Serdadu Kumbang (2011) Movie Review, Trailer and Poster

Indonesia 2011
Director: Ari Sihasale
Cast: Ririn Ekawati, Titi Sjuman, Putu Wijaya, Asrul Dahlan, Lukman Sardi, Surya Saputra, Monica Sayangbati, Yudi Miftahudin
Rating: Semua Umur (General)
Language: Bahasa Indonesia, Sumba (With Indo Sub)
Release Date: 16 June 2011
Running Time: 1 hour 45 minutes

The Movie Review

Serdadu Kumbang is an Indonesian drama film released on 16 June 2011. It is a motion picture which I consider as something "Nice" coming out Indonesian movie realm, which is currently constantly bombarded by sensual supernatural horror films. I and My wife were pretty anxious to see this another movie from Ari Sihasale of Alenia Pictures.

And I got even more excited after a talk show in Metro TV titled Kick Andy was interviewing several people who have (or used to have) cleft lip. One of them is Yudi Miftahudin, the lead child-actor of Serdadu Kumbang. On Kick Andy however, Yudi no longer has the cleft lip (Bibir Sumbing) thanks to Ari Sihasale and his wife Nia Zulkarnaen who paid for the surgery. From what I heard, it seemed that Yudi was a smart boy with good attitude, a


SERDADU KUMBANG (BEETLE SOLDIERS)
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good combination which probably contributed to his great performance as this poor kid from the eastern part of Indonesian archipelago, West Nusa Tenggara.

On 18 June, Saturday Night, though we were very excited, but we cancelled the plan to see Serdadu Kumbang for we had to cross to another mall to see it and we just opted instead for a horror night with Insidious (2011). So, the next day, we just couldn't wait anymore and drove to Gandaria City to see if Serdadu Kumbang could also be a good choice for Indonesian kids in their annual school holidays starting on 27 June.

Serdadu Kumbang revolves around the life of the people residing in a humble remote village on top of a hill called Desa Mantar situated in Taliwang district of West Sumbawa regency in West Nusa Tenggara province. Yudi Miftahudin plays as Ame, an elementary school kid who lives with his mother (Titi Sjuman) and older sister Minun. Ame dearly misses his father, Zakaria (Asrul Dahlan), who's currently working in Malaysia as blue collar worker. Yearning for a contact with his father, Ame even exchanges his goat for a cell phone but since his village doesn't have cell phone tower, his uncle (Fanny Fadillah) and several people work together to raise a simple antenna by the house.

Ame and his two best friends Umbe and Acan are dreading something imminent, the National Exam (Ujian Nasional). Something that has been causing a lot of stress and depression for most kids and even parents alike in Indonesia. Ame himself has already failed the exam even more than once and though he seems like a slacker, but Ame in fact is a smart boy who doesn't need hard effort when it comes to Math. A trait apparently runs in the family because his sister Minun --who's in junior high school and is also going to face the exam-- is a Math Champion of Taliwang district. Ame himself is also trying to be a champion in Skeco Championship, a horse race for the kids with his pet horse Smodeng!

Aside of spending his days playing with his friends in the nature, Ame is hoping that one day he will be a great News Reporter just like his idol, a female reporter of Metro TV, Najwa Shihab. And this kind-hearted boy likes to pretend to be a new reporter in his room window which make his neighbours often ask him the question just as if he was a real reporter :-)

Ame and the rest of the kids in Mantar Village has this amazing tree on top of a hill which they call it as Pohon Cita-cita (Wish Tree) where the kids are writing their wish on a piece of paper and then insert it into a bottle which will be hanged on the branches of leafless tree. Seemingly their wish are simply to pass the Exam. However, being a sort of brat, Ame, Acan and Umbe are the soft target for the strict Mr. Halim (Lukman Sardi). Fortunately another teacher Ms. Imbok (Ririn Ekawati) is very considerate of the children's behavior which makes her loved by all. Nevertheless, life must go on and National Exam must be faced. Will Ame and his friends as well as Minun graduate with success? What happen if they don't?

I didn't see many kids in the studio, although it was fairly logic since we took the last show on 20:45 WIB and it was on Sunday Night, I guess parents were saving their energy for Monday Morning! Anyhow there were only 26 viewers including 4 little kids. The thing is that Serdadu Kumbang is somehow more suitable for adults who realize the harsh truth about Indonesian education and poverty. I didn't think kids would love this movie since it's practically a drama without many kid-like interesting scenes and likely kids won't understand about Indonesian current condition. Mostly we are treated for the beautiful landscape and scenery of Sumbawa Island with all the hills, the beautiful wish tree and other elements of nature. Serdadu Kumbang is memorable for the cinematography.

But that's not the only good thing. Ame's performance is undoubtedly great, he clearly has the acting talent and potential to be big, which I sincerely wish for him. But Putu Wijaya as Papin Haji Mesakh (the religious teacher/Guru Ngaji of Mantar) delivers a little bit over-the-top performance which feels overly theatrical. The rest of the cast is good with Borman Dorisman (as Headmister Budi Santoso) is underused. But the one who shines with the most colourful character is none other than Asrul Dahlan (Ame's father, Zakaria). Asrul Dahlan delivers this scene-stealing performance every time he's on screen and is able to explore diverse range of emotion.

I don't have many critics to convey except for two crucial things. The first is the lack of persistency of the main plot. I mean for most of the time I was thinking "What is the main purpose of the story? About Ame? Or the life of the villagers? Or Ame's father Zakaria?" Yes, Serdadu Kumbang is cluttered with sub plots, though relatively amusing but it's a minus. The second one is the ever-confusing subplot of Ame and friends as well as their teachers are visiting a school which was clearly a product placement. This scene which features Surya Saputra as Mr Ketut feels extremely OUT-OF-PLACE!

Anyhow, even though I like Ari Sihasale's other pictures better but this movie presents a touching and emotional relationship between brother and sister (Ame and Minun) and probably a good movie if your children are not getting along very well with each other ;-)

And by the way my fellow Jakartans, In Gandaria City, South Jakarta, there is a spectacular show for children and male eyes' alike :-) A show from Australia called Acrobatic Ballet on Air by Aerial Angels Production!
The schedule: Tuesday-Friday at 6 pm; Saturday at 2 and 5 pm; Sunday at 2, 5 and 6.30 pm. Starting from 18 June to 3 July. The show runs for about 30 minutes. This was the real reason what's holding me back from seeing Serdadu Kumbang on earlier shows ;-) The crowds were very enthusiastic seeing those magnificent acrobatic girls doing breathtaking stunts in the air! Hopefully this week I could get a picture of those acrobatic ballerinas! :-D

© iwan pranowo of Movielogy.com
posted: Tuesday, 28 June 2011 11:56 pm