however, that the club she currently works in is involved in a human trafficking network, or that she has been targeted. The trafficking operation is run by Ratger, played effortlessly by Danish actor Mats Koudal. Yuda`s mastery in silat harimau is put to use as he endeavors to save Astri from Ratger and his bullies.

The action choreography is executed to the fullest effect, with meticulous camera work that captures the graceful and violent movements in detail. Add some terrific sound editing and almost perfect special effects (except the pink blood), and we have action sequences unprecedented in local filmmaking that leave the audience gasping and squirming in their seats.

It would make for a more alluring spectacle, however, had there been more silat harimau and less Hong Kong-style maneuvers throughout the film.

Iko is not half bad for a newcomer. He is relaxed and moves gracefully inside every frame, even when he is not in combat mode, which is a rare quality in today`s generation of Indonesian actors. However, Christine Hakim, who plays Yuda`s mother, should have coached him and the other Indonesian actors more on line delivery to naturalize the sinetron-esque dialogues that feel like they have been translated offhandedly from English.

Hakim`s exquisite appearance in less than a fifth of the film is, not surprisingly, as delightful to watch as the many fighting sequences. At the other extreme, Sisca fails to elicit the sympathy her character deserves with her shrill voice and exaggerated facial expressions, although she makes a believable mourner.

Already proving that he has the good looks and the right moves to become an action film icon, Iko needs only more acting lessons to stand alongside the likes of Nicholas Saputra and Fachry Albar as one of the top actors of his time. And with its electrifying action sequences, “Merantau” is a promising revival of Indonesian martial arts films after a long hiatus. Dalih Sembiring

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.com

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