Movie Review
Tenggelamnya Kapal Van Der Wijck (The Sinking Of Van Der Wijck)
Tenggelamnya Kapal Van der Wijck (The Sinking of van der Wijck) — an adaptation of a late 1930s Indonesian novel of the same title penned by Haji Abdul Malik Karim Amrullah, who is better known as Hamka — tells of a powerful but tragic love story.
Maybe for people who have never read the book and only saw the trailer of the movie will think that this is similar to the Titanic or The Great Gatsby. This movie is not focused on a sinking ship or a luxurious life like Gatsby (only lived in the same year). This is about love and betrayal.
Zainuddin (Herjunot Ali) is an orphan that has mixed descent who came to Batipuh, Tanah Datar, West Sumatra with the aim to deepen of his religion knowledge. In the land that boasts a strong matriarchal system, Zainuddin’s presence is not given a warm welcome, given that his mother was Bugis. This makes Zainuddin became alienated until he fell in love with a beautiful girl, Hayati (Pevita Pearce). This budding relationship is not met with a positive reaction and Zainuddin is rejected due to his muddied Minang roots. Zainuddin move to nearby Padang Panjang: only leaving Hayati after she promises that her heart is forever his. The story takes a bitter turn when Hayati is courted by her best friend’s brother, Aziz (Reza Rahadian), a wealthy and modern Minang guy, who is enchanted by Hayati’s beauty.
Herjunot delivers a stunning performance, maintaining his Makassar accent as well as his dramatic posture throughout the movie. Also managed to give a pretty deep emotional touch to his character , reciting poetic dialogues given to his character well and makes the character Zainuddin was so easy to get the sympathy of the audience. Reza Rahardian also appear as usual, stunning and flawless. Pevita Pearce, we could say I do not like her acting here, her dialects is still stiff. Other acting appearances were quite a surprise present from Randy Nidji who recently made his acting debut though , but managed to give the appearance that is so convincing .
Tenggelamnya Kapal Van Der Wijck provide an artistic layout that is so convincing, the atmosphere feels very 1930s-era.The movie is also pleasing to the eye, with extravagant suits, scarves, retro sunglasses and hats, all courtesy of prominent designer Samuel Wattimena.
The movie is good, but it does not mean no reproach. There are several points that should be criticized, such as the 3D effect on the ship Van Der Wijck is too rough (in fact can not expect too much in Indonesian movies). Not only that, the effects on some scenes often too greatly exaggerated. The extras also looks stiff as usual. Until the end of the movie we do not even know what caused the ship to sink.
Technical problems that occurred in the cinema also be a big problems. When I saw the trailer, the recorded images clear enough but in the cinema it is not bright enough, you could say even a little dark. Besides, the sound is not too loud also quite difficult me because they speak the local language that I could understand less. Fortunately there are english subtitle that could help me.
I'm not a fan of Indonesian movies (although I am Indonesian) but the movie is quite good and can be quite successfully adapted the novel by Buya Hamka.
2 comments
where could i find english subtitle for this movie? i tried to find but its kinda difficult for me.. :(
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry I couldn't find it for you :(
DeleteWhere are you from?