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UK 2006
Director: Sam Miller
Cast: Rupert Penry-Jones, Olivia Williams, Kevin McMonagle, Ramon Tikaram, David Dennis
Rating: -
Language: English, Indonesian
Release Date: 7 May 2006
Running Time: 1 hour 27 minutes
The Movie Review
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KRAKATOA:
The LAST DAYS |
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Being an Indonesian who's also got some relative living either near the catastrophic Mt. Merapi in Yogyakarta or Mt. Bromo near Malang, East Java, I guess it's about time I review about one mountain that's legendary, beautiful and at the same time haunting! The volcanic mountain is no other than Krakatoa or in its original name, Krakatau.
For sure, I've been hearing about this mountain since I was a kid, probably the first Volcano that I ever knew. But what makes it rather daunting is the fact that right now, at the time of this viewing which is Nov 2010, Krakatau has been showing a lot of active movements. Good thing is, it's reported that it would not cause any Tsunami.
Through this spectacular movie produced by BBC Television, we are going to get to know more about Krakatau. And we are also going to learn some facts as well as historical accounts of Krakatau and the people who lived near the volcano. Krakatoa: The Last Days --or also known as Krakatoa: Volcano of Destruction-- is a docudrama which means we are going to view some dramatization of historical accounts but still with scientific accuracy. And that makes this movie educative as well as entertaining.
The movie revolves and follows the true accounts of several survivors coming from different background and different interests. But all of them shared one thing in common, they were the live witnesses of the eruption of Krakatoa Volcanic Island. The year is 1883, We follow the lives of a Dutch government official in the Island of Sumatra, Willem Beijerinck (Rupert Penry-Jones) and his wife Johanna Beijerinck (Olivia Williams); Tokaya (Ramon Tikaram), a Javanese employee of Willem; Rogier Verbeek (Kevin McMonagle), a scientist who studies Krakatau and other volcanic mountains who apparently often visits the Schuits family who works as Keepers of Fourth Point Lighthouse on Java and bonds with their son Josef (Connor Dowds of Prey (2007)); and also Captain T.H. Lindeman (Darrell D'Silva) who's working the seas around Indonesia with his ship which was carrying passengers when Krakatoa erupted.
Honestly, I didn't expect I'm going to be so excited watching this movie, I was actually thought it was just going to be a so-so disaster film but based on scientific and historical accuracy but what I get is a balanced mixed of traditional documentary and disaster film with good acting skill from the cast. It's just dissappointing to know the filmmakers didn't hire professional Indonesian actors and actresses so that we could really feel the Indonesian atmosphere. There are hundreds of millions people living in this country and I am certain those who have watched this BBC Docudrama would feel annoyed by the bizzare Indonesian accents of the supposed-to-be Indonesian natives.
The documentary part is often inserted to teach us something about what's currently going on, and BBC is surely good at this. With heavy confident voice from the narrator (the voice of the director himself, Sam Miller) we would learn about the history of Krakatau and Rakata and even Anak Krakatau. And to know who Rogier Verbeek actually is and how he had highly contributed in knowing more about volcanic activities, and also of course to realize how deadly it was to everything and everyone who were living in Indonesian coastline when Krakatau volcanic island erupted in 26 August 1883, including the after effects and the devastating wave of Tsunami which was said to be as high as three times of those seen in Aceh in 2004!
And the disaster film part is made to show us how deadly the eruption of Krakatoa was to the people whose accounts were used as the center story of Krakatoa: The Last Days. And I was actually also shocked too knowing that the disaster sequence is thrilling, kudos to the camerawork. The angles of the camera could really capture the intensity of a disaster. And since I realizes how deadly Krakatoa in 1883 was (based on the tales of my great grandfather), personally I grew to care for the characters, especially Johanna Beijerinck. And oh yeah, before I forgot, the pace is a great one too, it's not too fast, not too slow, just perfect between showing the Documentary part and the Drama part.
And so, all things considered, this is must-rent for moviegoers who simply want a fun and brainy movie but Krakatoa: The Last Days is definitely Must-Have for fans of disaster films and especially to those want to know more about the beautiful Mt. Krakatau...
> Also check out this seafaring adventure near Krakatoa in Krakatoa: East of Java (1969).
© iwan pranowo of Movielogy.com
Twitter: @movielogy
posted: Dec 31st 2010 02:12 pm
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